A bronze medal again, the third in the history of this competition created in 2014, which crowns the efforts of Dylan Borlée, Robin Vanderbemden, Alexander Doom and Jonathan Sacoor, aligned in that order by coach Jacques Borlée.
Determined to take advantage of the absence of the United States, sent the day before to the repechage after having violated the regulations (a change of position in the transmission zone), the Belgians were certainly unable to challenge the supremacy of Botswana (2.59. 11), led by an impressive Letsile Tebogo.
But like Jonathan Sacoor they fought until the last meter to finish on the podium where South Africa also took place (3.00.75).
Sixth when receiving the baton from the hands of Dylan Borlée (46.66), Robin Vanderbemden first fought to position himself in third position at the drawdown, before paying the bill at the end (44.51).
Fifth, Alexander Doom was going to follow the chasing group until the start of the final straight, the Roularien pulling away to gain two places (44.90) and give way in third position to Jonathan Sacoor.
Second at the entrance to the straight after a great maneuver, he did it with the energy he had left (45.09), after having already been very busy the day before, in order to keep third place at the last minute.
A little earlier, our other finalist relay, the mixed one with Florent Mabille, Imke Vervaet, Christian Iguacel and Camille Laus, had been disqualified after the baton fell during the transmission between the last two. But the team was already in last place at that time.
The Cheetahs in Paris
We would prefer to remember that the Belgian 4x400m achieved a flawless performance this weekend! The Belgian Cheetahs will indeed accompany the Tornados and the mixed relay at the Paris Olympic Games this summer after winning their qualification this Sunday.
In a composition modified by half compared to the series (with Imke Vervaet replacing Hanne Claes and Camille Laus taking the place of Liefde Schoemaker), our women's national team, completed by Naomi Van den Broeck and Helena Ponette in positions 1 and 4, battled against Spain, the Czech Republic and the Australia for most of this repechage round.
Camille Laus, thanks to a good finish, however allowed Helena Ponette to give herself a little breathing room and occupy, with an interesting lead, this first place which the Ostendaise would never let go of.
The Olympic ticket, which had eluded the Belgian Cheetahs the day before, was in their pocket this time thanks to a time of 3.26.79, the fastest of the three series!
No Olympics for the 4x100m
This third Olympic qualification was unfortunately also the last for our country which had entered five teams in the competition. Neither the Belgian Rockets nor the Belgian Falcons, disqualified the day before, have, in fact, managed to place themselves in useful order in the 4x100m during this repechage.
The quartet composed of Rani Vincke, Rani Rosius, Janie De Naeyer and Delphine Nkansa, having erased the errors of the day before, signed the best time in its young history in 43.17 but their 4th place was insufficient to win the precious sesame reserved for the top 2 from each series.
The men's race was quickly aborted: Ward Merckx, our second runner, seemed to have started a little too quickly and Kobe Vleminckx was never able to reach him.
For the Belgian Falcons as for the Rockets, the last possibility of qualifying for the Olympics lies in the clock. Two tickets will in fact be issued at the end of June to the fastest teams on the World Athletics list, among non-qualified countries, at the end of the qualification period. The Euro in Rome could, in this regard, be very important.
World Relays: the finals
MEN
- 4x100m: 1. United States 37.40; 2. Canada 37.89; 3. France 38.44.
- 4x400m: 1. Botswana 2.59.11; 2. South Africa 3.00.75; 3. BELGIUM 3.01.16.
WOMEN
- 4x100m: 1. United States 41.85; 2. France 42.75; 3. Great Britain 42.80.
- 4x400m: 1. United States 3.21.70; 2. Poland 3.24.71; 3. Canada 3.25.17.
MIXED
- 4x400m: 1. United States 3.10.73; 2. Netherlands 3.11.45; 3. Ireland 3.11.53;… Belgium disqualified.
