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Paulien Couckuyt is in peak condition. Two weeks ago, she set a Belgian record at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, and on Friday evening, in front of her home crowd in Brussels, she ran even faster. 53.20 is the new best time, 8 hundredths of a second faster than the previous record. In the final, she was only beaten by the American Anna Cockrell (53.01) and the Slovakian European Champion Emma Zapletalova (53.10).
“I’m absolutely delighted to have been able to show this to my home crowd,” beamed Couckuyt. “Today I knew that lots of people had come especially for me, and I’m glad I was able to give something back. It was the very first time I’ve been allowed to run a lap of honour, and I enjoyed every second of it. The crowd’s enthusiasm was brilliant. It’s crazy how close I got to Emma and Anna, but in the final stretch I just lacked that extra push to get even closer.”
“I finished fourth at the European Championships, but the fact that I ran the sixth-fastest time in the world this year and finished on the Diamond League podium twice feels almost surreal. I may not have made the top three in Europe, but I’m now third in the world rankings. I never would have dared to dream of it,” concluded the Belgian record holder.
BACARI FIFTH IN THE 110-METRE HURDLES
Elie Bacari did not disappoint either. In the 110-metre hurdles, he can be proud of a fine fifth place. However, his time of 13.42 was a fair way off his personal best of 13.25.
The other Belgians were unable to really get in on the action for the top places. Ben Broeders finished sixth in the pole vault (5m52) and Yanni Sampson sixth in the long jump (7m82). High jumper Thomas Carmoy (2.16 metres) and triple jumper Saliyya Guisse (13.33 metres) both finished seventh, as did 400-metre runner Daniel Segers (44.82). Simon Verherstraeten finished ninth in the 100 metres (10.28) and Ruben Verheyden came tenth (3:32.47) in the 1,500 metres. Unfortunately, Jana Van Lent had to withdraw from the 5,000-metre final.
An additional 400-metre race was scheduled for both the men and women. In these so-called invitational races, Jonathan Sacoor (44.85) and Kylie Lambert (53.08) were the top Belgian performers, both setting new personal bests.