2023-06-26 12:55:00
If Jolien Boumkwo did not run this 100m hurdles, Belgium would have been disqualified from the European Athletics Team Championship. She completed the race in 32 seconds.
By NJ with AFP
Published on 06/26/2023 at 12:55 p.m.
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This is an unusual sequence witnessed by spectators at the European Athletics Team Championship. Saturday June 24, in Chorzow, Poland, the Belgian shot putter Jolien Boumkwo had to run a 100 meter hurdles. A test that she completed in 32 seconds, almost 20 seconds after the Spaniard Teresa Errandonea, winner of the test.
This result is not a surprise, but the important thing was elsewhere for the one who was in difficulty when crossing the hurdles, but who smiled throughout the test. Jolien Boumkwo had to replace at short notice her compatriot Anne Zagré, a specialist in the discipline. No other hurdler among the Belgian team was available and, in the event of a withdrawal from this event, Belgium would have been disqualified.
“The team is the most important thing to me,” explained the 29-year-old athlete, who was a head taller than his opponents. “I couldn’t bear that we lost by one point,” she added. That’s why I agreed to participate in the 100 meter hurdles. I didn’t take risks if I went calmly. »
Two points despite finishing last
The day before, Jolien Boumkwo, who collects the titles of Belgian champion in the hammer and shot put, had finished 7th in the weight competition of this Euro by teams, disputed within the framework of the European Games.
After 25 of the 37 events on the Euro 2023 team program and before the last day on Sunday, Belgium is 16th and last and therefore threatened with relegation to the 2nd European division. She totals 159 points, including two brought on Saturday by Jolien Boumkwo despite her last place.
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