This past weekend, the Belgian track and field team was in danger of being disqualified from the European Team Championships because both female hurdlers were injured and couldn’t run. You have to field a competitor in every event to qualify for the trophy.
So someone else stepped up to run the event and save the meet for Belgium — shotputter Jolien Boumkwo. She ran the 100-meter hurdles in what was surely a personal best of 32.81 seconds — and didn’t knock over a single hurdle. She also looked like she was having a blast.
Every point *does* count at the European Team Championships!
Seventh in the shot put, Jolien Boumkwo 🇧🇪 steps in for the 100m hurdles at the very last minute in #Silesia2023! 👏 #EG2023
(@TeamBelgium, @The_EOC) pic.twitter.com/3rhERw9y5I
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) June 24, 2023
Sure, Jolien came in dead last, nearly 20 seconds behind the winner. But she kept the meet alive for her country — and became a viral superstar.