Seeing double: Churandy Martina and his comedy impersonator 

One of the world’s fastest men is being mimicked by top Dutch comedian Jandino Asporaat on a smash TV show. SPIKES chats to sprinter Churandy Martina and his double.

European 200m champion Churandy Martina has been the target of Asporaat’s impersonations on De Dino Show, which is screened on Nederland 3 and watched by more than 400,000 viewers.

Asporaat admitted he is a huge admirer of the 2012 Olympic 100m and 200m finalist, and the physical likeness between the two is ripe for parody.

So how did the Dutch funnyman hone his impersonation of Martina?

“I ate of lot of sugar. No, just kidding,” Asporaat told SPIKES. “I took one aspect of his personality, namely that he knows how to put things in perspective. When I saw interviews with him, it became clear to me that he always considers the glass to be half full. I focus on this in the impersonation and improvise on that.

“The overall theme is that I take something negative, a subject or event, and give it a positive twist. So I turn something negative into something positive. ‘Turning lemons into lemonade’, for example.”

In addition to his regular appearances as Asporaat’s alter ego, Martina has even featured as a guest himself.

But what does Martina himself make of it all?

“He looks like me and people like him,” says Martina. “I told him he’s doing a good job because he’s keeping me [my profile] out there. I’ve met him before and I think he does a great job.”