The German championships as part of the finals were primarily a location determination for the upcoming world championships for athletics.
Gina Lückenkemper provided one of the emotional highlights at the German championships: Lückenkemper sprinted to the title in 10.99 seconds on Saturday evening (06/25/2022). According to reports from eyewitnesses, the cheering that followed even drowned out the almost 10,000 spectators in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. For the first time in four years, Lückenkemper stayed under the 11-second mark, the first German sprinter after Katrin Krabbe, who was accused of doping. For Lückenkemper it was salvation after a long period of suffering, also plagued by injuries, which she also celebrated with a few tears of joy.
View to Eugene, venue of the World Championships in Athletics
The subsequent question these days is how much Lückenkemper’s time is really worth. Because the German Championships had been proclaimed by the German Athletics Association (DLV) in advance as the last location determination, three weeks before the first highlight of the season: the World Championships in Eugene.
There, in the home of US athletics, the national US title fights took place almost at the same time. And in the final of the 100 meters, seven of the best eight runners undercut the 11 seconds – and they were all faster than the best German sprinter in Berlin, around 8,000 kilometers further east. The US sprinters once again impressively demonstrated their power density at the top – for star runners Sha’Carri Richardson about it was not even enough to participate in the World Cup.
Mihambo: “Work out the last bit”
At the finals in Berlin, those hopes for the World Cup that were already on the list anyway awoke: Malaika Mihambo, for example. The Olympic long jump champion was satisfied with her victory distance of 6.85 meters. At the same time, however, Mihambo emphasized that she had started the title fights “out of full training”, and after a knee injury in spring there was still a lot of room for improvement before the world championships: “The details didn’t all work together“Said Mihambo on ZDF. “I know the form is very good. I’ll definitely work out the last bit.”
Lita Baehre in the pole vault now in the top three
As usual, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre did everything in the Olympic Stadium, which was very sparsely populated, to entertain the fans, throwing in a little dance or two between his jumps. The 23-year-old also emphasized that he has matured into one of the best pole vaulters in the world: With his leap over 5.90 meters, he even catapulted himself into the top three and became a medal candidate for the World Championships in Eugene. In 2019 in Doha, Lita Baehre finished fourth at the World Cup, but now he is “definitely closer to being at the forefront“, he emphasized in Berlin.
For German athletics, which has been fighting for more attention and against the somewhat outdated image for some time, Lita Baehre, who appears with natural self-confidence, is still a stroke of luck. “He is authentic and does not pretend, which brings new flair to our sport“said head coach Annett Stein.
Discus thrower Pudenz already in World Cup form
One of the highlights of the weekend was the discus throw, also because the athletes pushed each other to top performances. shanice Craft (64.64 m), Julia Harting (64.34) and claudine Vita (63.36) put a lot of pressure on the favorite Kristin Pudenz with her distances. In the end, this encouraged the silver medalist from Tokyo to a personal best of 67.10 meters, thus underpinning Pudenz’s ambitions for a medal at the World Championships as well.
In the high jump Mateusz Przybylko reported back four years after his European Championship triumph in the same stadium and jumped 2.30 meters.
Klosterhalfen, Krause, Vetter – many question marks for Eugene
Otherwise, however, the finals left many question marks, mainly because some figureheads of German athletics were dealing with the long-term effects of injuries or illnesses and had to skip the endurance test in Berlin: Obstacle runner Gesa Krause was unable to compete, as were long-distance runners Konstanze Klosterhalfen or Christin Hussong, javelin European champion of 2018. In the men’s category, Johannes Vetter continued to struggle with his injured shoulder in Berlin. Germany’s best javelin thrower recently left a start at the World Cup and even at the home European Championships in Munich (from August 15) open.
The German track and field aces still have a little time: The World Championships will start in Eugene on July 15th, and the DLV wants to announce its final line-up a week before at the latest.