Netherlands dropped from first to fourth place on Saturday, the third day of the European Athletics Championships for national teams in Madrid. The penultimate day did end well for the Dutch team, with two impressive relay victories in the 4×100 meters.
The Netherlands had an excellent Friday. Femke Bol, Menno Vloon, Jessica Schilder, and Jorinde van Klinken won in their discipline, putting the Netherlands in first place.
On Saturday evening, there were two more winning events, in the 4×100 meters. First, the men’s team, consisting of Nsikak Ekpo, Taymir Burnet, Xavi Mo-Ajok, and Elvis Afrifa, won convincingly. They even did so in a time of 37.87, a new Dutch record.
Then it was the turn of Nadine Visser, Lieke Klaver, Minke Bisschops, and Marije van Hunenstijn. The women’s team also won and immediately improved the national record, with a time of 42.02.
Furthermore, Nadine Visser also ran the 100-meter hurdles and narrowly missed first place. She clocked a time of 12.39, but the Swiss Ditaji Kambundji was only two thousandths faster. However, more striking results did not materialize on Saturday.
Netherlands overtaken by Italy, Germany, and Poland
The Netherlands is on 253.5 points and has dropped to fourth place. The difference with leader and defending champion Italy is 36.5 points. Number two Germany is 12.5 points ahead, number three Poland three points. At the same time, the Netherlands itself cherishes a lead of 1.5 points over Great Britain.
Tomorrow is the last day of the European Championships, with mainly running events. Klaver will start in the 200 meters, Maureen Koster in the 1,500 meters, Stefan Nillessen in the 1,500 meters, and Niels Laros in the 5,000 meters. The 4×100 meter mixed relay is the closing event of the weekend. Bol has already announced that she will not be in action then.