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PODCAST

The Normal World

annaleid bakker

Life after elite sport comes with its own challenges.OnThe Normal World, host Annaleid Bakker talks to former elite athletes about life after sport, the process of athlete retirement, the transition from elite sports to everyday life, and the mental health aspects that often accompany this change. Guests share why they left their sport, the obstacles they faced in starting over, and the advice they would give their younger selves.Want to share your story or join the conversation

sports careers

All Episodes

38:56

Ep. 30 The Normal World of Anicka van Emden (Dutch)

The Normal World ·

2025/11/01

In this episode ofThe Normal World, host Annaleid Bakker interviews Anicka van Emden about her elite judo career.Anicka shares how she discovered the sport through her brother, who was taking judo classes. She shares it felt like having extra PE classes, but then in the dojo. She spoke about how her athletic journey evolved from training just once a week to ultimately winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. We also discussed her life after retiring from the sport and how she was able to

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44:17

Ep. 29 The Normal World of Días Gnanapragasam

The Normal World ·

2025/08/11

In this episode ofThe Normal World, host Annaleid Bakker interviews Días Gnanapragasam about his elite judo career.Días shares how he discovered his passion for the sport and found out very quickly that he had a talent for judo. He talks about the challenges he faced during his judo career, eventually leading to a loss of joy in the sport. He spoke about choosing for himself when quitting his elite career and how he, after many years, finally feels like he can put it all behind him. This episode

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44:21

Ep. 28 The Normal world of Annebel van der Knijff

The Normal World ·

2025/07/18

In this episode ofThe Normal World, host Annaleid Bakker interviews Annebel van der Knijff about her elite canoeing career.Annebel shares how she discovered the sport through a summer sports camp, sparking her passion for the sport. She discusses the challenges she faced during her career, which ultimately led to her losing her passion for the sport. Annebel mentioned how she dealt with quitting her elite career, the challenges she faced and moving to the Netherlands. This episode explores her

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41:24

Ep. 27 The Normal World of Babette van Wetering

The Normal World ·

2025/06/01

In this episode ofThe Normal World, host Annaleid Bakker interviews Babette van Wetering about her elite trampolining career.Babette shares how she discovered her passion for the sport through a poster offering free lessons — a moment that sparked a rapid rise, eventually leading her to compete in a world championship.She talks about the challenges she faced, including dealing with 'the twisties' and the difficult transition to everyday life after her athletic career. Although she retired young due

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42:32

Ep. 26 The Normal World of Danila Koster (Dutch)

The Normal World ·

2025/05/14

In this episode, I spoke with Danila Koster about her elite gymnastics career. We spoke about how she started her gymnastics career, her road towards the European championships, the twisties and her experience entering the normal world.I hope by sharing this podcast I can help other former elite athletes or athletes who are going to retire. I also hope that this podcast will help me heal in the sense that I can create something I wish were there when I quit my elite career. Enjoy listening!Want to

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45:12

Ep. 25 The Normal World of Querijn Hensen

The Normal World ·

2024/08/30

In this episode I spoke with Querijn Hensen about his elite para swimming career. We spoke about how he started with swimming, his journey towards the Tokyo paralympics and his life after he quit his elite swimming career.Check out the Dutch Paraclimbing Foundation for more information about paraclimbing.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goal setting, and routines, don't forget to check out my website: Actually Anna.I hope by sharing this

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41:08

Ep. 24 The Normal World of Renske Nugter

The Normal World ·

2024/07/01

In this episode I spoke with Renske Nugter about her elite paraclimbing career. it was a very sunny day so you might hear some garden background noices. we had the windows open. We spoke about how she started climing, her way towards the world championships, how the dutch paraclinbing team got more and more professional over the years, and eventually lead to Renske having to quit the sport.Check out the Dutch Paraclimbing Foundation for more information about paraclimbing. If you're interested in

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44:00

Ep. 23 The Normal World of Salome Höneß

The Normal World ·

2024/05/20

In this episode I spoke with Salome Höneß about her elite track and field career. We spoke about how she started with the sport, how injuries made persuing a professional career difficult and her ongoing break from the sport.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goal setting, and routines, don't forget to check out my website: Actually Anna. I hope by sharing this podcast I can help other ex-elite athletes or athletes that are going to retire. I

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48:52

Ep. 22 The Normal World of Minke Booij (Dutch)

The Normal World ·

2023/05/01

In this Dutch episode I spoke with Minke Booij about her elite field hockey career. We spoke about her career building up to the olympics in Sydney, Athens and Bejing. The things she’d learned about herself in between those olympics. And of course about finding her place into the normal world after she quit her elite career.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goal setting, and routines, don't forget to check out my website: Actually Anna and

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36:08

Ep. 21 The Normal World of Ronald Mulder (Dutch)

