The Olympic Games is a rare opportunity for non-mainstream sports to be broadcast into the homes of millions around the world. For this reason, success at the Games brings with it much more attention and recognition than almost any other result in sport.
Jolien D'hoore has witnessed the impact of the Olympics first-hand since taking bronze in the omnium in Rio. For her efforts, D'hoore has received recognition in the form of awards including the first ever Kristallen Fiets (Crystal Bike) for women. The 26-year old has also found herself being recognised in the street, and she believes that this new-found attention can only help to boost support for the women's side of the sport in Belgium.
"I can see that the Olympics changed a lot in Belgium. Women's cycling has often been the little sister of men's cycling in Belgium, now that people have seen me getting my bronze medal in Rio, on the television, people recognise me now on the street, and they recognise my name," D'hoore told Cyclingnews.
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"I was amazed the first few times that it happened after the Olympics. To me, getting the bronze medal was a big thing, but I'm quite shy about it. Then I came to Belgium and I was a superstar. I had to get used to all the pictures and all the awards, but it has been fun."
D'hoore is not boastful or brash, but she was brimming with confidence going into the Rio Games, despite going up against riders who'd had their full focus on the track for the past four years. She had to shelve most of her road season in order to compete with them.
"I have always done a combination between the track and the road, but I understood that to get a medal at the Olympics I had to do it on the track so I had to cut my road programme," she explained. "My road season hasn't been that good this year, but I knew that I had to do it to get a medal in the omnium because it's so specific right now and the other riders are mostly track riders."
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