Bo Kanda Lita Baehre used his chance as an outsider. In a great pole vault competition, he finished second behind Armand Duplantis as “Best of the rest”. Lea Meyer then ran a terrific race over 3000 meters obstacle and also won silver.
Bo Kanda Lita Baehre’s black pirate scarf twirled wildly around his head, and the German kept shaking his head in excitement. The 23-year-old from Bayer Leverkusen used his outsider chance in the pole vault competition of the European Championships on Saturday evening and won the silver medal with a jump of 5.85 meters.
Duplantis with Championship record
Of course, the world record holder Armand Duplantis was unbeatable. He almost playfully dominated the competition in rainy Munich and finally won with 6.06 meters. The others had their own competition for places behind the Swede. And in the end, Lita Baehre came out on top. Among other things, beat old master Renaud Lavillenie and the strong Norwegian Pal Haugen Lillefosse, who failed at the 5.85 meters.
Blech and Zernikel fail early
In difficult conditions – pole vaulters don’t like wet conditions – the other two German finalists Torben Blech and Oleg Zernikel had to give up early. But Lita Baehre fought her way into the competition after failed attempts at the beginning. In which he was allowed to celebrate at the end. And announced: “I’m not quite satisfied yet. Second place is the first loser. I always want to get better!”
Lea Meyer causes a storm of jubilation
Shortly after the decision in the pole vault, 3000-meter steeplechase Lea Meyer brought the spectators in the Olympic Stadium into high spirits. The light-footed runner from ASV Köln took her heart in both hands and made life extremely difficult for the favorite runners.
At first she stayed in the leading group – and when it fell apart, she resolutely followed the top runners Elizabeth Bird and Luiza Gega. To the cheers of the fans, Meyer ran the run of her life. And on the last lap, the Brit Bird didn’t stand a chance either. Hingter Gega stormed Meyer into second.
Defending champion Gesa Krause, who was twice European champion, had to forego defending her title for health reasons.
Women’s relay bravely in fifth place
The women’s relay over 400 meters had to compete without their best, Corinna Schwab. Accordingly, she remained without a real chance in the fight for the medals, but did well. All four women gave it their all and they ended up finishing in a very respectable fifth place. The Netherlands won ahead of Poland and Great Britain.
The Dutch Women’s Relay
Men’s relay in seventh place
The German men’s relay was given the best chance of being an outsider if the race went well – but that didn’t happen. The quartet with Marvin Schlegel, Patrick Schneider, Marc Koch and Manuel Sanders finished seventh in the final on Saturday evening (3:02.51 minutes).
The title went to the favorite Brits (2:59.35). Belgium (2:59.49) and France (2:59.64) ran to silver and bronze. The quartet of the German Athletics Association had already booked their entry into the final as a success. At the World Championships in Eugene, Germany was eliminated prematurely at Hayward Field in 3:04.21 minutes.
Hering bravely finished seventh
She started strong, but was caught by the competition: Christina Hering took seventh place over 800 meters. The 27-year-old from Munich had to let the competition go in the closing stages of the final and crossed the finish line in 2:00.82 minutes.
Finished after 2:00.82 minutes: Christina Hering
The Olympic and World Championships runner-up Keely Hodgkinson from Great Britain won the title in 1:59.09 minutes, silver went to France’s Rénelle Lamote in 1:59.49 minutes. Poland’s Anna Wielgosz won bronze in 1:59.87 minutes.
Javelin throw title goes to Greece
Elina Tzengko has replaced Christin Hussong as European Javelin Champion. In the absence of the German defending champion, the Greek won on Saturday evening in Munich with 65.81 m ahead of Serbian Adriana Vilagos (62.01) and world record holder Barbora Spotakova (60.68) from the Czech Republic. With a jump of 54.52 m, Annika Marie Fuchs missed the final by around three meters and came eleventh.