Dutch women win 4x400m relay for fifth European gold medal

The women’s 4x400m relay team claimed the Netherlands’ fifth gold medal of the European athletics championships with a third successive victory in the event.

The Dutch drafted in Lieke Klaver, bronze medalliist in the individual 400m, and Femke Broeders-Bol, who won bronze at 800m, as they faced a strong challenge frorm the British team.

Myrte van der Schoot and Klaver built a commanding lead on the first two legs, but the British closed the gap on Eveline Saalberg on leg three to set up a showdown between Broeders-Bol and Emily Newnham.

Broeders-Bol held Newnham on her shoulder for the first 300m before pulling away in the home straight to finish half a second clear in an overall time of 3 minutes 21.1 seconds.

In the final event of the championships in Birmingham, the the men’s team added a bronze medal, their first ever in the 4x400m relay, in a photo finish with Belgium.

Jonas Phijffers, who also won bronze in the individual 400m, edged out Belgium’s Daniel Segers on the line by 0.02 seconds as the Dutch quarter of Eugene Omalla, Keenan Blake, Liemarvin Bonevacia and Phijffers finished in 2 minutes 59.49 seconds. Italy won the gold medal, just 0.03 seconds ahead of the British team.

Best ever haul

The two medals on the last day completed the Netherlands’ most successful ever performance at a European athletics championships, with 14 medals, five of them gold.

The Dutch finished fourth in the overall medal table behind Italy, who won nine gold medals, Great Britain and Germany.

Jessica Schilder won the women’s shot put with a commanding performance ahead of Jorinde van Klinken, who went on to take gold in the discus with her opening throw on Friday.

Nadine Visser won her first European outdoor title at 100m hurdles by the smallest possible margin of 0.001 seconds, while the biggest surprise was Stefan Nillessen’s victory in the men’s 1500m final on Saturday.

Broeders-Bol’s two medals made her the most successful Dutch athlete in the history of the European championships with eight medals – the same number as Fanny Blankers-Koen amassed in the 1950s.

However, Broeders-Bol, 26, won six gold medals, one more than Blankers-Koen, as well as a silver and a bronze, across three championships.