LIVE World Athletics Championships | Femke Bol with mixed relay to final, Anouk Vetter has a rough start at all-around | Other sports

No problems for the Netherlands! The two female athletes, Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver ensure that TeamNL wins the second heat in 3:12.12. Overall, the foursome qualifies fourth for the final, America was more than one and a half seconds faster. But Bol went obviously not quite yet and the Netherlands can still do something to switch in the men. For now it was enough Isaya Klein Ikkink and Terrence Agard did.

Now it’s time for the heats of the 4x400m Mixed Relay! With in the second heat on behalf of the Netherlands Femke Bol, Lieke Klaver, Terrence Agard and Isaya Klein Ikkink. TeamNL took silver at the previous world championships, what are ‘our’ athletes capable of now?

Anouk Vetter started somewhat stiffly in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. The Olympic silver winner in Tokyo finished eighth in the 100-meter hurdles, the first event. Her time of 13.42 was not that fast for her. Emma Oosterwegel, who won the bronze in Tokyo, set the seventh fastest time with 13.38. Sophie Doctor opened her heptathlon with a disappointing 13.82, the nineteenth time.

The American Taliyah Brooks was the fastest, in 12.78. Her compatriot Anna Hall, who is top favorite for the gold, recorded the second fastest time with 12.97. The heptathlon continues later on Saturday with the high jump. The Belgian defending champion Nafissatou Thiam is missing in Budapest due to an Achilles tendon injury.

The 30-year-old Vetter has this year not completed all-around yet. She stopped the fight in Götzis at the end of May after four parts because of a sensitive Achilles tendon and a painful knee. She did many alternative training sessions in rehabilitation, but says she is in top shape again and ready for a new top performance.

The Arnhem woman has already won four medals at major tournaments in the heptathlon in her athletics career. She became European champion in Amsterdam in 2016, won bronze at the 2017 World Cup, surprised with silver at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and won silver at the World Cup in Eugene last year in a Dutch record of 6867 points.

The women of the heptathlon are now ready for their first discipline, as always the 100 meters hurdles! Emma Oosterwegel and Sofie Dokter are in the second heat, Anouk Vetter in the third.

The World Athletics Championships finally officially started with a two-hour delay. The event starts as said with the 20 kilometers fast walking for men. The delay in stadium program will be no more than one hour. Check above for an update of all starting times.

The Dutch sprint trumps Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver will already be in action on Saturday morning in the heats of the 4x400m mixed relay at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Isaya Klein Ikkink and Terrence Agard are the men in the quartet. The series is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., but due to severe thunderstorms, the games in the national athletics stadium have been postponed until further notice. This also applies to the opening number of the World Cup, the 20 km race walk for men.

That event now starts at 10:50 am. The storm is expected to last about an hour and a half.

Femke Bol is happy with the athletics track in Budapest, where the world athletics championships start on Saturday. The Dutch top athlete will normally take action immediately on the opening day in the 4×400 meter mixed relay.

„The job has longer straights than usual and I like that, because it gives more opportunities to catch up in the relay”, said the great trump card for the world title in the 400 meters hurdles, who is also aiming for a medal with the mixed relay team.

The athletics stadium in the Hungarian capital, located on the banks of the Danube, is brand new. With the exception of the Hungarian championships, no race has yet been completed, so the plastic on the 400-meter track has barely been touched. „It feels niceI’m going to run a few laps on it”, said Bol, who completed a short training session with her teammates from the relay team.

In Budapest, Bol is mainly aiming for the world title in her specialty, the 400 meter hurdles. With her best season time of 51.45, the 23-year-old from Amersfoort is by far the fastest in the field of participants. Its main competitors have not fallen below 53 seconds this year. It is true that reigning world and Olympic champion Sydney McLauhglin-Levrone is missing in Budapest. The American, who also holds the world record with 50.68, has withdrawn with an injury. „I am sorry that she is not there, because I want to run against the best”, says Bol.

National coach Laurent Meuwly is also very pleased with the athletics track in the national athletics stadium, which can accommodate 35,000 spectators. „The track is pretty hard and that is good for femke with her long strides. The track does indeed have some longer straights, but the corners are certainly not tighter. I think it is a very fast track on which very good times are possible”, said the Swiss, who is mainly concerned about the composition of the team for the mixed 4×400 meters in the final preparations.

The event at Budapest’s brand new athletics track will be a hot affair. According to Weeronline, the mercury can reach well over 30 degrees.

In the Hungarian capital it gets very hot, with daily temperatures between 30 and 34 degrees. The sun shines brightly every day. On Saturday, during the first day of the World Cup, a little rain may fall, but large amounts are not on the program. After Saturday it will remain dry and it will often be sunny.

The maximum temperature will come from Sunday a little bit higher. Weeronline then provides afternoon temperatures of around 34 degrees. It will feel clammy for the participants, because the humidity is high. Moreover, there is little wind.

During the nights it does not cool down further than 20 degrees, so that the athletes also have a good night’s sleep tropical nights to deal with.

Welcome to the live blog of the first day of the World Athletics Championships. Many Dutch people immediately take action on the first day, including Sifan Hassan. In this blog you will not miss any of the highlights of this World Cup.