Weightlifter Annika Pilz helped the German team get off to a good start at the European Championships in Yerevan.
The 20-year-old from Frankfurt (Oder) took fifth place in the Olympic duel at the start of the tournament in the class up to 55 kilograms with a personal best of 186 kg. At the Junior European Championships last year, Pilz won bronze.
The team of the Federal Association of German Weightlifters (BVDG) is represented in Armenia’s capital with a total of five women and seven men. The European Championship is one of seven qualifying competitions for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
At the opening ceremony on Friday, an uproar broke out on stage when the flag bearer stole the flag of Azerbaijan and then set it on fire. As the AFP news agency reported, the association withdrew its athletes from the tournament on Saturday due to the “barbaric act”. Territorial conflicts have been raging between neighboring countries for decades.