On Sunday, the Dutch women, led by Femke Bol, extended the European indoor title in the 4×400 meters with force majeure. The Dutch men had to settle for bronze in Istanbul. Nadine Visser captured silver in the 60 meter hurdles.
It is Bol’s second gold medal in Istanbul. She took individual gold in the 400 meters on Saturday, on which Lieke Klaver captured silver.
With Klaver as the first runner, followed by Eveline Saalberg, Cathelijn Peeters and Bol, the Dutch team fulfilled the role of favourite. The orange foursome set a time of 3:25.66 and was therefore much faster than the silver formation from Italy (3:29,61) and the bronze team from Poland (3:29,31).
The Netherlands led almost the entire race in the Ataköy Athletics Arena. Start runner Klaver took full advantage of the favorable runway 6 on the outside and came through first. Saalberg and Peeters held on to the leading position, after which Bol finished it off with a superior acceleration. She clocked 49.58 as split time.
Uitslag finale 4×400 meter vrouwen
- Nederland – 3.25,66
- Italië – 3.28,61
- Polen – 3.29,31
- Tsjechië – 3.31,26
- Ierland – 3.32,61
- Groot-Brittannië – 3.32,65
Bol passes Van Hulst
For Bol it was her fourth European indoor gold in total. She has now passed Elly van Hulst on the eternal ranking of Dutch athletes. Van Hulst won gold three times (1988, 1989 and 1990) in the 3,000 meters. Nelli Cooman, who made waves in the eighties and nineties, tops the list with six gold medals.
The relay women also celebrated successes in the 4×400 last year with silver at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade and gold at the European Championships in Munich.
Both times Bol, Klaver and Saalberg also participated. It went wrong at the World Cup in Eugene due to a wrong substitution. Nevertheless, the athletes of the relay were elected Sports Team of the Year 2022.
Large share of Bonevacia in bronze race Netherlands
Half an hour before the women’s race, the men came into action on the 4×400 meters. The Dutch foursome, consisting of Isaya Klein Ikkink, Ramsey Angela, Isaya Boers and Liemarvin Bonevacia, clocked 3:06.59. That was good for bronze. Belgium took the title in 3:05.83 and silver was for France (3:06.52).
The medal of the Netherlands was largely due to Bonevacia, who closed a gap to the front runners as the final runner and almost won silver with a powerful final acceleration. Boers, Klein Ikkink and Angela were almost always in fourth position during the hectic race.
Bonevacia and Angela were also on the team that won European indoor gold in 2021 in a Dutch record of 3.06.06. That same year Bonevacia, Angela, Tony van Diepen and Terrance Agard stunted with the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Last year the harvest was already less. The Netherlands still won bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, but there was no medal at the World Championships in Eugene and the European Championships in Munich. So there was bronze again at this European Indoor Championships in Istanbul.
Uitslag finale 4×400 meter mannen
- België – 5.05,83
- Frankrijk – 3.06,52
- Nederland – 3.06,59
- Spanje – 3.06,87
- Groot-Brittannië – 3.08,61
- Turkije – 3.09,41
Hurske troeft Visser of the 60 meter horde in the final
Visser went to Istanbul on Sunday for her third European indoor title in a row in the 60 meters, but she had to settle for silver. The Finnish Reetta Hurske was faster with 7.79 than the 28-year-old Dutch defending champion (7.84). Switzerland’s Ditanji Kambundji took bronze in 7.91.
With Maayke Tjin-A-Lim, another Dutchman was at the start in the final battle. She finished in 8.09 and was eighth and last.
Visser was the best in the 60 meters at the European Indoor Championships in 2019 (Glasgow) and 2021 (Torun). The North Holland woman, who finished fifth in the 100 meter hurdles at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, hoped to complete her ‘hat trick’ in Istanbul. She knew she had a formidable competitor in Hurske and had to settle for silver in the end.
Visser’s silver was the seventh and last medal (three times gold, three times silver and one time bronze) of the Dutch team this European Championship.
The Dutch athletics team closed the European Indoor Championships with seven medals: three golds, three silvers and one bronze. Only Norway finished above the Netherlands in the medal ranking, because that country won four gold medals.
Uitslag finale 60 meter horden vrouwen
- Reetta Hurske (Fin) – 7,79
- Nadine Visser (Ned) – 7,84
- Ditaji Kambundji (Zwi) – 7,91
- Mette Graversgaard (Den) – 7,92
- Laeticia Bapté (Frankrijk) – 7,97
- Sarah Lavin (Ierland) – 8,03
- Gréta Kerekes (Hon) – 8,03
- Maayke Tjin-A-Lim (Ned) – 8,09
