On the eighth day of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Lieke Klaver is the first Dutchman ever in the 400-meter final, while Femke Bol is on the hunt for gold in the 400-meter hurdles. And then on Friday (Dutch time in the night from Friday to Saturday) many more Dutch people will take action.
One year after Tokyo’s Olympic bronze, bol again for a titanic battle in the 400m hurdles. There is a good chance that she will also take a medal at the Hayward Field Stadium, but the question is which color. Reigning World Champion Dalilah Muhammad and reigning Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin are its only serious competitors.
Both American women were faster than the 22-year-old Bol at the Games, but the Amersfoortse is now recording better times than the experienced Muhammad (32). McLaughlin (22) is still in a class of its own. Last month she broke her own world record to 51.41.
At the 400 meters it’s ahead Clover It was already a huge achievement that she made it to the final. A medal seems too ambitious, but she may well set a Dutch record again. The North Holland player has already improved the national top time twice in this World Cup, which is now at 50.18.
Dalilah Muhammad, Sydney McLaughlin and Femke Bol during the Tokyo Games.
Dalilah Muhammad, Sydney McLaughlin and Femke Bol during the Tokyo Games. Photo: Getty Images
Two Dutchmen in action at the pole vault
No fewer than two Dutch men compete in the pole vault qualification: Menno Vloon and Rutger Koppelaar. Both have never made it to a World Cup final. At the 2017 World Cup, Vloon’s qualification ended abruptly and painfully. He landed wrong on his first jump and left the track in a wheelchair.
It is also the day of the series of the 4×100 meters, in both men and women. Both teams are no longer as strong as before and are in a building phase.
38-year-old Churandy Martina is no longer among the men and the experienced Jamile Samuel and Dafne Schippers are missing from the women.
Full program Friday 22 July
6.15 am: women’s 35 kilometer race walk, final
2:05 a.m.: Men’s Pole Vault Qualifying (Menno Vloon and Rutger Koppelaar)
2:40 am: 4×100 meter relay women, series (The Netherlands)
3.05 am: 4×100 meter relay men, series (The Netherlands)
3.20 am: Women’s javelin throw, final
3.35 am: 800 meters women, semi-finals
4.15 am: 400 meters women, final (Dear Clover)
4.35 am: 400 meters men, final
4.50 am: 400 meters women’s hurdles, final (Femke Bol)