PARIS: Femke Bol ran a stunning last lap to lead the Netherlands to victory in the Olympic 4x400 metres mixed relay on Saturday, glorious redemption for the 24-year-old who fell just before the line in the same race at last year's World Championships.
Bol got the baton in fourth place, around 20 metres behind the leading United States, but ate up the ground in a spectacular 47.93 seconds leg before passing American Kaylyn Brown just before the line.
“I just went for it,“ Bol said. “We just wanted a medal this time, we didn’t think it would be gold, just a medal.
“Well, we got gold and are the Olympic champions. It is absolutely crazy for a small country like ours.”
The Dutch team of Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, Isaya Klein Ikkink and Bol clocked three minutes 7.43 seconds, missing the world record time the Americans set in Friday's heats by just two-hundredths of a second.
The U.S. took the silver medal in 3:07.74 and Britain claimed bronze in 3:08.01.
“We did exactly what we needed to do,“ said Vernon Norwood, who ran the lead-off leg for the U.S. “We are still world record holders and I can’t be more proud of us.”
The 24-year-old Bol, asked what was going through her mind rounding the bend into the home straight while the jam-packed Stade de France crowd cheered her on at an ear-splitting level, said: “Just keep going, keep going.
“And my general anger from (the worlds in) Budapest. That and my teammates cheering me. And the atmosphere in this stadium is absolutely incredible. It’s crazy. So everything together.”
TWO WORDS
Victory was within the Netherlands' grasp at last year's worlds before Bol crashed spectacularly to the track.
She bounced back to win the 400 hurdles in Hungary, however, and led the Dutch women's 4x400 team to victory.
“I keep telling everybody, Femke is just two words -- Femke Bol. She is once in a lifetime, just amazing,“ said Omalla.
“I saw her coming home on the last 100 (metres) and I knew she was going to take it. I knew it. I know we just made history and it is still kind of sinking in.”
Bol's blistering run on Saturday in front of a crowd who cheered her on with thunderous applause, sets up what should be a thrilling 400 hurdles battle with American world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in Paris
Bol however shrugged off the fast time.
“I hoped to run that fast some time but in the relay you never look too much at split times, it’s more about putting it together as a team and technically you have to race it well,“ she said.
The mixed relay made its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games where Poland won the gold medal. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe announced recently they plan to test a 4x100 mixed relay.
