Gaming

The Belgian Tornados finished in fourth place in the 4x400m relay, Belgium left Torun with 5 medals

The Belgian Tornados did not manage to finish on the podium of the Euro indoor athletics. On Sunday in Torun, the men’s 4×400-meter relay finished in 4th place in a time of 3: 06.96. The Netherlands won in 3: 06.06 ahead of the Czech Republic (3: 06.54) and Great Britain (3: 06.70).

Chosen by Jacques Borlée, Alexander Doom started the 25th Tornados final in the foreground. The Belgian indoor 400m champion passed the baton in 5th and last position to Jonathan Borlée, who failed to leave fifth place after his two laps of the track. Third torchbearer, Dylan Borlée allowed Belgium to quickly grab a position but Kevin Borlée, who started the last 400 meters with a certain delay on the top-3, could not do miracles for the Tornados, champions of Title and private Europe of Jonathan Sacoor, Julien Watrin and Robin Vanderbemden. The Belgian delegation therefore finished the competition with five medals: Nafi Thiam (pentathlon) and Elise Vanderelst (1,500m) won gold, Isaac Kimeli (3,000m) and Noor Vidts (pentathlon) silver and Thomas Carmoy (height) the bronze.

“Strange that the defending champion starts from lane 2”

First torchbearer, Alexander Doom passed the baton in fifth and last position to Jonathan Borlée, who was unable to come back up. Fourth after the relay of Dylan Borlée, Kevin Borlée failed 26 hundredths from the podium.

“We knew from the start that it was going to be difficult because we were in lane 2 and that we fell back in last position,” reacted Kevin Borlée. “I don’t find it normal that the defending champion ends up in lane 2. Initially, we were even in lane 1 but we changed after Poland withdrew. The rules are not clear when teams are invited. Either way. you take the average times into account, or you give the seed status to the host country. But you inform the other teams, which was not the case here. It was also the first race in a long time for Jonathan and me. We couldn’t run last year due to the coronavirus. We have to pick up somewhere and it was here, in Torun. We did not finish far from the podium, it’s encouraging. I believed third place was still possible. But it was my first 400 meters in a long time and I lacked a bit of leg strength in the last 50 meters. This is only a first step on the road towards Tokyo, which remains our main objective. We will do everything to be in very good shape. me next summer. ”

Dylan Borlée was disappointed with the performance. “We knew it was going to be tough with this draw. We tried to find a tactical solution but we got behind and couldn’t get out of it. It was a new and tricky situation for us. Obviously. we are disappointed but that does not change our goal for the summer. Considering our status as two-time European champion and title holder, we were surprised to find ourselves in lane 1. But that does not detract from the fact. that we should have done better. “ Jonathan Borlée also focused on Tokyo. “I had to accelerate and brake the whole race, it cut my legs. We have to learn from this race. We know what to work on and where to start.”

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