Championship day of the track and field athletes in Kassel. There are 13 decisions to be made on Saturday. In terms of sport, it was, among other things, discus throwing, javelin throwing and the hurdles semi-final. In the women’s 100 meters, Lückenkemper won dominantly.
Gina Lückenkemper remains the fastest woman in Germany. The 100-meter European champion won on Saturday (July 8th, 2023) at the German Championships in Kassel in a strong 11.03 seconds. The 26-year-old was not able to break the 11-second mark, at the EM 2022 she won in 10.99 seconds, but won well ahead of the German competition: Chelsea Kadiri (11.33 seconds), Sina Mayer (11 .40 seconds) came in third. Lückenkemper’s sprint competitor Tatjana Pinto did not start on Saturday at short notice.
100 meters: Wolf wins in men
In the men’s category, Yannick Wolf from Munich was the fastest over 100 meters: the 23-year-old won in 10.19 meters ahead of Julian Wagner (10.21 seconds) and Robin Ganter (10.29 seconds).
Pudenz wins strong discus competition
In the women’s discus throw, Kristin Pudenz had previously prevailed in a high-class competition: Potsdam’s Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo won on Saturday (July 8th, 2023) with a distance of 65.98 meters.
Pudenz was well ahead of second-placed Shanice Craft from Halle/Saale (64.05 meters) and Marike Steinacker from Leverkusen (62.70 meters). Claudine Vita from Neubrandenburg, who also started with hopes of a medal, was on course for bronze until the last attempt (62.39 meters). But then she was overtaken by Steinacker.
Pudenz: “The two centimeters would have been nice”
Pudenz threw the discus to the winning distance in the third attempt and later said on ZDF: “The German championship is about the title first, and to secure the ticket for Budapest. The two centimeters for the 66 meters would have been nice. But that will all come in its time.” Pudenz, Craft and Vita already have the World Championship norm for the title fights in Budapest of 64.20 meters in their pockets.
Javelin weaver wins with season best
In the javelin throw, Julian Weber also showed himself to be in improving shape at the World Championships. The man from Mainz won with a new season best of 88.72 meters. The defending champion and European champion of 2022 clearly distanced the competition: Maurice Voigt with 77.43 meters and Casimir Matterne with 71.68 meters were already clearly behind. Jena’s Thomas Röhler, who is still recovering after a long injury break, was only fourth with 71.44 meters.
400 meter hurdles: Krafzik to Olympic standard and new record
Hurdler Carolina Krafzik showed a really strong run in her semi-final: The 28-year-old from Sindelfingen won her semi-final over 400 meters in a strong 54.47 seconds. The girl from Sindelfingen broke an old championship record by five hundredths of a second: Heike Meißner was 54.52 seconds quick over the 400 meter hurdles in July 1994.
Krafzik, who eventually qualified for the 2024 Olympics in the semifinals, beamed after the race: “My tactic was to get away from the front and go through with it. My personal goal was the Olympic norm, which I’ve now achieved. That was the icing on the cake. But tomorrow I’ll run the 4×100 meter relay first and then the final.”, she said on ZDF. Krafzik has been unbeaten at German championships over 400 meters hurdles since 2019.
Triple jumper Hess still away from World Cup norm
At the beginning of the competitions on Saturday afternoon, the triple jumper Max Hess from Chemnitz jumped superiorly to the German championship title. With a best distance of 16.12 meters and a total of only two out of six possible attempts, the 2016 European champion celebrated his seventh outdoor and 14th championship title. At temperatures of almost 30 degrees, Hess prevailed against Pascal Boden from Dresden (15.55 meters) and Gabriel Wirtz from Pfarrkirchen (15.31 meters).
Hess, who is back after a few injuries and most recently a torn ligament, fell far short of his personal best of 17.20 meters. The 26-year-old also has to jump the 17.20 meters in order to take part in the World Championships in Budapest in August.
High Jump: Potye superior to gold
High jumper Tobias Potye defended his championship title in a superior manner: the European Vice Champion only needed one attempt to reach the winning height of 2.27 meters. The Munich player then failed three times to set a new personal best of 2.31 meters. 2.32 meters are required for the World Championships in Budapest.
Silver and bronze went to Falk Wendrich from Soest (2.18 meters) and Florian Hornig from Leverkusen (2.10 meters).
Shot put: Luke wins – Bayer without a valid attempt
In the men’s shot put, the medals were awarded without breaking the 20-meter mark. Gold went to Dennis Lukas from LG Idar-Oberstein, who threw the ball to the winning distance of 19.82 on the fourth attempt. Lukas, who only improved his best distance to 20.07 meters at the end of June, won his fourth DM medal and gold for the second time after 2021. The 29-year-old relegated Tizian Lauria from Sindelfingen (19.65 meters) and Silas Ristl from Essingen (19.65 meters) to the places. Lauria was also able to celebrate a new personal best. Top favorite Simon Bayer from Sindelfingen, on the other hand, was eliminated after three failed attempts. For the World Championships in August, a distance of 21.40 meters is required as the norm.
Dennis Lukas wins gold in shot put.
Klosterhalfen, Wittmann, Vetter, Pinto: Numerous DM cancellations
However, some of the top German athletes are missing in Kassel. Running star Konstanze Klosterhalfen had to cancel her start over 800 meters because of foot pain. Triple jumper Kira Wittmann and javelin record holder Johannes Vetter are also absent due to injury. Tatjana Pinto is also not at the start: The 100-meter runner registered for the DM, but then missed her lead.