Jolien Boumkwo took one for the team and gave it her best shot
Photo by Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters
(Reuters) – Belgium shotput and hammer throw champion Jolien Boumkwo displayed great team spirit at the European Championships in Poland when she stepped up outside her event and ran the 100-meter hurdles race to save her team from getting disqualified.
Boumkwo appeared all smiles when she carefully attempted each hurdle on Saturday in a video that went viral, after she stepped in when Belgium’s two hurdlers had to pull out due to injury.
Had no Belgian athlete competed in the event, the team would have been disqualified.
The 29-year-old finished the race without knocking any of the hurdles down in 32.81 seconds, 19 seconds after Spanish sprinter Teresa Errandonea who won with 13.22.
Boumkwo was applauded by the audience and congratulated by her rivals as she earned two points for the team.
The points could be crucial as the bottom three countries will be relegated from Division 1.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Christian Radnedge)