It was a Super Sunday for the Netherlands as orange turned to gold at a sensational closing evening at the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships on Sunday (9) in the presence of Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.
The Dutch celebrated an incredible five gold medals in a single session, taking their overall tally to seven for their best ever medal haul in European indoor history.
Jessica Schilder won the women’s shot put, finally bringing her outdoor form that gleaned European titles outdoors at Munich 2022 and Roma 2024 to the indoor arena in front of an adoring home crowd.
There was a surprise victory for Samuel Chapple in the men’s 800m in his first international final, whilst experienced international Menno Vloon got just reward for years of striving for a premier championship medal, sharing the men’s pole vault title with Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis.
Finally, almost inevitably, the Dutch men’s and women’s 4x400m teams each won gold, with Femke Bol bringing home the baton in the last event of the championships.
It meant the host nation topped the medal table with nine medals in total; five gold on Sunday, Lieke Klaver’s women’s 400m final on Saturday, the mixed 4x400m on Thursday, plus silver medals from Nadine Visser (60m hurdles) on Friday and Sofie Dokter (heptathlon) on Sunday. It was also meant a Dutch sweep of all available relay titles.
Chapple gets party underway in 800m
Samuel Chapple got the Dutch party started with a roof-raising victory in the men’s 800m. In his debut international final, the 26-year-old ran the perfect race to overhaul Belgium’s Eliot Crestan in the closing strides to win in national record of 1:44.88.
Crestan, a bronze medallist in Istanbul and also at the World Athletics Indoor Championships last year, had led all the way until Chapple just caught him at the finish. The Belgian was tracked by Spain’s Elvin Josué Canales and the other Dutch finalist Ryan Clarke through to the half way point.
But when the bell went, Chapple made his presence felt at the front of the field as Clarke and then Canales started to fade, moving swiftly into second place. And with the crowd reaching fever pitch, he closed in on Crestan with every stride and timed it to perfection by snatching victory by 0.04 at the finish.
Ireland’s experienced Mark English added another bronze medal to his collection, finishing third in 1:45.46 to go with similar results in Prague 2015 and outdoors in Zurich 2014 and Munich 2022.
“This whole season has been the most unreal comeback,” said Chapple. “This was just the icing on the cake. It is better than I could have expected. It all just happened now on the right moment. It is just a dream.”
Schilder savours moment as she lands indoor gold
Jessica Schilder handled the pressure of being the Dutch home favourite superbly as she won shot put gold with a national record mark of 20.67m. In doing so, she also went one centimetre further than the world lead of Canada’s world indoor champion Sarah Mitton.
Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye tried to keep her honest with 19.56m in the second round, but that was the closest anyone got through the evening to a relaxed, yet focused Schilder.
Auriol Dongmo took bronze for Portugal, 30 centimetres behind as the gaps between the podium places stayed relatively solid.
Not for the first time in a field final in Apeldoorn, the first round got off to a great start. Schilder used all of her strength to haul the shot out to 19.97m.
With Vloon also vaulting for gold on the infield, the crowd was ramping up the atmosphere and Schilder looked like she was living for the occasion. She looked at ease as she fired the implement to 20.69m in the fifth round, improving on her outright best of 20.33m, set in Hengelo last summer.
Shared pole vault gold for Vloon and Karalis
Menno Vloon and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis decided to share pole vault gold, giving them both a first senior international title.
In a tense contest, they comfortably sailed over 5.90m at the first time of asking, along with 2023 champion Sondre Guttormsen.
But after failing to clear at 5.95m, the leading pair watched on as the Norwegian audaciously passed up to 6.00m, which he couldn’t clear. As a result, Guttormsen settled for bronze on countback.
The decision of Vloon and Karalis allowed the former to win on home soil, while the latter – who had been the reigning European silver medallist indoors and outdoors coming into the event – finally stood on the top step of the podium.
It was a move reminiscent of Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim sharing Olympic high jump gold in Tokyo, while Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon did the same in the pole vault at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
A close battle was always expected, given that the top four were separated on countback at 5.80m at Istanbul 2023, with the likes of defending champion Sondre Guttormsen and joint-silver medallist Karalis returning in Apeldoorn.
But such is the standard of contemporary men’s pole vaulting in Europe, 10 athletes were still vaulting at 5.80, even with world record holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden absent.
The finish to the event was nail biting and potentially divisive, but it did allow for a harmonious moment between two popular winners, such is the camaraderie within the discipline.
Dutch grab another men’s relay title
The Netherlands delighted home supporters with a brilliant men’s 4x400m relay win. In a thrilling and wide-open battle, all six teams appeared to be in contention at the halfway stage, before Olympic mixed relay champion Isiah Klein Ikkink gave the Dutch an element of control on the third leg.
Tony van Diepen got his second relay gold of the competition after showing fine strength down the home straight to clinch the title in a time of 3:04.95.
But the drama was not over behind him as Spain’s Bernat Erta leaned brilliantly across the line to pip Belgium to the silver medal with a national record clocking of 3:05.18.
In a race that reminded many of the rounds of the individual men’s 400m, there was a real fight for territory on the track, with Great Britain’s Alex Haydock-Wilson just getting into the bend ahead of Dutchman Eugene Omalla on the first leg.
Julien Watrin, running for Roma 2024 European title winners Belgium, was in hot pursuit in third place, before Christian Iguacel and Florent Mabille kept them in contention for gold.
All the while, Spain’s third leg runner and 2021 European indoor 400m champion Oscar Husillos helped them to cement a top three position after solid initial progress from compatriots Markel Fernandez and Manuel Guijarro.
That left the British team adrift of the medals, while Klein Ikkink tried to speed away for the hosts.
Van Diepen, who won the relay title in Torun 2021 and got mixed gold on Friday night, showed a cool head with unbelievable pressure from the home fans on his shoulders.
Just the experienced Belgian Jonathan Sacoor realised that victory was out of reach, it appeared that he was unaware that the wily Erta was gritting his teeth as he desperately and successfully dipped through on the inside, coming away with the same time as the Spanish quartet.
Bol brings home baton in glorious finale
The championships received a sensational send off as the Netherlands won women’s 4x400m gold in 3:24.84, the fastest time in the competition’s history. The first five teams across the line all set national records, with Great Britain taking the silver and Czechia with a late rally to snatch bronze.
As expected, Femke Bol – who had helped her nation to mixed relay gold on the first night – kicked for home to bring home her 11th European title.
She also helped the Dutch team to win women’s 4x400m gold for the third consecutive time following victories at Torun 2021 and Istanbul 2023, improving on the championship record of 3:25.66 set when winning the latter.
Lieke Klaver, fresh from her individual 400m title, got the Netherlands off to a great start on her way to a ninth European medal.
The British and Spanish quartets remained in contention as the less experienced Nina Franke and Cathelijn Peeters held on strong out front.
Following good early work by Lina Nielsen and Hannah Kelly, Britain’s Emily Newnham tried to make a move on the outside, but was thwarted by the speed of Peeters, with Bol doing the same to Anning, who made up for her heat disqualification in the individual race.
She brought Britain home in 3:24.89, while Czech 19-year-old Lurdes Gloria Manuel showed brilliant speed to overhaul Spain’s Bianca Hervas on the final leg. Both teams still achieved their best ever times, with 3:25.31 and 3:25.68, as did fifth-placed France with 3:25.80.
