The 22nd edition of the Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liège took place under (miraculously) favourable weather conditions on Wednesday. Wheeler Maxime Carabin immediately set the tone by setting a new world record in the 100 metres. Liège also witnessed the emotional return of Julien Watrin and a new Belgian record in the 600 metres by Eliott Crestan. Young Ethiopian Marta Alemayo shattered the meeting record in the 5000 metres and Leo Magnusson ran an MR in the 3000 metre steeple.
Credit where credit is due: Maxime Carabin, reigning triple world champion in para-athletics, opened the Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liège in the nicest possible way.
Earlier this month, Carabin won gold in the 100, 400, and 1500 meters in the T52 category at the World Championships in Kobe, Japan. At the Province Naimette Arena, he once again showed spectators that he is in top form—an understatement. ‘Super Maxime’ completed the 100 metres in a new world record of 16.18. ‘Nothing nicer to be able to do this in front of my own audience,’ the Liege-based wheeler commented.
The 110-metre hurdles saw the emotional comeback of Julien Watrin (recovering from cancer), who finished fifth with 13.87. The race was won by German Tim Eikermann in 13.49, ahead of our compatriot Nolan Vancauwemberghe, who is in excellent form and finished third with 13.68.
Without heptathlete Noor Vidts, bronze medallist at the European Championships in Rome, Germany’s Marlene Meier won the 100-metre hurdles as a last-minute competitor with a new personal record under 13 seconds (12.96). Anne Zagré came third in 13.28.
In the 100 metres flat, Rani Rosius (11.33) had to give way to Patrizia Vanderwerken. The Luxembourger, who finished just off the podium at the European Championships in Rome, won in Liège with a time of 11.11.
Florent Mabille, reserve runner for the golden Belgian Tornados in Rome, took a nice second place in the 400 metres in Liège in 45.83, just behind Dutch winner Jonas Phijffers, who set a new personal record with 45.72. In the 400-metre hurdles, another Belgian, Mimoun Abdoul Wahab, took a nice win in 50.02.
In the somewhat unusual 300 metres, victory went to Britain’s Nicole Yeargin (36.76), ahead of Helena Ponette (37.16) and Cynthia Bolingo (37.33).
Eliott Crestan, bronze medallist in the 800 metres at the World Indoor Championships this spring, ventured into the equally unusual 600 metres. And how! The man from Namur set a new Belgian record in 1:14.47 (Joeri Jansen’s previous record of 1:15.35 dated from 2002). Crestan beat Pieter Sisk, who also stayed under Jansen’s time with 1:15.19. Kenyan Ferguson Rotich, silver medallist in the 800 metres at the Tokyo Olympics, finished fourth.
Crestan, the new Belgian record holder, now also holds the best European annual time and was particularly happy afterwards. “For so long I have been chasing this Belgian record. Every time I had to deal with injuries. Tonight everything fell together: the weather, the crowd, a great atmosphere.”
In the jumping numbers, Thomas Carmoy was the only athlete still in the race after crossing 2m21. He then tried to improve the meet record, but failed to tip over 2m27, despite cheers from the entire stadium.
The pole vault was dominated by Ben Broeders, who is aiming for a final place at the Paris Olympics. Broeders was the last survivor at 5m66. Ukrainian Vladislav Malykhin was second with 5m56. Broeders’ three attempts to jump over 5m86, which would be a new Belgian record, were unsuccessful.
The Province Naimette Arena erupted again during the women’s 5000 meters. The young Ethiopian Marta Alemayo, just 16 years old, delivered an outstanding performance. The U20 world cross-country champion set a time of 14:39.61, smashing both her personal best and the meeting record by nearly 20 seconds! Like the event itself, Marta Alemayo seems to have a bright future ahead.
Finally, the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase also saw a new meeting record, This record is now held by Swede Leo Magnusson with a time of 8:21.74. A fantastic conclusion to a great night of athletics!
