The Dutch relay women were disqualified from Saturday to Sunday in the 4×400 meters at the World Championships in Eugene. At the switch between Lieke Klaver and Cathelijn Peeters the baton fell and the rules were violated when picking up. Moments later, the Dutch men missed the final battle by one hundredth.
Peeters picked up the baton and continued the race, after which the Netherlands finished third, mainly thanks to an impressive catch-up race by Femke Bol.
That would be enough to advance to the final, but a few minutes later the competition jury ruled that the result of the orange team was cancelled.
After starting runner Hanneke Oosterwegel and Klaver, the Netherlands switched in third, but then things went wrong. World Cup debutant Peeters took over from Klaver and held it briefly, but dropped it again.
The stick rolled a bit, after which Peeters picked it up and continued. That was against the rules, she should have taken a step back to where she slipped the baton.
After the finish, the Dutch foursome thought for a moment that the final had been reached.
After the finish, the Dutch foursome thought for a moment that the final had been reached. Photo: AP
The Netherlands was one of the contenders for a medal
Due to the incident, Peeters was far behind, but closing runner Bol passed three countries in the last part and crossed the line in third.
The euphoria and relief was enormous, until the Dutch runners heard through the speaker in the Hayward Field Stadium that they had been disqualified.
With Bol and Klaver, who already took silver in the 4×400 meters mixed in the opening weekend, the Netherlands was one of the contenders for a medal in the final, which now starts on Sunday without the orange team.
Men also dramatically miss the final
It also went painfully wrong with the Dutch relay men in the 4×400 meters. A year after a silver race at the Tokyo Games, the team finished fifth in the series in Eugene.
Isayah Boers, Terrence Agard, Nick Smidt and Ramsey Angela then had to wait and see whether their time of 3.03.14 was still enough for a place in the final and that turned out not to be the case. France was one hundredth faster with 3.03.13 and thus grabbed the last ticket for the final battle.