By Sebastian Kayser and Thorsten Felske
She is the sprint queen of Europe! After gold over 100 m, Gina Lückenkemper (25) also wins with the sprint relay.
After bronze at the World Championships, it is the second success in a row.
In 42.34 seconds, the last title of the European Championships in Munich goes to Germany with Lückenkemper, Alexandra Burghardt (28), Lisa Mayer (26) and Rebekka Haase (29).
“I wouldn’t have thought it possible. That was fantastic support in this stadium. You were there for us, so we wanted to get the thing for you,” said Lückenkemper in front of the 35,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium.
Lückenkemper was rested in the preliminary heat after she had scraped her knee with her spikes in the finish sprint of the 100 m final and had to be sewn up with eight stitches. For the final, however, the Bamberg native was fit again, in complete contrast to Tatjana Pinto (30), who was complaining about muscular problems. She was replaced by Mayer.
Final runner Rebecca Haase screams joy after crossing the finish line Photo: WOLFGANG RATTAY/REUTERS
Burghardt experienced a really big evening, making her goal for 2022 of winning a complete set of medals come true. After bobsleigh silver at the Olympics in Beijing and relay bronze at the World Championships in Eugene (USA), now gold.
The German quartet wins ahead of Poland and Italy after fellow favorites Great Britain and France botched the second substitution and were eliminated.