Sports, Sports | Pole girl Josefine Tomine (23) ready for the Olympics in Paris after a record run: – This was absolutely fantastic

(ØP/NTB): Stavern girl Josefine Tomine Eriksen (23), Amalie Iuel, Lakeri Ertzgaard and Henriette Jæger lay in a cluster on the track after the finish and howled, hugged and cheered uncontrollably that the goal had been reached. Now it’s time for Paris and the Olympics in August.

– This was absolutely fantastic! writes a delighted Tomine in a message to ØP.

The four broke the Norwegian record and ran in a time of 3:26.89 in the 4×400 meter relay, which held second place in the heat – behind the favorite USA, which was clocked in at 3:24.76.

The event in the Bahamas worked so that the two best from each of the four heats went to the final. In return, they received a ticket to the Paris Olympics.

– We have a great team, and it’s incredibly fun when everyone has a great day and runs at their very best. It was very tough to qualify for the Olympics. Norway were underdogs, so it’s extra fun to win against big nations! writes the 23-year-old.

Josefine set the standard

Josefine Tomine Eriksen from Stavern had the honor of running the first leg. There she did a very strong job and switched in a time of 51.77, the second fastest first stage, beaten only by Quanera Hayes from the USA. Eriksen has shown phenomenal progress recently, and this spring has delivered presses in the 100, 200 and 400 metres.

The former Larvik Turn runner is praised in the clouds by several people on social media, where it is speculated, among other things, whether her time could potentially be good enough to reach the Olympics in Paris individually.

It’s not just in the comments section on social media that people are happy. Sports manager Erlend Slokvik tells NRK that he is very impressed by the spelling girl.

– The whole team is running towards their best, and perhaps especially Josefine, who is not so well known to people back home in Norway. She did a very good first leg, and we put her first to get out well, says Slokvik to NRK.

Missing the sea and the brown cheese

That Josefine Tomine Eriksen is on the starting line at the Olympics this summer is by no means a foregone conclusion. In an ØP case from last summer, after the pole vault girl had won bronze in the NM, she told about a tough period from when she was 17 to 20 years old.

Her body did not shine, and she was tired of everything. The reason was overtraining.

But Josefine refused to give up.

– It was tough, but I kept my motivation up, said the girl who was one of the country’s best in her year class at the age of 15 and 16.

In 2022 it finally loosened again, and the following year it was NM bronze in the 800 metres.

On a daily basis, the 23-year-old lives and trains in Salt Lake City in the USA. About what she misses most from Stavern, she said this to ØP last year:

– Sea! There is little of that. And then I miss the food the most: brown cheese and liver paste.

Intense duel

But back to the power performance on the night of Sunday, Norwegian time.

It was Eriksen who really gave Norway a flying start, and was close to the American runner. From there onwards, as expected, the USA took over the lead, while Norway and Belgium got a gap to the others in the field. It was a duel that would last all the way to the finish line.

Iuel showed that she can run fast even without hurdles and was in second place when the baton was handed over to Ertzgaard – with Belgium close behind.

Ertzgaard was followed by his Belgian competitor until the last change – and thus the stage was set for an intense duel in the last 400 metres.

Jæger delivered a phantom run and kept the Belgian girl the necessary meter behind her. When she crossed the finish line, she ran straight into the arms of Eriksen, Iuel and Ertzgaard, and was able to let loose the cheers.

New Norwegian record

Norway’s time was the fifth best of the eight who qualified for the final on the night of Sunday. Ireland, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Canada and France also secured Olympic tickets in the trial heats. Ireland was fastest of all, with 3.24.38.

The previous Norwegian record was set at Bislett in 2022 and was 3.28.58. At that time, Iuel and Ertzgaard also ran – together with Elisabeth Slettum and Line Kloster. The Norwegian team in the Bahamas has won court three in the final, which starts on the night of Monday Norwegian time.

It will be the third time Norway has a relay team in athletics at an Olympics, but the first time on the women’s side. At the same time, Norway has had relay teams in the WC twice, both times in the 4×400 meters for women, in 1991 and in 2022. The International Athletics Federation’s relay event (World Athletics Relays) in the Bahamas functions in WC years as qualification for the WC, and this year as qualification to the Olympics.