Double Dutch despair at the World Athletics Championships as TWO gold medal favourites in different races both stumble just metres from the finish line to miss out on glory Double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan fell in the 100km final in Budapest The Netherlands saw Femke Bol suffer the same fate less than half an hour later Watch Mail Sport's new podcast 'It's All Kicking Off' in full online right now By Nick Emms For Mailonline Published: 19:17 EDT, 19 August 2023 | Updated: 20:17 EDT, 19 August 2023 e-mail 1 View comments The Netherlands suffered hearhtreak at the World Athletics Championships, with two of their gold medal favourites stumbling metres from the finish line. The Europeans were hopeful of a successful night on the opening day at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Saturday. However, it was anything but as there was disaster for two of their favourites. Double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and Femke Bol thought that they had sealed gold medals for their country in their respective races, but both fell in heartbreaking circumstances. First, Hassan was up in the 10,000km final that she was favourite for and made light work of up until the last 25m. Sifan Hassan and Femke Bol thought that they had sealed gold medals for their country in their respective races, but both fell in their races "She had the gold medal half way round her neck!" Absolute heartbreak for Sifan Hassan who trips metres from the line. Unbelievable scenes at the World Athletics Championships. pic.twitter.com/3ER4hC7WsN — BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 19, 2023 DISASTER for the Netherlands once again! What is happening at the World Athletics Championships?! Two gold medals lost in the final metres as Femke Bol slips this time. The USA take the win with a new world record, followed by Great Britain in silver, and Czech Republic third. pic.twitter.com/SPUMpaSTNS — BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 19, 2023 The Dutch athlete appeared to collide with Ethiopian runner Gudaf Tsefay, who went on to win the race, as Hassan fell to the ground. After the race, Hassan spoke to BBC Sport as she accused Tsefay of pushing her. 'I got pushed,' she said. 'The girl was running on the outside and I get blocked. But, what can you do? It is sport, it can happen. 'Maybe I'm crazy, but I felt a push and I'm in high speed so I couldn't control my legs. It doesn't really matter to me. It just happens. I have two more races to go, we will see what happens.' Less than half an hour later, the Netherlands saw the same fate for runner Bol. In the 4x400m mixed relay race, finisher Bol looked to have the gold medal secured but lost her footing and also fell to the ground. She managed to recover and get to her feet to crose the line for what she thought would be a bronze medal. However, after dropping the baton it was ruled that Holland would not win a medal despite it looking like she was set for gold with her nation. The Netherlands will be hoping to recover at the tournament, with Hassan racing twice more in Budapest as she looks to put the misfortune behind her. Share or comment on this article: Double Dutch despair at the World Athletics Championships as TWO gold medal favourites in successive races both stumble just metres from the finish line to miss out on glory e-mail Add comment Comments 1 Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all The comments below have not been moderated. View all The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Add your comment Enter your comment By posting your comment you agree to our house rules . Submit Comment Clear Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. No Yes Close Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy .