The final of the 100 meters in Ghent had an eventful course. Rani Rosius sent for a restart because she heard noise, but the starter did not respond. The game took off and Rosius remained in her block.
The jury eventually let her walk again, along with two others. And with success, because she raced to a personal best. She is now only second on the Belgian all-time ranking.
In her fourth race of the day – including qualifications – Rosius also ran a personal best of 23:46 in the 200 meters, an improvement of three hundredths. “A successful day, but above all a stressful day,” said Rosius.
“I ran that personal best in the 100 meters on pure rage, because I was angry because the starter had let the race start without me. In the 200 meters I knew I could handle my personal best, but not necessarily today, with three games in the legs already.”
Last week in Nairobi, Rosius ran a super time of 11″08, but the wind was blowing too much at the back with 2.5 meters per second. “It has given me confidence,” she says. I am now on my feet and I am sure that I will be able to do it again, although that may be too ambitious for this year. I just hope to dip below 11″20 sometime.” The Belgian record is 11″04 held by Kim Gevaert.
High jumper Merel Maes has shown in Ghent that she is already in good shape. The 18-year-old talent jumped over 1.92 meters. To reach the Olympic limit for Paris 2024, Maes has to jump another 5 centimeters higher: 1.97 meters.
Vanessa Sterckendries also delivered a great performance. With 69.10 meters in the hammer throw, she was less than a meter short of her own Belgian record.
