Since he was 11 years old, Bram Buigel has been obsessed with running. Initially taking to the sport as a hobby, Buigel, born in the small town of Warfumm in the Groningen province, did not consider becoming a professional runner.
“Back then I thought I was an okay athlete,” Buigel told The Northern Times in an interview.
Had it not been for his father’s proposition, Buigel would not be calling himself the Netherlands’ 800-meter champion, a feat he achieved in February of 2023.
“When I graduated high school, I started living here in Groningen. I was partying a lot,” Buigel said. “My dad and I had a conversation. I was interested in going to a fraternity. He told me, ‘Why don’t you just try for one year to be serious as an athlete? If you don’t like it after one year, then you can take a step back. You can always party after.’ ”
It was not until he was 18 that Buigel had this life-changing conversation. Ever since, all he has done is continue to push himself every year to continue climbing up the ladder in the hopes of eventually being the best athlete he can be.
“Every year you learn more, you get more competitive. And actually, like since 2014, except for one year, every year I’ve been improving one, two seconds on the 800 meters.”
It finally all clicked
Although Buigel was constantly seeing improvements in his times, it was not until 2023 that he finally received vindication for his decision to turn his passion into a profession. Winning the Dutch title was the cherry on the cake for Buigel, who found confidence in himself that he could be who he set out to be.
“I had been in every state national final since 2015. I never took a medal,” said Buigel. “Even though I was in a good position to take one, something happened or I fell. I had my 15th straight final last indoor season. I still didn’t get a medal. So it was the running joke, Bram is consistent but never gets a medal.”
That all changed this year, as Buigel clocked personal best times throughout the year before claiming gold in Apeldoorn this year.
“Since last indoor season, things really clicked. I just know what to do on the job. It’s a really big difference I felt this year. I don’t really know why that happened. One day, everything just fell into place.”
He took this momentum into the Ataköy Arena in Istanbul, Turkey for the European Athletics Indoor Championships in March. Although he did not qualify from his heat, it was a performance that Buigel still took confidence from.
“I just missed that little edge. I missed out on the semifinal by 0.1 seconds,” said Buigel.
“I still did a really good job.”
Despite everything finally clicking and achieving the best result of his career, Buigel remains humble in his approach. He feels that he has to work harder than other athletes due to what he calls his athletic deficiencies but that is the part he cherishes the most.
“I just love the game,” Buigel said with a smile across his face. “In 800 meters there’s a lot of tactics involved. You have to be a smart racer as well. I think I’m a smart racer. I am always in the position I want to be.”
Running towards the Olympics
After a career year in 2023, Buigel has his sights set on the biggest athletics competition in the world. The Olympics, hosted by Paris in 2024, is the pinnacle of sports and a dream for athletes, a dream that Buigel can see is within his sight.
“I’ve never really thought about the Olympics as some kind of goal. I always thought that it was too far away,” said Buigel. “I always had it as a dream in the back of my head. That would be so awesome. But I never saw myself running in that room.”
Had it not been for his monumental 2023, it is uncertain whether Buigel would be pushing himself to new levels to ensure he is representing the Netherlands in the most historic sporting event. Even then, he still sees the Olympics as perhaps a step too far.
“I usually improve by about one second or a little bit less every year. It’s one second to the Olympics. Everything has to go perfect,” admits Buigel.
More hurdles in front of the Olympic dream
Unfortunately for Buigel, it is not just the fierce competition that could keep him from competing in Paris. In fact, his biggest obstacle lies in receiving the necessary funding for all his training needs, a hurdle that looks much more difficult than cutting down his 800-meter time by a whole second.
“Sports in the Netherlands is funded very badly. Our federation just doesn’t have money to do things totally right,” said Buigel.
In March, the Dutch team was competing in Turkey at the European Athletics Indoor Championships and were likely to finish on the podium. However, there was no clause in the athletes’ contract that if such an achievement was reached that they would receive any compensation.
“The [Dutch] Athletics Federation said, ‘Yeah, we cannot do really something like this. What we can do is that we go out for dinner after the race to a pizzeria for 500 euros,’ said Buigel
“That’s the only money that they could spend for the whole team.”
With global athletic stars such as Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver forming part of the Dutch team, Buigel believes that the Netherlands are victims of their own success.
“We also kind of shoot ourselves in the foot that because we already do well, people think we don’t need money,” says Buigel.
Ultimately, this means Buigel must split his efforts in two: Cutting one second from his 800m time while looking for ways to fund his dream.
“I’m much more focused on the money thing. That’s annoying because I just want to think about what I have to do to improve,” admits Buigel.
“I would rather just stick to my job.”
Buigel has set up a GoFundMe page, hoping to raise around €15,000 to fund his training camps, diet, and other costs that would put him in contention to join the Dutch team in Paris. He has also begun offering presentations about healthy living and eating as a means to reach his goal.
“I don’t want to look in 10 years back to this and say, ‘I didn’t reach the Olympics because I didn’t have the money.’ I rather say I didn’t reach the Olympics because I wasn’t good enough.”
The future of Bram Buigel
Although the Olympic dream might be just out of reach, that has not dampened the spirits of Buigel. He is already looking forward to the next Dutch Indoor Athletics Championships in 2024, where he’ll be looking to defend his gold medal.
He hopes the continuous rise in success could lead to a consecutive appearance in the European Championships, hosted in Rome next year. However, Buigel’s sights are strongly set on 2025, when the European Indoor Athletics Championships will be held in Apeldoorn’s Omnisport Apeldoorn venue.
“The big goal there is to compete for the medals,” said Buigel with hope in his eyes. Considering the trajectory he has been on, it is only a matter of time before Buigel finds himself on the podium in another major competition.
“This year, I was winning races. I just thought maybe sometimes I can get some national finals, but not like international finals. And suddenly that’s the goal,” said an inspired Buigel.
Whether we see Buigel step up to the podium in two years or not, one thing we can guarantee ourselves is that he will not give up on his dream, financial obstacles or not.
“I’ve never thought about quitting because I just love it so much,” said Buigel.
“That’s never been an option for me.”
