Accidents continued in the Netherlands on the first day of the World Championships in Athletics.
It all started when Seifan Hassan won the gold medal in the 10,000m, but faltered a few meters from the finish line.
Just a few minutes later, similar scenes unfolded, this time in the 4 x 400-meter mixed relay. The Netherlands were on their way to victory, but the team’s great star, Vimke Paul, fell just before the goal line.
Paul managed to pull herself together after this drama, and a few days later she won gold in the 400m hurdles.
But the Dutch star did not put an end to the rematch there. He’ll come in his final World Cup race: the women’s 4 x 400-meter event.
Femke Bol takes home the gold
The Netherlands seemed to lose its grip on gold early on. On the last lap, Jamaica came out with a clear lead in front of Great Britain – and behind them Vimke Paul battled for the bronze medal.
Jamaican Stacy Ann Williams had a huge lead as she entered the race.
– “She shouldn’t lose this,” commentator Johan Edlund said on TV4.
But Williams was totally hooked and invited the other nations to the battle for the gold. This was noticed by Vimke Paul, who sprinted like crazy – and passed the Jamaican just before the finish line.
She gets very vengeful after the first day. An ingenious final stretch, says TV4 expert Lennart Jolin.
Vemke Paul says she only started dreaming of gold when there were only a few meters left in the race.
– Then I felt: “We have to take it,” says Paul.
Meanwhile, she pays tribute to the team:
– All tenths and hundreds are counted. We had very good exchanges and still won by a small margin.
“from the bottom of hell”
Now the world of athletics is amazed at Paul’s insane revenge – who put an end to the entire World Athletics Championships in 2023.
“From the bottom of hell,” the IAAF wrote on X, formerly on Twitter.
“This is unbelievable! Words cannot describe this fast race,” the BBC wrote.
“It shows its ability to conduct in relays,” notes Setius Mag.
“The last 100m is absolutely insane,” Italy’s Vita Sportiva wrote.
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