Tibo De Smet set a top time of 1’44″89 in the 800 meters during the Nacht van de Atletiek in Heusden. He thus improved his personal best. Indoor world champion Noor Vidts was satisfied with her comeback, local heroine Rani Rosius rushed to the 2nd place in the 100 meters and Ruben Verheyden ran the European Championship limit in the 1,500 meters.
The Night of Athletics is traditionally an appointment for the top of the Belgian athletics world to measure themselves against a few strong foreigners. A strong performance came in the 800 meters from Tibo De Smet.
De Smet already cleverly crowned himself Belgian champion last week with a personal best of 1’45″32, but in Heusden (1’44″89) he went a lot faster. De Smet comes in twelfth place in the European ranking and was already qualified for the European Championship in Munich in August since last week.
With his time in Heusden, De Smet also fell below the World Cup limit, but those qualifications were closed last week. So De Smet arrives just too late for Eugene. In the 800 meters, the victory went to the Australian Peter Bol (1’44″26).
“I knew I could go even faster, but not that fast,” said a satisfied De Smet afterwards. “Now I come to five hundredths of the personal best of Eliott Crestan, my idol. I settled in the back at the beginning of the race, but already felt that I could move up a lot and that worked.”
The missed World Cup qualification is not too much of a disappointment for De Smet: “From the beginning of the season, my goal has been the European Championship in Munich, so I will not be sad and above all enjoy it. I will not plan many matches in the coming weeks and I want to prepare for that European Championship in training.”
Rosius collides with Dutch, Vleminckx wins in men
A few Belgian athletes competed in the 100 meters. In the women’s race, Rani Rosius ran to 2nd place in 11’39 after the Dutch Jamile Samuel. In the men’s race, Kobe Vleminckx won in 10’26, barely 1 hundredth above his personal best.
Norwegian Vidts seems ready for the World Cup, Verheyden under the European Championship limit
Noor Vidts finished fourth in the 100 meter hurdles in a time of 13:33. After problems with the hamstrings, it was only the first hurdle race of the season for Vidts.
“I’m very happy with this,” Vidts said afterwards. “We only completed a full hurdle training this week, before that it was difficult because of the hamstring problems. The hurdles is a discipline in which you always have to look for competition rhythm, so this chrono is top for a season opener.”
“I go to the World Cup without concrete expectations,” Vidts also added. “That has always worked well. I’m going to enjoy it there and do my best in every test, and then we’ll see what that yields.
“I have done a lot of running training, so I have the most confidence in the 800 meters. Long jump may be the most difficult, but I will test that for the first time in France on Monday. On Tuesday I will board a plane to the World Cup.”
On the 1,500 meters, Ruben Verheyden qualified for the European Championship in Munich. He raced to 2nd place in a time of 3’35″19. Tarik Moukrime (3’36″43), Stijn Baeten (3’36″52) and Jochem Vermeulen (3’37″73) also performed well, but did not fall below the European Championship limit of 3’36”.
I’m going to the World Cup with no real expectations, I’m going to enjoy it there and see what it will bring me.
Noor Vidts (archive).
Elise Vanderelst confidently goes to World Cup after PR at 800 meters
Elise Vanderelst finished fifth on Saturday in the 800 meters at the Night of Athletics in Heusden. The European indoor champion in the 1,500 meters improved her personal record considerably to 2’01″68. Vanderelst’s personal best since 2020 has stood at 2’02″65. A good sign less than two weeks before the World Cup in Eugene, where she will compete in the 1,500 meters.
In the 400 meters hurdles, the victory went to Paulien Couckuyt† She clocked 55″45 in her last game before the trip to the World Cup in Eugene. Couckuyt’s best season time since the BC last week is 55″30, her national record since the Games in Tokyo is 54″47.
“My feeling is pretty good,” said Couckuyt after her match. “I only miss some resistance to really go to the limit. I am a championship runner, so I am convinced that I can run in 54 seconds again at the World Cup. Whether I really go towards my Belgian record, is another question, but I especially want to sharpen that at the European Championship in Munich in August.”
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