Critical biography of “Iceman” Wim Hof wins journalism prize

A critical, unauthorised biography of Wim Hof, the cold-water and breathing-technique wellness guru known globally as “The Iceman”, has been named the best Dutch-language journalism book of the year.

De ijsprofeet, by Volkskrant journalists Robert van de Griend and Anneke Stoffelen, won this year’s Brusseprijs, the annual award for the best Dutch journalistic book, organised by the journalism foundation Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten (Fonds BJP).

The winners were announced on Saturday on NPO Radio 1’s Met het Oog op Morgen and received €10,000 and a trophy.

The book sets Hof’s global success against what the authors describe as a darker side: disputed health claims, contradictions in his past, and the risks of his method. Van de Griend and Stoffelen say the technique has been linked to drowning deaths – more than 20 of them, according to bereaved relatives.

It also examines accusations of years of physical and psychological abuse against a former partner and her children – claims Hof has denied. He did not cooperate with the book.

The jury, whose verdict was in Dutch, praised the pair’s “excellent digging” and said they had laid bare the myth around Hof “without reducing their protagonist to a caricature”. Last year’s prize went to investigative journalist Olivier van Beemen for Ondernemers in het wild.