Belgian sprinter Alexander Doom (27) was crowned the new European 400 metre champion in Rome on Monday evening, setting not only a new Belgian record but also a European Championships record in 44.15 seconds.
The previous record, 44.52 seconds, was held by Great Britain's Iwan Thomas and dated back to 1998.
"I was as surprised by my time as I was by the title. At the start of the year, I wanted to reach the final first. This time was totally unexpected. I thought I'd run 44.6 or 44.5 seconds in the final, so obviously I'm super happy," Doom said.
"I now have the national indoor and outdoor record. I'm happy that I'm taking it away from Jonathan, who has always run at such a high level."
Fellow Belgian sprinter Jonathan Sacoor narrowly missed out on a podium position, finishing fourth with a personal best of 44.98. This was just 0.10 seconds shy of a bronze medal.
Belgian Alexander Doom celebrates as he wins the men's 400m final ahead of second UK's Charlie Dobson and fourth Belgian Jonathan Sacoor (R) at the European Championships Athletics in Rome on Monday 10 June 2024. Credit: Belga / Jasper Jacobs
The performance was all the more astonishing given that Doom suffered a psoas strain after his semi-final and had to be strapped up. Talking about his strategy, Doom mentioned focusing on Liemarvin Bonevacia (the Dutch bronze medalist), who "surprised" him "by going very fast" in the semi-final.
"My turn also went really well. In the final 100 metres, I knew that Dobson [the British silver medalist] was probably going to come back. But my last line was the best of my season so far. It went well again today," he explained.
This new title – which follows his individual and indoor relay world titles in Glasgow in March – could change his outlook for the Paris Olympics this summer.
"I have always had a medal in mind with the men's relays and the mixed. An individual final is certainly possible. We will have to discuss it because there are going to be many races. It won't be possible to run everything at the same level, so we will have to make choices."
Three Belgian finalists
The morning session saw three Belgians qualify for the finals. Pole vaulter Ben Broeders earned himself an invitation to Wednesday night's final. Broeders, who hails from Louvain, did not have to clear the qualifying bar set at 5 m 75 cm. He had to make do with two first attempts (5 m 45 cm and 5 m 60 cm) to be among the 13 finalists.
Ruben Verheyden and Jochem Vermeulen secured their places in the 1,500 m final. Verheyden came in third place (3:44.19), while Vermeulen, who was unintentionally involved in a crash with one lap to go, finished eighth in the second race but was drafted in with two other unlucky competitors.
The semi-finals of the women's 400 m hurdles did not go the way of Hanne Claes and Paulien Couckuyt, who failed to qualify for the final.
