Ireland may not have made the cut, but there was no shortage of entertainment on offer in this evening's 4x400m mixed relay final as the Dutch claimed gold in dramatic fashion at the Paris Olympics.
The Americans entered the race as strong favourites, having smashed the world record in this event during yesterday's semi-finals. Many expected them to follow that up with a gold medal and perhaps another world record to boot.
For much of this evening's race, it seemed as though that would be the case.
The USA looked like the strongest team for the opening three legs of the event, putting themselves in a strong position to come out on top. Their closest challenge was likely to come from Belgium or Great Britain.
The Netherlands were in fourth place, and despite the fact that Femke Bol was running their final leg, they looked unlikely to challenge for gold.
What would follow was one of the most dramatic finishes to an Olympic relay in recent memory.
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Femke Bol Produces Huge Comeback To Win Olympic 4x400m Mixed Relay
Femke Bol made up a huge amount of ground on her rivals in the final leg, overtaking the Belgians before she rounded the final corner. She would go on to hunt down GB, but a massive push would be required to catch the Americans.
That did not deter the Dutchwoman, who would go on to complete the most dramatic of comebacks to claim Olympic gold for her nation.
Femke Bol OMFG!! #Paris2024 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/i6eBWgxZq6
— MarkContador (@MontVentoux23) August 3, 2024
Out of this world.
Here's the Dutch commentary on that dramatic finish.
🔥🇫🇷 | GOUD! Wat een legendarische eindsprint van Femke Bol! Kippenvel! Het eerste atletiekgoud is nu al een feit.🎽🇳🇱 #Paris2024
📺 Stream Paris 2024 op HBO Max pic.twitter.com/tRilQ9U7dO— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) August 3, 2024
Femke Bol is a genuine superstar in the world of athletics, having already claimed both outdoor and indoor gold at World Championship level in the 400m hurdles as a 24-year old. Having won bronze in the event in Tokyo, she will be the favourite to claim gold over the coming days.
Bol was a part of the Dutch team for this event at the European Championships back in June, running the closing leg as they finished third behind Ireland and Italy.
This win would have more than made up for that result, as well as the disappointment the Netherlands suffered in this event in the 2023 World Championships. On that occasion, Bol would fall just short of the line and hand victory to the Americans.
She no doubt will be thrilled to reverse that result on this occasion.
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