The runner to watch was in Lane 2, and he or she was laborious to miss: Jolien Boumkwo of Belgium was a head taller and heavier than each different lady within the second warmth of the 100-meter hurdles.
Boumkwo usually competes in observe and subject’s power occasions — the shot-put, hammer throw and discus — however on Saturday on the European Team Championships in Krakow, Poland, Belgium wanted a hurdler. Any hurdler.
The two it had introduced to the meet had been injured, and if Belgium didn’t ship a runner to the beginning line within the 100 hurdles, its workforce would have been disqualified.
So Boumkwo agreed to run. Sort of.
Boumkwo beamed and waved to the tv cameras when she was launched with the remaining of the runners.
Form was not her precedence. Neither was velocity. “My team is the most important thing for me,” mentioned Boumkwo, 29, who had completed seventh within the shot-put on Friday.
She knew Belgium wanted each level. Its workforce hoped to keep within the prime division of the European Team Championships, an occasion by which nations compete towards their relative friends in three leagues which might be primarily based on efficiency. Disqualification would almost definitely imply demotion for Belgium. Running, even when she completed final, would imply 2 invaluable factors; not a lot, however even 2 factors, she knew, is perhaps the distinction.
“I couldn’t let it happen to lose by one point,” she informed Agence France-Presse. “That’s why I considered taking part.
“There was no risk for me if I took it calmly.”
And so, for one afternoon, Boumkwo turned a hurdler. Stepping reasonably than leaping over every hurdle, after which jogging to the subsequent one, she took her time. The relaxation of the sphere was already over their second hurdle and sprinting towards the subsequent when Boumkwo lifted her foot ever-so-carefully over the primary one.
Her aim was to end, and to end on her ft, nevertheless lengthy it took. An embarrassing fall most likely wouldn’t have made a distinction — she knew she was going to be final — however an harm positively would have made issues worse. Carefully and calmly, she cleared each impediment and crossed the end line in 32.81 seconds.
The crowd cheered in appreciation. A fellow runner, Maja Maunsbach of Sweden, greeted Boumkwo simply previous the road with a double-handed excessive 5. Catarina Queiros of Portugal, who had run within the lane subsequent to Boumkwo, prolonged a hand of congratulations.
Both Maunsbach, who was seventh, and Queiros, who was sixth, had completed fractions of a second behind the warmth’s winner, Teresa Errandonea of Spain, who received in 13.22 seconds.
The storybook ending for Boumkwo and Belgium, nevertheless, was not to be. Belgium completed 14th within the workforce standings, 6.5 factors behind Greece — a spot too massive for even Boumkwo to make up — and was demoted to Division 2.
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