Wednesday night’s Meeting International d’Athletisme de la Province de Liege provided a number of Belgian highlights. Eliott Crestan and Camille Laus were the stars of the evening with Belgian records in the 600 metres, whilst Nafi Thiam, Rani Rosius, Michael Obasuyi and Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck also impressed at the Province Naimette Arena.
The most notable performances came in the 600 metres. In the women’s event, Camille Laus broke Sandra Stals’ long-standing Belgian record of 24 years. With a time of 1:25.93, she dipped two hundredths below the nation’s previous best.
Eliott Crestan also lit up the track over one and a half laps, the 27-year-old sprinting to a time of 1:13.53, smashing his own Belgian record of 1:14.47. Crestan also came within just 0.26 of the European record.
A lot of attention went to triple Olympic champion Nafi Thiam. Competing on the track of her local club, RFC Liege, the Olympic heptathlon champion competed in her first long jump event since last year’s World Championships. After struggling with a hamstring injury for several months, Thiam jumped to third place with 6m32, a performance that drew the plaudits from the numerous fans in attendance.
Belgian athletes also made their mark in the sprint events. Rani Rosius confirmed her excellent spell of form with a strong 11.20 in the 100 metres. In the 100-metre hurdles, Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck clocked the fastest time ever recorded by a Belgian athlete. However, her 12.69 seconds was set under a tailwind of 3.2 metres per second, well above the permitted limit, meaning the run cannot be recognised as a Belgian record.
In the men’s events, Michael Obasuyi also underlined his ambition for the upcoming European Championships. The Belgian record-holder in the 110-metre hurdles clocked 13.14 seconds, just four hundredths of a second above his national record. He similarly didn’t see his time recognised by the record books due to the advantageous tailwinds
