To the delight of their coach, Carole Bam, who had decided to start Imke Vervaet and Camille Laus in place of Hanne Claes and Liefde Schoemaker respectively.
“Everyone told me that we would pass easily but as long as we don't have the qualification in hand, it's difficult to be completely calm”, explains the one who is nicknamed “Mama Cheetah” by her athletes. “You never know what can happen. We saw it with Cynthia's injury package (Bolingo) or the fact that Hanne (Claes) fell ill three days before the race. And I didn’t want the girls to think that this second race was going to be a walk in the park.”
The facts proved Carole Bam right both in terms of the course of the race, more competitive than many thought, and in terms of the choices she made.
With Imke and Camille, I had certain guarantees.
”I am satisfied with what we decided because we did not actually win with a lead and with the same composition as in the playoffs (Editor’s note: where Belgium finished 3rd in its race)I even think that we might not have passedcontinues the Belgian-Cameroonian coach. We had to take all possible precautions and with Imke and Camille I had certain guarantees.”
Only problem, with 40 minutes of difference between the Cheetahs race and the final of the mixed relay, where only one change was authorized (Florent Mabille took over from Jonathan Sacoor), this second event (where Belgium, at the back of peloton, was ultimately going to be disqualified after the baton fell during the passage between Christian Iguacel and Camille Laus) was not going to be able to be fully exploited.
“Our Olympic qualification with the Cheetahs was a priority”, believes Carole Bam, aware that the (relative) failure of the series will cost her team a good place in the Olympics. “The allocation is actually made based on the results in the A final… where we were not. So everything has consequences!”
Cynthia Bolingo's coach is aware that the absence of her fastest athlete weighed heavily in the balance. “We clearly missed her in the series! We were not yet in the form we will be in in August, that was evident, and his help would have been very useful. The frustration of the Cheetahs is this: we are rarely at full strength.”
Let's hope for the women's 4x400m relay that this is the case in Paris. In the meantime, Cynthia Bolingo, who suffered an injury to her calf, has yet to find the solution to her physical problem.
”I had her this Monday morning, it's difficult for her because the healing process is too slow for her liking. She fears having to skip the European Championships in Rome where we had decided to go and race the individual and if necessary the 4x400m final. We’ll see how this evolves…”
