Ready to do anything for her team. Belgian shot putter Jolien Boumkwo had to improvise herself as a 100 m hurdles specialist to avoid disqualification, and completed the distance in over 30 seconds at the European Athletics Team Championships on Saturday June 24 in Chorzow, Poland.
Boumkwo, visibly unaccustomed to this event and struggling to clear the hurdles, unsurprisingly finished last in her heat with a time of 32 sec 81/100ths, won by Spain’s Teresa Errandonea in 13 sec 22/100ths. You can watch the race in the videos below.
Jolien Boumkwo ???????? is a Shot Putter!
— Oluwadare (@Track_Gazette) June 24, 2023
Today, she ran the 100mH at the European Team Championships to secure 2 points for Belgium.
Safe to say her 32.81s was a PB. ????????pic.twitter.com/sWNQMyCrLs
In fact, the shot putter had to replace her compatriot Anne Zagré, a hurdle specialist, at short notice. No other hurdler on the Belgian team was available, and in the event of a forfeit, Belgium would have been disqualified.
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Boumkwo Belgian champion
“The team is the most important thing for me,” explained the 29-year-old, who was one head taller than her opponents. I couldn’t bear to lose by one point,” she added. “That’s why I agreed to take part in the 100 m hurdles. I wasn’t taking any risks if I went calmly.”
The previous day, Boumkwo, who holds the titles of Belgian champion in the hammer throw and shot put, had finished 7th in the shot put competition of this Euro team event, held as part of the European Games.
After 25 of the 37 events on the Euro-2023 team program, and before the final day on Sunday, Belgium is 16th and last, and therefore threatened with relegation to Europe’s 2nd division. They have a total of 159 points, two of which were scored on Saturday by Jolien Boumkwo despite their last-place finish.