Belgian Shot Putter Jolien Boumkwo proved that showing up to represent her teammates is at least half the battle and maybe even just as important as winning.
Boumkwo, who was at the European Athletics Team Championships in Poland on Saturday for her real sport, shot put, didn’t want to see her team unrepresented during the 100-meter hurdles, so she stepped in to save the day, CNN reported.
As it happened, the actual hurdlers for Belgium had all reported injuries and could not compete in the race.
So, Boumkwo subbed for her team and, out of the eight runners, earned a time of 32.81 seconds – 19 seconds behind the seventh-placed competitor.
Boumkwo’s run has gone viral on social media, showing her gamely stepping over each hurdle, which was a bit easier for her since she towered over her opponents.
An amazing moment at the European Team Championships 🔥
Belgium’s Anne Zagré was going to run the 100m hurdles but got injured
So shot putter (with every point counting) Jolien Boumkwo stepped in at the last minute and this was the result pic.twitter.com/2V7l3P2lBh
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) June 24, 2023
While it was clear that Boumkwo treated the whole exercise as good fun, she had a serious reason for joining the race.
Team Belgium earned two points for having a runner in the race, and those two points kept the team from being disqualified from the games, CNN reported. Still, team Belgium was relegated to the second division at the meet, finishing 14th out of 16 countries with a score of 250. But, at least they weren’t last and, even better, were saved from being thrown out entirely.
Belgian Jolien Boumkwo pictured in action during the women’s 100m hurdles race at the European Athletics Team Championships, in Chorchow, Silesia, Poland, Saturday 24 June 2023. (THOMAS WINDESTAM/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
For her part, Boumkwo won seventh place in the shot put, so she fared better than her team did overall. But her example of team spirit made her the biggest winner of the weekend.
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