Olympic silver medallist Daniel Dhers: “Coaching the Chinese women’s team motivates me too”
Speaking at the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai where Sun Sibei, Sun Jiaqi, and Deng Yawen finished first, second, and third in the women’s final, the Venezuelan details the athletes’ tough journey to the top, and the reason behind their success.
Cycling BMX Freestyle
Daniel Dhers was beaming with joy at the conclusion of the BMX freestyle park final at the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai, where home athletes Sun Sibei, Sun Jiaqi, and Deng Yawen secured first, second and third respectively.
The Venezuelan Olympic silver medallist has coached the China national team since 2023, and while happy with the result, he seemed even more pleased with his athletes’ dedication after persevering through some tough times over the past year.
“They all did amazing and I'm proud of all of them for different reasons. Deng Yawen had a very difficult couple of months with a lot of injuries. She had an awful crash in practice when she crashed into another girl. At one point she was not going to compete,” Dhers told Olympics.com at OQS Shanghai.
“Sun Jiaqi had a bad accident last year where she came back in the World Cup and she didn't do well. Then we went to Japan and she did terribly, so her confidence was not there. But we made a plan and I noticed that she trusted the process.
“And then Sun Sibei has been swimming against the current because she's got second at every event and has never won a major event. So I know here she was going all in. She put everything into the second run, she just lit up and I knew she was in the zone and she got first place.”
Their hard work paid off.
The year 2024 is the year of the dragon in the People’s Republic of China, symbolising power, good fortune, and strength. Those traits were certainly on display on a memorable day at the Huangpu Riverside OQS Urban Park where red dragons were on display in front of the main stage.
Coach Dhers on work ethic of his riders
BMX Freestyle is a fairly new sport in China.
As such Dhers, who previously lived in Hong Kong China, was brought in to upskill both the men’s and women’s athletes with Paris 2024 around the corner.
While this would be a challenging feat due to their language barrier, his job was made a lot easier by the exemplary work ethic of his athletes; in particular Sun, Sun and Deng.
In their first event together at FISE World Montpellier last year, Zhou Huimin landed gold ahead of Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Hannah Roberts, while Sun, Sun, and Deng all finished in the top seven.
The latter three all went on to win World Cups of their own.
“They try so hard. sometimes I'm like, ‘hey girls, we're done. We can go rest’. And they’re like, ‘no, no, we need 30 more minutes’, so we do another 30 minutes!” he continued with a smile.
The partnership wasn’t just a one-way process either.
For the 39-year-old South American, coaching such dedicated and energetic youngsters has provided a boost to his own career.
“What happens a lot in the session is that they're about to try a trick that they're scared of. And I'm like, I should try a trick that I'm scared of. So I go and I try one if I see them try one. It's like I need to be on par with them. I know we're at different levels, but the fear is the same. So they motivate me that way,” he said.
*“*Riding with a Chinese team is a very interesting experience because the culture is different. I've been coming to China since 1988. It was a very different country then."
“It's cool that the Chinese team teaches me a lot about their culture. I still have a difficult time with the food and the language is hard. They try to teach me and I teach them English. It was a learning process for all of us to figure out how to work together as one big team.
*“*At the beginning it was difficult, but now they understand the process. And I think when they see the results, it's like, ‘hey, everything we do from the moment we wake up has a reason.”
The amazing performance from his mentees meant for a bittersweet day overall for Dhers.
In the men’s final, the 39-year-old couldn’t find his rhythm on either run, securing a best score of 78.60 to finish tenth.
“It was tough man, the heat got me," he continued.
*“*I landed low in one of the rounds and that took away the energy that I needed. So I tried to finish. But it's tough, man. All these young dudes, they're going wild at this and I can see their motivation.
“I'm going to use the Chinese team as my motivation to try to do better in [the next Olympic Qualifier Series] Budapest."
You can watch the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) in Shanghai from 16 to 19 May live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.