Words and photography: Merijn Soeters
GALLERY
My grandfather, like many grandfathers, used to say: ‘Do it well, or don’t do it at all.’ Pierre Houin certainly took that statement seriously when he got his tattoo of Rio 2016, the Games of the XXXI Olympiad where he won gold in the lightweight double sculls for France. It puzzles me a bit though. It’s so very visible, but in a spot where he can never see it himself. Or is it meant to be motivation for his teammate Jérémie Azou: does Pierre have his mind set on stroke seat in the lightweight double and does he want to inspire his partner for Olympiad XXXII?