The Normal World ·

2023/04/01

In today’s episode I spoke with Ronald Mulder. He quit his elite speed skating career not long ago. We spoke about his career leading up to the olympics in Vancouver, Sochi and Pyeongchang. His decision to quit his career and his search towards a new goal in the Normal World.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goal setting, and routines, don't forget to check out my website: Actually Anna and don't forget to check out Eiffel. You can follow

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45:25

Ep. 20 The Normal World of Erik Doesburg

The Normal World ·

2023/03/10

In today’s episode I spoke with Erik Doesburg who used to be a professional Ultimate Frisbee player. If you don’t know what ultimate frisbee is. Imagine a combination of handball and rugby but then played with a frisbee. Erik and I spoke about how he started playing ultimate frisbee, his dream of playing in America, how he played for the Dutch National team and his decision to pull out of worlds 2016.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goal

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46:19

Ep. 19 The Normal World of Imke Glas (Dutch)

The Normal World ·

2023/02/08

Today is another Dutch episode, in which I spoke with Imke Glas, who used to be an elite athlete gymnast. We spoke about how she started with gymnastics, her career leading up to a severe accident that almost had her bound to a wheelchair, her comeback in the sport, and how she death with everything she’d experienced when she quit the elite gymnastics.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goal setting, and routines, don't forget to check out my

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49:14

Ep. 18 The Normal World of Ben van der Burg (Dutch)

The Normal World ·

2023/01/05

In this Dutch episode I spoke with Ben van der Burg, who was an elite athlete speed skater in The Netherlands. We talked about his career, the runup to becoming second in the 1990 all round world championships, getting injured and how he experienced life after he quit speed skating. Nowadays Ben works amongst other things for Triple, an IT-company, BNR nieuwsradio, Tech Podcast and as a freelance journalist.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic

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29:03

Ep 17. The Normal World of Maaike van de Bovenkamp

The Normal World ·

2022/12/07

In this episode of The Normal World, we'll dive into the world of Basketball. In this episode, I spoke with Maaike van de Bovenkamp. She used to be an elite basketball payer in The Netherlands. During this episode, we spoke about her journey to becoming an elite basketball player, why she decided to quit, comback, and eventually was forced to quit due to an injury.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goal setting, and routines, don't forget to

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13:06

Ep 16. The fear of the unknown - Your transformation...

The Normal World ·

2022/11/09

This is my second solo episode, where I will talk about my own transformation journey over the last couple of months. I've started a mindfulness course, which I'll tell you all about including some of my own examples, realizations, and eye-openers. I would love to make more of these short solo episodes, so If you like them please leave a review and let me know what you’d like to hear. **If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goal setting, and

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13:27

Ep 15. Transformation, my 30th and a very special ring

The Normal World ·

2022/06/01

This episode is a special one. It’s actually my very first solo episode, about what becoming 30, my own transformation and a very special ring have in common. I would love to make more of these short solo episodes, so If you like them please leave a review and let me know what you’d like to hear. I’m Annaleid Bakker and welcome to the podcast the normal world.If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic goalsetting, and routines, don't forget to check out

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58:18

Ep. 14 The Normal World of Roelien Piron

The Normal World ·

2022/05/01

In this episode of The Normal World, we'll dive into the world of Ultimate Frisbee. In this episode, I spoke with Roelien Piron. She used to be an elite ultimate frisbee player for the Dutch National Team. Before she started with ultimate frisbee she used to be an elite freestyle skier. During this episode we spoke about her elite sports career, quitting her skiing career, starting a new elite career in ultimate frisbee, and the struggles of letting go of something you love doing. If you're

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50:01

Ep. 13 The Normal World of Katarina Šarišská

The Normal World ·

2022/04/02

In this episode of The Normal World, we'll dive into the world of Gymnastics. In this Dutch first episode of season 2, I spoke with Katarina Šarišská. She used to be an elite gymnast in Czechoslovakia and now she's an elite gymnastics coach at BATO Haarlem in The Netherlands. We spoke about the Moskow Olympics in 1980, how she came to The Netherlands, and how she dealt with quitting her gymnastics career. If you're interested in transformational coaching or a self-study about habits, realistic

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35:31

Ep. 12 The Normal World of Marelle Worm (Dutch)

The Normal World ·

2021/12/01

In this episode of The Normal World, we'll dive into the world of Football. Apologies in advance to all my international listeners, this episode is in Dutch. Today’s guest is Marelle and together we’ll dive into the world of Football. We’ll talk about why Marelle started playing football and her journey towards playing in the eredivisie of the Netherlands. The injuries she faced during her career, which eventually lead to her having to quit her elite career. And how she dealt with that.I hope by

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56:01

Ep. 11 The Normal World of Nicole Beumer

The Normal World ·

2021/11/01

In this episode of The Normal World, we'll dive into the world of Squash. We’ll talk about why Nicole started playing squash and her journey to becoming a squash professional. Why she decided to quit, what impact that had on her life, and how she used the lessons she learned through squash in her life after elite sports.Nicole talked about her new passion for coaching athletes and high achievers towards a balanced and healthy performance. As well as organizing events with her own business Teampower

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