Bol & co at the World Cup cup under the swamp of rules: ‘What have we done wrong?’

• Luke Blijboom

  NOS editor in Eugene, Oregon

1,599 meters and 80 centimeters long, the Dutch relay women ran a race in the 4 x 400 meters on Saturday that could more than withstand the test of criticism. The orange-clad quartet appeared to be preparing for the final on the final day of the world championships in Eugene after third place in the series, but did not count on article 24.6 of the regulations.

The article in question prescribes that the aluminum tube must be held in the hands of the runners for the entire 1,600 meters, the Dutch women were rubbed under the nose afterwards. Precisely debutante Cathelijn Peeters walked 20 centimeters too little with the baton in hand, the jury judged after studying the images.

It was the distance that the ‘baton’ rolled over the tartan, after the takeover of Lieke Klaver from Peeters failed miserably halfway through the race.

The overzealous competition management resulted in an early retreat for the specialists in the 400 meters, of whom Lieke Klaver and especially Femke Bol left a great impression last week after their performances in the Hayward Field Stadium.

For Bol, winner of silver in both the 4 x 400 mixed and the 400 hurdles, her great World Cup with the disqualification went like a candle. And that while the 22-year-old Amersfoortse once again demonstrated on Saturday that he was in excellent form.

In the preliminary round of the final relay number over four full laps, she made sure that the stadium clock stopped at 3.28.58 with a blistering final sprint in the last 100 meters. The third fastest time was a guarantee for a starting ticket in Sunday’s final battle.

All’s well that ends well, then. Athan, so it seemed. Starting runner Hanneke Oosterwegel and the other three runners heaved a sigh of relief after the race when it looked as if Bol’s swoop neatly brushed away a failed takeover halfway through the race.

The mission to reach the final threatened to go badly wrong after the misunderstanding between Klaver and Peeters. The takeover failed, Peeters dropped the baton, after which she quickly picked it up, continued her race and finally pressed the baton into Femke Bol’s hand. He overtook four opponents, ran from place 7 to 3 and apparently saved the furniture.

A few minutes after the race, however, the letters ‘DQ’ appeared on the scoreboard after the word ‘Netherlands’. So, disqualification. Where the stadium speaker initially spoke of an exclusion for hindering a French runner, the jury turned out to have found another wrongdoing.

Because according to article 24.6 the baton must be held in the hands of a runner for the full four laps, the Netherlands had broken the rules. It was the explanation that the foursome were told after protests were registered.

Peeters, it sounded like, was only allowed to continue her race after she had first walked back twenty centimeters to the exact spot where the stick had touched the ground for the first time. It would also have sufficed if Klaver had walked back twenty centimeters and had handed the tube over to Peeters again.

The verdict of the jury led to disbelief in the Dutch team. “Of course the rules are there for you to abide by,” said Klaver. “There are just so many and they are handled so strictly. That is difficult in a relay race where you approach at high speed, there are people everywhere on the track and the adrenaline is rushing through your body.”

“When you make that much lactate, your body isn’t your body anymore,” she continued her explanation. “Then it acts on autopilot and things like that can happen.”

The fact that the Netherlands went under in the swamp of rules was a hard blow for the foursome. Without wanting to use it as an excuse, it really bothered Bol that the jury did not act in the spirit of the competition. “I mean, let’s drop the baton and still finish in the top three. Come on! What have we done wrong?”

The fact that the men in the 4 x 400 meters had just missed a ticket for the final with the smallest possible difference, did not make the mood in the Dutch camp much better. With their 3.03.14, Isayah Boers, Terrence Agard, Nick Smidt and Ramsey Angela were exactly one-hundredth of a second short of going through to the final battle.

The double damper made something clear, Klaver thought. “We also do this as a team. We will cry first and then set new goals. Fortunately, we have another European Championship next month. Because of course this is not what we are training so hard for.”