Lieke Klaver has been a dominant force for the Dutch team for years, consistently finding herself on podiums on the global stage. In fact, she has taken home a gold medal from every major global championships, the Olympics, world championships, and European championships.
She has also built a following of nearly one million followers on Instagram where she shares race day content, off-track moments, and her love for fashion. But despite all her achievements and perceived confidence, Klaver still has insecurities.
When she steps on the track she looks strong, bold and fierce. But internally, her monologue often does not reflect what spectators observe.
“Well, to be honest, no [I don’t always feel confident],” Klaver said. “But I like that, I like that I can show yes, I do feel confident, but I embrace my insecurities a lot.
“So I really see my insecurities and I accept them and I accept that they are there. I don't care if people see my insecurities, I'm confident within my insecurities.
“I'm human, first of all, I'm a girl, so whether it's body-wise, personality-wise, of course I do have insecurities when it comes to that. But also on the track, am I running nice enough? Is my body looking good during the race? Am I doing stupid stuff?
“I don't know. I also don't want to embarrass myself.”
Rise of the Dutch
While she may have some insecurities, embracing them has helped Klaver perform out on the track, including running sub-50 seconds eight times in 2026.
This year she took bronze at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships over 400m and mixed 4x400m, as well as gold in the women’s 4x400m. She also equalled her PB of 49.58 that she initially set in 2024, in addition to her most consistent season yet.
But it’s not just Klaver who has found much success over the last five years, as the whole Dutch team has risen up the ranks. They have found particular success in the various 4x400m relays, with Klaver and Femke Broeders-Bol having been driving forces.
“I do feel like Femke Broeders-Bol has played a big role in my development as an athlete,” Klaver explained. “It makes me stronger, it made me tougher, and I think together we are always very good friends so we can build together.
“I think we [Netherlands team] put down a good starting line and we can see the talents are so happy to work with us and be better as an athlete as well.”
Off season crazies
Now with the season done, Klaver already has her eyes set on 2027 but not because of competing, more so because she is confident that she can achieve so much more from within herself.
But it can be a shock, going from competing frequently throughout the summer months to hitting autumn and going back to pure training. However, that doesn't phase Klaver. Instead, she actually loves the pain of training.
“It's nice to be in training and do what I love to do, so no pressure, nothing, just training and working with my body,” she said.
“And I think because I have a rest of the actual competing, it makes me hungry and then I'm fresh to compete.
“But I'm not even looking forward that much to competing again, but I'm just working, I love to train, I love to have this pain and to recover from the hill session, the lactic session.
“This is actually, what the f***, what I'm looking forward to. But we have to be a little bit crazy to be in the 400m, all the girls are a little bit crazy.”
Following her best season yet, Klaver has high expectations for herself, but is also focusing on enjoying the process of training, rather than just focusing on results.
A key part of her mental preparation for competitions in being “truly happy” with what she’s doing, as well as balancing the right amount of rest.
It may be a few months until we see the Dutch star step back onto the track again, but she’s looking forward to seeing what more she can achieve.