Hard hip-hop from the speakers. The smell of fresh sweat. Punching bags everywhere. In the middle of the room is a large ring, where muscular guys pound into each other with the necessary noise. Sports center De Voltreffer in Nieuwegein is exactly as you imagine a boxing hall.
But to the left of the ring there is peace: Marcel and Tyrone Sterkenburg are stretching on the wrestling mats. First individually, later also together. They pull each other’s arms, hang over each other’s backs, bend each other’s wrists as in a silent dance, with complete focus and without consultation.
That is no longer necessary. They’ve been coming here pretty much every morning since they were four – that is, when they’re in the Netherlands – and they always train together. This morning there is only yoga and stretching on the program, later in the afternoon the heavier work will follow, they say a little later when they are sitting next to each other in the cafeteria.
Tyrone is more solidly built than Marcel, he comes out in a heavier weight class, but otherwise they are very similar. They don’t mind being confused with each other. Tyrone: “That happens so often, it’s nothing crazy anymore. I’m not surprised if someone calls me Marcel.” They often finish each other’s sentences, and tell more about the other than about themselves. Not surprising: they are not only twin brothers, but also do the same study and excel in the same sport.
Classic with class
Greco-Roman wrestling is not very well known in the Netherlands. It is slightly different from the somewhat more famous free style wrestling: you can also use your legs there. In Greco-Roman you only do grips above the belt: around the waist, at the arms or the neck. “It’s a very classic sport,” says Marcel. “It’s been in the Olympics since the very beginning.” And it is a sport with class, he thinks. “You fight, but it’s not barbaric. You don’t want to hurt your opponent as much as possible, but dominate with technique and power.”
And they are both very good at that. Marcel became junior world champion, senior European champion, and third in the world seniors, in the weight class up to 87 kilograms. Tyrone comes out a class heavier, up to 97 kilograms, and became second in the world in the juniors and third in Europe in the seniors. They both fight differently. “Marcel is faster, more attacking, more explosive,” says Tyrone. “And Tyrone is very tactical and defensive,” his brother adds.
Because there are few opponents of their level in the Netherlands, they spend about half of the month abroad. Wrestling is very popular in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. “We just came back from Fuerteventura, where we were in a training camp with the Danes. And at the end of this week we will go to Germany.”
Easy opponents
Where the Dutch were first seen as easy opponents, foreign coaches are now only too happy to invite the twins to their training sessions. And certainly not happy when one of the Sterkenburgs is drawn as an opponent in the competition draw.
All that traveling creates a bond, they say. Tyrone: “You go through so much together.” Marcel: “You know how hard life is from each other. You lose weight together, gain weight together, both give things up.” Tyrone: “You share the excitement of the game with each other.” Marcel: “I think it’s the same for soldiers or marines.”
Jealousy therefore plays no role at all. When Marcel became world champion, and Tyrone had to settle for silver, his brother’s success felt like his success to him. “Then we must have won one world championship, I thought. The next one will come with time, for both of us.”
That attitude has been cultivated from home. The fact that they both box in a different weight class is on the advice of their father. Marcel: “He didn’t want to see his sons compete against each other.” The family is very involved in their success anyway. Besides the twins, the family still exists out of their Dutch father Willem, a fanatical boxer himself, and their Thai mother Samran. And then there are brother Willem (25), sister Rebekka (24), sister Marcella (23), brother Marwin (19) – “a combination of Marcel and Willem, my parents have been very creative with our names” – and sister Stefanie (18).
Discipline above all
On Sunday morning there was always a regular run by the whole family. Willem chased his kids five kilometers through Hilversum, through the Corversbos and the Trompenberg district, little Stefanie still on her bicycle. “He himself walked behind to see if anyone was smuggling,” says Tyrone. Marcel: “We were all very competitive, so we all wanted to be ahead.”
Not that they always felt like it, usually not even, but that didn’t matter: you just go, thought Willem. And all his children have inherited that. “All our brothers and sisters are very talented in their own way. Our father is very sweet, but he really raised us with discipline. We didn’t always like that then, but now we see what it can do for us.”
Willem also always drove the twins from Hilversum to their training sessions in Utrecht, Amsterdam or Nieuwegein – because they are so good, they are welcome at all kinds of different clubs. Marcel: “He always kept watching. And when he saw that we were cutting corners, he gave beautiful, motivational speeches in the car. That you have to train to get better every time, not train for the sake of training. There I often think back to it, I took it all with me.”
