Simeon Catharina fights for a medal at the World Judo Championships on Wednesday and his future in top sport. The 27-year-old from The Hague does not yet receive a fixed income from sports umbrella organization NOC*NSF, despite a bronze European Championship medal. “I want to be able to make ends meet.”
His third place at the European Championships at the end of April was not only his first major medal at the seniors. The success in Montenegro was also confirmation for Catharina that he is not yet finished as a top judoka.
Doubts about this certainly existed in the period before the European Championships. 2024 was very difficult for Catharina, with the low point being missing the Paris Olympics. And then the former world champion in the cadets (under 15 years) also had to deal with a double hernia at the beginning of this year.
“I’ve thought about stopping sometimes,” Catharina says in an interview with NU.nl. He smiles cautiously. “Maybe more than once.”
His European Championship bronze in the class up to 100 kilograms dispelled those thoughts for a while. But Catharina still cannot say with 100 percent certainty towards his World Cup performance on Wednesday in Budapest that he will continue until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. “I don’t feel any pressure because of judo,” he says. “But because of the financial part.”
Catharina finds it strange that he doesn’t have an A-status
Catharina was the only Dutch man with a medal at the European Championships. Yet, unlike a number of his compatriots, he does not have an A-status at NOC*NSF. This is the financial support for Dutch top athletes who do not have sufficient income for their livelihood. The maximum amount, for athletes from 27 years, is 3,314 euros gross per month.
To be eligible for this benefit, the athlete must finish in the top eight at a global event – such as a World Cup or the Games. According to the tightened rules of NOC*NSF, Catharina’s third place at the European Championships was not enough.
“That is of course very strange,” says Catharina, who spoke with NOC*NSF after the European Championships. “I hoped they would say: it can’t be that you have to stop because you don’t have an A-status. But that’s the way it is.”
“I understand that NOC*NSF has to set requirements and I also understand that it has become more difficult to get an A-status in recent years. But they do take the risk that the Netherlands will lose a European Championship medalist. Because I am 27, have to think about my future and don’t want to get into even more financial trouble than I already am.”
Catharina knows that he will never become rich as a judoka. “I have said from an early age: if I win gold at the Olympic Games and then become a bum, I accept that. So I’m not doing it for the money. But I do want to be able to make ends meet.”
Catharina knows that the Dutch government, despite several calls from NOC*NSF, does not intend to invest more in (top) sport. “But I do expect the government to want to help athletes, even if it is only with a small fee. Because if I win an Olympic medal, the whole of the Netherlands will cheer. But if things don’t go well, you have to figure it out yourself. That destroys a lot of talent.”
Catharina is almost finished with his physiotherapy studies and therefore has a plan B. “I am not too proud to work. But those hours could be at the expense of my performance on the judo mat.”
The man from The Hague therefore hopes that he can remain a full-time judoka until Los Angeles 2028. To do this, he will have to finish in the top eight on Wednesday. That means surviving at least the first three rounds.
“That pressure has been on my mind in recent weeks and that’s annoying,” says Catharina. “But towards the match day those worries will become less and less. On the mat I only think: how can I beat my opponent? And not: if I win now, I will get my A-status back and I can continue as a judoka. Because I don’t need that kind of noise.”
Simeon Catharina will compete against Brit Rhys Thompson, number 34 in the world, in the first round of the class up to 100 kilograms at the World Championships in Budapest on Wednesday. Catharina himself is seventeenth.
If he wins, the Dutchman will judo in the second round against Matvey Kanikovskiy from Russia, the European champion from last year. The morning program starts at 11.30 am.