4x200m relay team might miss out on Olympics in Beijing

Not qualifying for the finals at the European Championships in Budapest may prove to be quite a disaster after all.

The 4x200m limit for the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne is 7:17:55. Based on the results at the WC the starting list of the Beijing Olympics will be determined. Only a limited number of national teams will be allowed to start at the Olympics.

The Dutch 4x200m relay team didn’t reach the finals without Van den Hoogenband at the European Championships and only finished in 7:24:66. This is not enough to qualify for the World Championships.

The Olympic starting list will be made up as follows: the 10 best countries at the World Championships prior to the Olympics (Melbourne 2007), plus the 6 fastest teams ‘on paper’.

All is not lost yet, but the Dutch know now what they need to do!