Naturally, shortly after her crash, Bol had a microphone pushed under her nose to explain what had happened. She didn’t really know that herself. “I wanted to go, but my legs didn’t want to. Often I can still recover if that happens, but not now,” said Bol in conversation with NOS .
“Sometimes people think I’m a machine, but I’m not. I have now shown that,” she continued. “I really don’t understand why I didn’t have the legs, I also don’t understand why I couldn’t finish. In terms of pain, I don’t feel anything, but that will come when the adrenaline is gone.”
Teammates support Bol
Bol came into contact with the tartan head first at top speed, but got up super fast. Fast enough to still finish third, were it not for the fact that the baton had fallen, breaking the regulations. Even that consolation prize was not awarded to Bol and her teammates.
Those teammates, Liemarvin Bonevacia, Lieke Klaver and Isaya Klein Ikkink, tried to support Bol where possible. Also during the camera call. “I’m not thinking about that medal, but how Femke is doing,” said Klein Ikkink. “This is athletics. We will come back stronger for gold. We can’t turn it back and just keep going,” added Bonevacia.
Ever world champion
“One day we will become world champions”, Klaver was convinced. “We will not just let it happen, we will solve this together.” Bol himself undoubtedly hopes to take revenge in the 400 meter hurdles. There is every chance of that too, because she is the favorite for gold. However, it turns out that this is not a guarantee.
The other three runners will of course still be in action on ‘their’ parts. Bizarrely enough, Sifan Hassan also has to take revenge, on his own, after a fall in the final phase of the 10,000 meters.
WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?
The World Athletics Championships in Budapest will take place from Saturday, August 19 to Sunday, August 27. You can follow this event live on Eurosport or stream ad-free via discovery+.