In the clip above, you can hear the sports hero Nils van der Poel tell more.
The sun shone from a clear blue sky when Trollhättan's pride Nils van der Poel was hailed by thousands of people on Drottningtorget.
The speaker was Stefan Holm, himself an Olympic gold medalist in high jump in Athens in 2004. He asked Nils van der Poel about the idea that the road is more important than the end goal.
- It became quite natural when I sat on a bike for six, seven hours a day and thought about why I did this.
I had to find reasons to do something that was super hard, he said.
Then he looked out over the audience and continued:
- Most days the square is not full but it rains from the side.
It is not justified by standing on a podium for a few seconds.
Comeback
It was only last winter that he made a comeback after the disappointment at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang.
- It bothered me that I had not received a dividend for the training hours I put in.
I thought I knew what it took to be the best in the world, and it was like a stab in the side that I had not become one!
The indomitable will and the burning fervor were not present from the beginning:
- At first I thought I would test and see if it works.
And when after a year or so I had invested enough time in it - well, then it became very important!
Uncertain future
What he will do after his skating career is unclear.
- Exactly what it will be we will see.
I've received a few requests to be on stage and talk, so it might be a bit like that.
So it's good for me to stand here now and be a little less uncomfortable with it, he stated.