Three gold medals for the Netherlands at European indoor athletics

The Netherlands finished second in the medals table at the European indoor athletics championships in Turkey this weekend with three gold, three silver and one bronze.

The big surprise of the event was the gold medal for Douwe Amels in the high jump on Sunday. Amels cleared the bar at 2.31 metres on his second attempt, which was enough to secure him the title – and the Netherlands first ever indoor gold.

Earlier in the day Britt Weerman won the silver in the women’s event. The gold and silver are the first Dutch indoor high jump medals since 1977, when Ruud Wielart won bronze.

There was also Dutch success on the track. Femke Bol, who set a new world record for the 400 metres indoor last month, retained her European title with Lieke Klaver taking the silver.

Bol and Klaver were also part of the women’s 4×400 relay team which won gold, setting a new championship record of 3.25.66 in the process.

The men’s 4×400 relay team were unable to retain their title but did take bronze, behind Belgium and France.

Silver for Nadine Visser in the 60 metres hurdles completed the Dutch medal haul, which was enough to put them into second place behind Norway.