And it helped. At the age of 11 they were already noticed by their coach, Mariusz Gicewicz from Poland. Tyrone: “He was looking for prospects to take to the Olympics one day. He let us train with his group for 14-plus.” At the age of 13 they had already outgrown the level in the Netherlands and started participating in foreign tournaments. “At first our father often accompanied us, but of course he also wanted to be home for the other children. After that it was often our eldest brother Willem who traveled with us.”
Mother Samran also has her share in the success of the boys. “Our mother cooks all our food. We need to consume about 5,000 calories per person per day to maintain our weight. She often makes Thai food, which we both really like,” says Tyrone. “And she has a massage parlor. When we come home from training and our bodies hurt, she gives us a massage.” Not bad with such a strict training schedule.
Strong body, strong mind
What was instilled in them in their youth is now paying off, says Tyrone: “You don’t always feel like it, but I’ve never skipped a workout for that reason. You just do it.” They also fire on each other. Marcel: “We lift each other up. I really give him a kick in the ass if he doesn’t feel comfortable, he will kick me too.”
Perseverance is about the most important factor if you want to be a top athlete, says Tyrone. “I see it as a mountain that I want to climb. First, for example, the world championships, but then another new mountain follows, such as the Olympic Games. And the more perseverance you have, the easier it is to climb that mountain.”
It is not surprising that this mentality is also visible in the rest of their lives. They don’t always have that much time to study at the Johan Cruyff Academy, but they try to study for a few hours every day, depending on their training schedule. “And Marcel is now writing a lot, because he not only wants to grow in the sport and in his studies, but also in his character.”
So what is he writing about? “I’m attracted to the ideas of stoicism and Jordan Peterson, for example. He says that a good person doesn’t necessarily have to be nice, but above all he has to do what he has to do. ‘I’d rather be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in battle’ I think is a nice quote. And in my whatsapp profile I have the motto ‘first we fight with our heads, and then we fight with our hearts’. That comes from the Spartans and that’s how I stand yourself in it.”
Weak spot
It is a recurring theme for both brothers: discipline, duty, taking responsibility. Don’t they ever just want to be 21 year old boys? Don’t they have any weaknesses? Tyrone: “At first I always ate M&M’s in the evening, but I stopped doing that, that’s not good for your sugar level when you go to sleep.” Marcel: “And he really likes going out and dating. I don’t, I prefer going to the cinema and I like drawing a lot.” They both have friends outside of wrestling, but they rarely see them. Tyrone: “That really can’t be combined.” Marcel: “It’s a pity, but it’s not a difficult choice. Too many people have adapted and sacrificed their lives for us not to go full for the sport. That also means taking responsibility.”
Very occasionally it crashes. On the mat that is. “Sometimes we get frustrated during training,” admits Tyrone. “Then the emotion takes over. We don’t yell at each other or anything, but I feel it, for example, when Marcel makes it extra loud.” Marcel: “You also have to realize that the boy is ten kilos heavier, so he gives very little away. He knows me through and through, so I can’t really surprise him anymore. And we both want to win. Nobody is you on the mat friend, our father taught us.” Tyrone: “But when it’s over, we’ll be brothers again and we’ll forget about it.”
Brotherhood and civilization are also important to them in wrestling. “It really is the gentleman of martial arts,” Tyrone emphasizes. “It is the most complete of all Olympic sports. You have to be strong, agile, fast, acrobatic, and have a very good condition,” adds Marcel. It fits their ambition to be a fully developed human being. They would therefore like to see this branch of sport grow in the Netherlands. “Now sponsors in Western Europe often do not want to commit to martial arts, because they are afraid that someone will get negative news a week later. But wrestling is really not an aggressive sport.”
In the small wrestling world of the Netherlands, they are appreciated and seen as trailblazers. The ultimate goal: to collect two gold medals at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. That will help raise awareness of their sport. And when that mountain is taken, new mountains will surely emerge behind it – which they will take with the same determination and perseverance.
Sunday interview
Every Sunday we publish an interview in text and photos of someone who does or has experienced something special. That can be a major event that he or she handles admirably. The Sunday interviews have in common that the story has a major influence on the life of the interviewee.
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