Femke Bol leads mixed relay team in Apeldoorn to European gold

The Dutch athletics team closed the first day of the European Indoor Athletics Championship in Apeldoorn with a gold medal. The quartet on the 4 × 400 meter mixed relay ran under the leadership of Vedette Femke Bol to the European title in a time of 3.15.63. That was just not a European record (3.15.50).

Nick Smidt opened the competition for the Netherlands, after which Eveline Saalberg entered the track and then Tony van Diepen. From a third position he gave the baton to Bol, who, under loud cheers of the public in full omnisport, meant the first round for a while, but went over the Belgian athlete in the second round and rushed to the title.

The so -called 'Mixed Relay' was first walked at a European Championship indoor. The part is already Olympic. Bol, together with Lieke Klaver, Eugene Omalla and Isaya Klein Ikkink last summer at the Paris Olympic Gold Games. They skipped this relay number in Apeldoorn and focus on the individual battle on the 400 meters.

After the Paris Games, Bol consciously did not do an indoor season. The Amersfoortse had not skipped a tournament since the Tokyio Games and felt a need for rest. So she abandoned individual performances in the 400 meters, but she made an exception for the European Championships around the corner in Apeldoorn. The reigning world and European champion in the 400-meter indoor also felt that the Dutch public wanted to see her in action in Omnisport, where she ran a world record twice in the 400 meters.

Bol gave the five thousand spectators where for their money with a stunning performance as a last runner of the relay quartet. Belgium ran to the silver in 3.16.19 and the United Kingdom took the bronze in 3.16.49.

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