The excitement, thrills and chance to win medals in front of a home crowd is driving Dutch athletes towards making their mark at this summer’s European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam.
But they are not alone - as so many of the continent’s track and field stars have the July event as part of their plans.
Chatting at last week’s PSD Bank Indoor Meeting in Dusseldorf, the message was clear: Amsterdam, Here We Come.
It is 141 days until the start of the championships and as Dutch 800m runner Thijmen Kupers said: “I have seen it at other European Championships where the home town, the home crowd, goes really wild because there is someone from their country running. I want to give the people the feeling when I get a medal - I want to share that with everybody.”
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Kupers, the bronze medallist at the European Athletics Indoor Championships last March, was asked what is the most important competition of the season and he said: “For me it is the European Championships...The Olympic Games are once every four years and the European Championships in your own country is probably once in a lifetime.
“If I run well at the championships I would probably have run fast enough to go to the Olympics, so that will be an extra treat.”
Sprinter Churandy Martina, who was fifth in the 60m final in his first competition of the winter in Dusseldorf, already has the buzz for the summer.
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“With the European Championships in Amsterdam, it's like in my backyard,” said the Dutchman.
“I really want to do great in front of my own people - that is my goal. I want to get some gold medals there and move onto Rio.
“I am going to do my best to get the whole stadium packed and that would be very nice for athletics…to watch our own people run and other good international athletes.”
Fellow sprinter Jamile Samuel cannot wait for the championships - and to see what the Olympic Stadium will look like because she trains there.
Samuel said: “I am really looking forward to how it is all arranged. I know the stadium, of course, as I am there almost every day. I am excited.”
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It has been a big indoor season for Germany’s Julian Reus with a national 60m record of 6.53 and then a 6.59 for third place in Dusseldorf, and he cannot wait to run outdoors too.
“We have big competitions with the European Championships in Amsterdam and Olympic Games in Rio, so the summer is more important than the indoor season,” said Reus.
He does not know yet what event he will run at the championships - and it might be more than one.
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'We will decide after the German Championship,' said Reus. 'But maybe I will run 100m or 200m or the relay - or all three sprint disciplines. I will skip the world indoor championships in Portland (next month) because the preparation time and training time afterwards is too short to qualify for the European Championships and for the Olympics, so we want to focus on the summer.”
France’s 800m runner Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, who ran a personal best of 1:46.79 to finish second in Dusseldorf, wants to be in Amsterdam to prove a point.
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Two years ago he was last in the final in 1:46.55 and he said of Amsterdam: “That is as important as the Olympics, because for me it is kind of revenge after Zurich.'
The European Athletics Championships run from 6-10 July and for more information, visit the event website www.amsterdam2016.org.