With the men’s 4 x 400 m, qualified for the fifth consecutive time, and the mixed 4 x 400 m, for the second time, Belgium placed two of its five relays, this Saturday, on the Olympic train during the first of the two days of World Relays held in Nassau, Bahamas. This is a first honorable record that the black-yellow-red athletes will try to improve this Sunday on the second day, where everything is still possible for everyone.
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To definitely secure your place at the Games, you had to finish among the first two in your series. The big satisfaction came from the Tornados who, in the 4 x 400 m, honored their title of indoor world champions. Jacques Borlée’s men held the lead from start to finish and won in 3.00.09, one street ahead of Nigeria (3.01.70) and Jamaica (3.02.46). After being put into orbit by Dylan Borlée and Robin Vanderbemden, Jonathan Sacoor made the gap in the third relay with a time (thrown) of 44.43, confirming that he is returning to his best level, as we had already been able to realize it this winter, and this after having already run the mixed 4 x 400 m heats two and a half hours earlier. Placed in an armchair, Alexander Doom was not pushed to his limits to ensure victory.
In the mixed category, the qualification was much more competitive. After the relays of Jonathan Sacoor, Imke Vervaet and Christian Iguacel, who had passed the baton to her in second position, Camille Laus had to come out of a final straight line of which she has the secret to beat the British Nielsen by 34 hundredths on the line, behind Ireland. A feat when we know that the latter has a 400m record of 50.83 for 51.49 in Laus!
“It’s a real relief,” admitted the Tournaisienne. “We knew it would be complicated with Ireland and Great Britain in our series and we feared finishing third. But when I saw how well the first three had done the job, I told myself that I had to put myself at their level, knowing also that there was a very big difference between 2nd and 3rd place… I was not yet at my peak form, but the two 400m that I competed in April in the United States and the 300m that I ran last week in Curaçao did me good. »
The third 4 x 400 m team, that of the Cheetahs, which we knew was heavily handicapped by the absence of Cynthia Bolingo, did not succeed in qualifying for the final and the Games, finishing only 3rd. , far behind the United States, which was expected, but also behind Norway, which was a little less so, even if, according to Camille Laus, “we knew they had two very good runners”. Naomi Van den Broeck, Hanne Claes, Liefde Schoemaker and Helena Ponette never managed to go beyond third place, which they occupied from start to finish and will therefore have to go through this Sunday’s repechage to obtain their Olympic qualification. To do this, they will once again have to finish among the first two in their series. With a reshuffled team? Logic would dictate that Camille Laus would be integrated into the “four”, undoubtedly in place of Schoemaker, but it will be up to Carole Bam to decide.
The two 4 x 100m teams were disqualified for passing the baton outside the zone. We know how complicated this exercise is and the “youth” of the two teams undoubtedly explains this double accident. But both the Falcons – who have been in the mix for most of their series – and the Rockets will have a second chance on Sunday. You will have to seize it… without letting go of the witness.
The main results
Men
4 x 100m.Series 3: Belgium (Vleminckx, Merckx, A. Snyders, Hoornaert) DQ. Qualified for the Paris Olympics: United States, Japan, Canada, Italy, China, France, Great Britain.
4 x 400m. Series 2: 1. Belgium (D. Borlée, Vanderbemden, Sacoor, Doom) 3.00.09. Qualified for the Paris Olympics: Botswana, South Africa, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Great Britain.
Women
4 x 100m.Series 3: Belgium (Vincke, Rosius, Mehuys, Nkansa) DQ. Qualified for the Paris Olympics: United States, Great Britain, Germany, Poland, Australia, Netherlands, France, Canada.
4 x 400m.Series 4: 1. United States 3.24.76; 2. Norway 3.26.89; 3. Belgium (Van den Broeck, Claes, Schoemaker, Ponette) 3.27.19. Qualified for the Paris Olympics: Ireland, United States, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Poland, Canada, France.
