The runner to watch was in lane 2 and we couldn’t miss her. Belgium’s Jorian Bumkuo was a head taller than the other women in the second heat of the 100m hurdles.
Bumkou regularly competes in athletics’ strength events – shot put, hammer and discus – but Belgium needed a hurdler at the European Team Championships in Krakow, Poland on Saturday. Any hurdler.
The two men who were sent to the match were injured and if Belgium had not sent runners to the starting line at the 100 hurdles, the team would have been disqualified.
So when it became clear that there were no other candidates who could intervene, Beomkoo volunteered.
“I thought it would be very unlikely that I would have to do something like this,” Beomkwo said. He said he didn’t think too much about it once it became clear that he would be on the starting line.
“If I’m going to do it anyway, I want to do my best and have fun,” he said to himself.
And that seems to be exactly what she did. Beomkwo smiled and waved at the television cameras when she was introduced along with the other runners.
Form was never a priority for her. Bunkwo, 29, said in a phone interview Monday that she knew her hurdle technique, but she didn’t have the speed either. She finished seventh in Friday’s shot put.
Beomkou said she wasn’t nervous about the race. “It was a very nice atmosphere,” she said. “I took my race very seriously,” she added, “I challenged every hurdle.”
She said she is very happy with the role she has played for the team, but will continue to stick to her sport for now. “I’m not cut out for hurdling,” she said.
Belgium needed everything. The team wanted to stay in the top division of the European Team Championship. The competition is an event where nations compete against their counterparts in his three performance-based leagues. A disqualification would likely mean relegation for Belgium. Even if she finished last, she knew that running could give her two precious points and that could make the difference.
Then one afternoon, Beomkwo became a hurdler. Rather than jump over the hurdle, she stepped in and trotted to the next hurdle. When Beomkwo cautiously lifted her leg and crossed her first hurdle, the rest of the field had already crossed the second hurdle and sprinted to the next.
Her goal was to finish the race and finish on her own, no matter how long it took. Perhaps her embarrassing fall wouldn’t have changed the situation — she knew she was on the bottom — but her injury would have arguably made things worse. . Carefully and calmly she cleared every obstacle and crossed the finish line in 32.81 seconds.
The crowd erupted in appreciative cheers. Fellow runner Maya Maunsbach (Sweden) greeted Bunkwo with a high-five as she crossed the line. Katarina Queiroz of Portugal, who was running in the lane next to Bumkwo, extended her congratulations.
Maunsbach in 7th and Queiroz in 6th finished just a tenth of a second behind heat winner Teresa Erlandnea of Spain. who won in 13.22 seconds.
But the narrative ending was unexpected for Bunkwo and Belgium. Belgium finished 14th in the team standings, 6.5 points behind Greece, a gap not even Bumkwo could make up. Relegated to Division 2.
Beomkwo said he was disappointed by the demotion, but was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support. “This was probably my best European Championship ever,” she said. “We’ve done something really good.”
