PAPENDAL (DA) — The Dutch athletics federation announced March 17 that TeamNL will send five athletes either born in Curaçao or from Curaçaoan parents to the 2026 World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana, where the Netherlands will compete in all relay events.
Taymir Burnet was named to the men’s 4×100-meter pool, Elisabeth Paulina to the women’s 4×400 pool, and Liemarvin Bonevacia, Ramsey Angela and Terrence Agard to the men’s 4×400 pool.
Angela, Bonevacia and Agard are part of the Curaçao-linked 400-meter trio known in athletics circles as the “Curaçao Boys” or the “Island Kings” of the Dutch relay team.
The World Relays will be held May 2-3 and serve as the main qualification event for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Twelve places are available in each event, while the top six in the 4×100 relays and mixed 4×400 relay also qualify for the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest.
“Our goal is to qualify both mixed relay teams for the Ultimate Championships in Budapest and also as many of the six relay teams as possible for the 2027 World Championships in Beijing,” national coach Laurent Meuwly said. “Qualification is our absolute priority.”
TeamNL will compete in the men’s and women’s 4×100 and 4×400 relays, plus the mixed 4×100 and mixed 4×400 relays. The mixed teams will be selected from the overall roster.
The women’s 4×100 pool includes Minke Bisschops, Isabel van den Berg, Britt de Blaauw, Demi van den Wildenberg, Fenna Achterberg and Anne van de Wiel. The men’s 4×100 pool includes Elvis Afrifa, Xavi Mo-Ajok, Nsikak Ekpo, Burnet, Onyema Adigida, Jaimie Omalla, Jafrailson Acton and Danilo Vriendwijk.
The women’s 4×400 pool consists of Lieke Klaver, Myrte van der Schoot, Eveline Saalberg, Nina Franke, Lisanne de Witte, Paulina, Madelief van Leur and Andrea Bouma. The men’s 4×400 pool includes Jonas Phijffers, Eugene Omalla, Tony van Diepen, Keenan Blake, Bonevacia, Angela, Agard and Max van der Lugt.
The Dutch team will hold a training camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa, before traveling to Botswana.