Verherstraeten was the anchor runner of the Belgian team that won bronze in the 4×100 metres at the European Championships in Birmingham. Individually, he also reached the final in England, but calf cramps prevented him from giving his all. His top performances at the European Championships did, however, earn him a wildcard for the Diamond League final in Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I remember coming to the Memorial with my club as a child,\u201d says Verherstraeten. \u201cAries Merritt\u2019s world record in the 110-metre hurdles in 2012 has stayed with me, as has Christian Coleman\u2019s 9.79 in the 100 metres. I was a bit older then, but 2018 is a while back now too.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These days, I come across the world\u2019s top athletes more regularly at competitions, but I\u2019m still a bit starstruck. On Friday, I\u2019ll be standing next to Coleman and other top athletes \u2013 athletes I looked up to when I was younger. It\u2019s really exciting and special.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, Verherstraeten will be fully focused on the track on Friday. “I want to run a fast time in front of the home crowd. It\u2019s a fast track and there\u2019ll be 30,000 people cheering us on. Hopefully that will give me that extra push to run really fast.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verherstraeten\u2019s PR is 10.06, his season\u2019s best 10.12. “I hope to go for a PR on Friday. The Belgian record set by Ronald Desruelles in 1985 (10.02) and the World Championships qualifying time (9.95) aren\u2019t my primary focus. A PR is the goal, and a Belgian record or World Championships qualifying time would be a nice added bonus,” says Verherstraeten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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