The Dutch women’s relay team won gold on Saturday in the 4×400 meters section at the European Athletics Championships in Munich. Eveline Saalberg, Lieke Klaver, Lisanne de Witte and Femke Bol were ahead of Poland (silver) and Great Britain (bronze) with a time of 3.20.78. The competitors finished at a considerable distance from the Dutch ladies with 3.21.68 and 3.21.74 respectively.
The Dutch relay team built up the race well. Saalberg was the first runner in the middle of the field when she handed over the baton to Klaver. The year-old Klaver put the Netherlands in the lead in the second round. As the third runner, De Witte relinquished the lead, but the margin with the leading runners turned out to be bridgeable for final runner Bol. After an acceleration halfway through her lap, she took the lead back and didn’t relinquish it.
For Femke Bol it means her third gold at the European Athletics Championships. She previously won the 400m and 400m hurdles. Bol is the seventh athlete ever to win three gold medals at a European Championship. One of her six predecessors is the legendary Fanny Blankers-Koen. She did that at the 1950 European Championship in Brussels. Afterwards, Bol showed himself to the NOS “tired” and emotional. “I’m going to cry again,” she said with a big smile.