Jonathan Borlée and Louise Carton clinch their ticket for the Euro

One week before the qualifying deadline, Jonathan Borlée (400m) and Louise Carton (5,000m) joined the (large) Belgian delegation for the Berlin Euro on the occasion of the traditional Nuit de l Athletics of Heusden. No less than 36 athletes black-yellow-red have now met the criteria in an individual event, a record at this level.

For his second 400 m of the summer, Jonathan Borlée, unhappy with his preparatory outing on 300 m Wednesday in Liege and long disturbed in its preparation by a fracture in the elbow occurred in mid-June, was imposed in 45.57, far below the required 45.89, ahead of his brother Kevin (45.67) and the Dutchman Bonevacia (45.86) . Dylan Borlée finished fourth in 46.04.

After leaving very quickly, the Belgian record holder of the specialty, who had won, suffered in the straight line, it is true against the wind, and c is tearing himself apart that he went to seek his qualification.

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I still have a small resistance problem, he acknowledged. But I focused on what I had to do without ever thinking about the clock. I never thought that I would not succeed. I knew I was on the right track, even if my 300m Wednesday in Liège had disturbed me a little. Today, I'm running out of race and I know I still have a huge margin.

Card: "A victory over myself"
                    
                

For her part, 24-year-old Louise Carton competed in a 5.000m race, where she finished 17th (but 3rd European) in 15.33.25 where she had to run in 15.36.42. A beautiful rehabilitation for the Flandrienne after a hellish season 2017 where, by her own admission, she had been victim of overtraining after the year of the revelation, in 2016. So she had missed the qualification for the London Worlds before you hurt your ankle and miss the entire cross season. Bad news never coming alone, she had lost her elite sports contract in the wake …

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                        I clearly put too much pressure last year, she said. I see this qualification as a victory for myself because I have experienced difficult times. I was too young and I wanted to do too much. At one point, I even wondered if I should continue. I'm glad I gave myself this chance
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Abdi, the Pass of Three
                    
                

Already qualified over 10,000m and marathon, Bashir Abdi has added a third event to his panoply with the 5,000m race where he finished 9th in 13.19.80 … just behind Soufiane Bouchikhi (13.19.55). The two men will line up on 5,000 and 10,000 m in Berlin and can dream of a medal on the longest of the two distances, why not gold …

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We will run as a team, a bit like the Red Devils! Slapped Abdi. "We can actually help each other until the final sprint

" added Bouchikhi, whose ambition seems tenfold since this winter and its superb season of cross. Both will now refine their preparation, the first in St. Moritz, the second in Ifrane.

                    

Zagré fails clearly on hedges
                    
                

Anne Zagré, on the other hand, failed widely in her quest for the European minimum of 100m hurdles (13.12). The Excelsior athlete, who has never had a difficult season like this, with knee and thigh injury problems, finished only 5th in 13.37 (+0.4), being even beaten by another Belgian, Sarah Missine, 4th in 13.35 of a race won by the Jamaican Wilson in 12.93.

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It's like that …, she explained, fatalistic, after the arrival. I had never missed a big open-air championship since my senior debut at the Barcelona Euro 2010, and that could be odd (note: she had announced before the meeting that this was her last attempt, but could finally try one last time his luck next Saturday in Ninove). I still believed it, but I struggled to find the rhythm. I did not go well, I ran out of explosiveness and I was way too high over hurdles
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No minimum for Pieter-Jan Hannes (3.38.28) and Tarik Moukrime (3.38.59) for 1.500 m and Aaron Botterman (1.47.12) for 800 m.

                     The Cheetahs reassured themselves
                

The Night of Athletics also served as the ultimate test for the Belgian Cheetahs, the women's 4x400m national team. Despite the absence of Cynthia Bolingo, slightly ill, and despite the fact that three of the four riders had competed in an individual race shortly before, Margo Van Puyvelde, Hanne Claes, Justien Grillet and Camille Laus won in 3.31.10, 2 seconds behind their Belgian record, ahead of Sweden and Jamaica.

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This is not a bad result given the circumstances, confessed the captain Camille Laus, especially as I had twisted my ankle warm up before the 400 m … We were able to work our resistance and our witness passages. In Berlin, the final will be our big goal.