668. Curaçao’s Olympic Runners

Source: Atletiekweek.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands 4×100 m relay team Churandy Martina, Brian Mariano, Liemarvin Bonevacia, Hensley Paulina, came in 5th in the WORLD in Moscow last Sunday completing the race in 38.37 seconds, besting the Dutch team’s 2012 Olympic results (6th in the world at 38.39 seconds). We’re particularly proud of the 2013 team because ALL of the awesome sprinters were born in Curaçao.

Hulde aan onze helden… and as the Dutch saying goes: samen staan we sterk! 

Meet Curaçao’s awesome sprinters: 

Brian Mariano, in orange. Source: Getty.

Hensley Paulina.

Churandy Martina, the fastest human to emerge from Curaçao.

Liemarvin Bonevacia, in the middle.

Churandy Martina’s personal best time over 100 m is 9.91 seconds (a Dutch record achieved during a 2012 Olympic semi-final) He also holds the 200 m national record with a time of 19.85 seconds (achieved during the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2012)

Brian Mariano finished fourth-fastest in the men’s 60 m heats at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha, but was disqualified in the semifinals. Mariano finished sixth in the 60 m at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris, representing the Netherlands for the first time following the Netherlands Antilles dissolution (October 10, 2010).

Liemarvin Bonevacia was one of four athletes to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics as “Independent Olympic Athletes” (three of the four Independent athletes Liemarvin, Reginald de Windt and Philipine van Aanholt are from Curaçao, and would’ve represented the Netherlands Antilles would the state not have been dissolved). Bonevacia competed in the 400m and was eliminated in the semifinals when he injured his right hamstring and finished last.

Hensley Paulina is the rookie of the bunch, with four national youth titles under his belt and won a Bronze medal during the European Championships U23 in 2013.