Dutch athlete Maureen Koster suffered a fall and was knocked unconscious during the women’s 3,000 meters at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, on Sunday.
Koster, who won silver in 2015 and had finished second in the qualifying race, was treated by medical staff next to the track. The 32-year-old was later transported to a hospital.
The race continued, with Ireland’s Sarah Healy winning the gold medal. Britain’s Melissa Courtney-Bryant took silver.
“Maureen’s a really good friend of mine so I wanted to check whether she is OK. I heard her scream … but I couldn’t see anything. I just thought, that’s Maureen who has gone down,” Courtney-Bryant told British media. “It put everyone on edge, and everyone was pushing more. It was a bit of carnage. Everyone else was really anxious because of it.”
The Netherlands team later posted on X that Koster was conscious and responsive.
