Surprise for the German runners: At the World Championships in the USA they won the first medal in the relay.
The German sprint quartet with Tatjana Pinto, Alexandra Burghardt, Gina Lückenkemper and Rebekka Haase won the first German medal at the World Championships in Athletics in Eugene. Over the 4×100 meters, the relay came third with 42.03 seconds and took bronze. Gold went to the USA in 41.14 seconds, who finished 0.04 seconds ahead of Jamaica for world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce and world 200m champion Shericka Jackson.
Last runner Haase was able to fend off the attack of Nigerian Nzubechi Nwokocha on the home straight. “I was stunned and almost ran the entire straight with her at that pace,” said teammate Lückenkemper on ZDF. “Simply because there was so much adrenaline in the body. Finally!”
British runner injured herself
However, the German team also benefited from the fact that the British top runner Dinah Asher-Smith was injured in the third leg, so the co-favorites only finished sixth.
“We’ve been trying to get there for years, today luck was on our side. We’re really happy. It feels like a dream right now, I hope I don’t wake up,” said start runner Pinto.
The USA prevailed against the Jamaican star ensemble with the individual world champions Sherry-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson.
The Canadians surprisingly won the men’s final in 37.48 seconds ahead of the top favorites from the USA (37.55) and Great Britain (37.83). The German squadron was eliminated in the run-up.