“I was not expecting to progress that much in such a short period of time,” admits Patrizia van der Weken in an interview that could have been conducted in Luxembourgish, English, German or French.
The 25-year-old insists that speaking four languages is normal for someone from Luxembourg, but there is no doubting the remarkable nature of her record-breaking performances over the last 12 months.
After becoming the first woman from her country to reach a track final at the European Athletics Championships, she finished fourth in Rome last June, an agonising 0.01 seconds adrift of a 100m medal.
“It was bittersweet, but I ran 11.00 in the semifinals, which was amazing,” says van der Weken.
“I cannot be too disappointed. Being amongst the fastest sprinters in Europe is already a huge accomplishment. I am very proud of that.”
Buoyed by the near miss, she powered her way to a stunning 100m victory at the Paris Diamond League meeting in July, beating Switzerland’s European 200m champion Mujinga Kambundji, along with Poland’s Ewa Swoboda and Italy’s Zaynab Dosso, who pipped her to the podium in Rome.
Van der Weken has started 2025 in business-like fashion, breaking her own 60m and 200m national records with clockings of 7.07 and 23.17 at the CMCM Luxembourg Indoor Meeting last Sunday.
“We are quite far away from what we want to do,” says last year’s world indoor 60m finalist.
“It's nice to be the person who can lead the way and show others that it is possible to do really good things, even though you come from a small country.
“You don't have to think ‘oh no, I'm from Luxembourg, I cannot do that’. We have the facilities, we have the expertise.”
Flying the flag for Luxembourg
Van der Weken’s national pride was affirmed by having the honour of being a flag-bearer at the closing ceremony for the Olympic Games in Paris last summer.
It followed yet another career highlight as she narrowly missed out on the 100m final, coming fourth in a tough semifinal featuring eventual gold medallist Julien Alfred and world champion Sha’Carri Richardson.
“That was really like a goosebumps moment standing with my little flag,” says the sprinter, one of 13 Luxembourgish Olympic participants in Paris, including four from athletics.
“We don't have a huge quantity of athletes doing elite sports in general.”
But Van der Weken - Luxembourg’s Sportswoman of the Year - believes that being a star athlete from a nation with a population of just 672,000 has its advantages.
“It’s maybe a little easier to be in the spotlight compared to other countries,” she says, praising the family-like nature of the sport whereby aspiring athletes see her as an older sibling.
“I am a little shy myself, so it's nice that they think that we are approachable.
“The press is more and more interested in athletics, in sprints, in me and my coach and my teammates.
“That's really nice to see that we leave a mark and that I can inspire younger athletes or basically anyone to just show up and work hard and believe in yourself,” she adds.
After the Luxembourg Indoor Meeting finishes, spectators typically gather at the edge of the concourse, with children clutching posters for van der Weken to sign as she and other local athletes stay a while and chat among friends.
This humble persona, combined with her determination for Luxembourgish success and outstanding consistency, makes her progress so easy to admire.
In the period from May 2023 to September 2024, van der Weken ran times between 11.00-11.20 for 100m on an extraordinary 24 different occasions, five of which were over the +2.0m/s legal wind limit.
“It just shows that we are on the right path,” she says, praising coach Arnaud Starck, who is a former decathlete.
“I just have to be patient and keep working, keep competing and then maybe the 10 seconds will show up sooner or later."
History awaits for van der Weken in Apeldoorn
But before the outdoor season arrives, van der Weken’s sights are set firmly on a medal, and the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn in March provides a brilliant opportunity.
“I will definitely aim to be in the first couple of spots. But then I don't want to put too much pressure on myself either,” she says, noting the unforgiving nature of 60m racing.
“We have some crazy fast ladies in Europe, so I will just try to be there in my best possible shape and try to challenge.
“I'm definitely looking forward to it, especially as it's really close to Luxembourg, so I hope that some Luxembourgish people can come and watch, I heard it's sold out already so I hope they were fast.”
David Fiegen won Luxembourg’s only European medal with 800m silver at Gothenburg 2006 outdoors - the Duchy's first medal at an international championships since Josy Barthel's famous 1952 Olympic 1500m victory - while shot putter Bob Bertemes achieved the nation’s highest European indoor finish with fifth in 2015 and 2019.
Van der Weken is comfortable with the onus being on her now that Bertemes has retired. “I've learned that a lot can happen, even though you're not expecting it,” she says.
“I was not expecting at all to win in Paris. That has shown me that I don't need to be afraid and I can just trust myself and trust my coach.”
The Netherlands is one of four countries that can be reached in under two hours by car from the village where van der Weken is based in the north of Luxembourg.
The trip to Apeldoorn raises the question of whether she can expand her enviable linguistic skills further.
“Flemish is basically Dutch. I understand Flemish but I can't really talk, which is a shame,” she says.
“I have books. Maybe I might learn it!”
Alex Seftel for European Athletics