Linda Bolder announces switch to Israel to reach Olympic goal

Dutch judoka Linda Bolder fighting U70kg, officially announced that she will compete for Israel from 1st of January. For the 2016 Olympic Games only one spot is available, and Bolder wants to build up her road to Rio, starting in Israel.

Frankly speaking, Bolder is fighting in shadow of Kim Polling, who won four matches of five in total against Bolder. It's not only that Bolder is in shadow of Polling. This 23-year old can for sure still compete at three Olympic cycles.

Linda Bolder responded on her facebook account:

Today is the day that I finally will be able to announce big news concerning my judo career. Today I received approval from the IJF (International Judo Federation) to compete for an other country. From the 1st of januari I’ll be a member of the Israelian Judo Team, instead of my home country the Netherlands. It was a really hard and though decision to make, one with mixed feelings. Mixed feelings because it was always an honor to fight for my country, I had a great time with my team mates and won several medals under the dutch flag.

There are several reasons why I felt that I had to make this decision such as: the plan to centralize by The Dutch Judo Federation, the JBN forced me to quit the partnership with my coach Ben Rietdijk and of course because of my big injury (knee ligament) which put me such a length behind my competitor in my weight category; Kim Polling.
I made the choice for Israel because they can facilitate me in the best way possible to reach my goals along with my coach Ben Rietdijk. Our goal: Medal Rio 2016!

I will be training in both Israel as in the Netherlands which makes it possible to continue the valuable relation with my strength&conditioning coach Paul Lammers and Judo coach Bas Meerveld. Ben will continue to coach me on the big tournaments and I’ll have also one of the best and experienced coach on my side (Shany Hershko). Shany is the coach of the Israeli-an women's team, he coached and trained a woman World Champion and achieved many medals on the European with both men as women. I’m very grateful and honored by the way Shany, the Israeli-an Judo Federation, and the Israeli-an olympic Comité welcomed me and my coach in their team.

Like I said I regret the fact that I leave the Dutch Team because of all the good times and memories. Therefore I would like to thank all coaches, medical staff, team mates, staff of the JBN and of course Marjolein van Unen as head coach.
There is also a happy and proud feeling: I will compete for the Israeli-an Judo team and will do whatever it takes to reach my goal, a medal in Rio 2016!