Bonevacia bites: please have some respect for my performance

Bonevacia ran a moderate time for him (46.50), which may have cost the Netherlands a gold medal. “I think there should be a little more respect for my performance. I sacrificed myself on Friday for the team and for the Netherlands. You should be proud that we got the silver,” he said. -he declares.

The 33-year-old clearly needed to make a statement. “The rules have changed, only one athlete can be changed for the final. I decided to run twice on Friday, both the series and the final. In the series, I blew myself up to go very fast (44 , 93) If I hadn’t reached the series, we might not even have reached the final, I knew the final was going to be tough for me, as my muscles were sore and my legs were still tired, but I also knew that Femke Bol would do her job.”

Bol replaced Eveline Saalberg in the final and indeed put in a phenomenal lap, closing the gap to USA and Dominican Republic in the final meters and missing the gold by just 0.08 seconds.

Bonevacia was clearly in better shape on Sunday. He finished second in his heat in 45.82 and that was enough to qualify for the semi-finals, which take place on Wednesday. “It was easy. I started strong and I was in the race straight away. I didn’t have to go all the way. I’m going to have to go a lot stronger in the semis and make my best race. I think I got down within 44 seconds to qualify for the final.”