It doesn't always have to be medals: German athletes convince in this way too
Created: 08/20/2022, 12:04 p.m
By: Gunter Klein
Rule Britannia: Mascot Gfreidi with 200m fastest Zharnel Hughes and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake.
AFP/Isakovic © ANDREJ ISAKOVIC
In a happy evening for Ukraine, the Germans take respectable fourth and fifth places.
The athletes have medal potential.
Munich – The heavy rock calibers were played.
And rippers that squeeze the extra centimeters out of you.
But two too few, which Neele Eckhardt-Noack dumped in the sand of the triple jump pit after a run-up to Joan Jett's 70s hit "I Love Rock'n'Roll".
Her top distance was 14.43 meters, she would have needed 14.45 for the bronze medal at the European Championships.
It's a shame - her medical history had touched people, they would have treated the 30-year-old to this late career success.
But it doesn't always have to be medals as a currency for whether you've done well.
The association pays attention to places four to eight, DLV head coach Annett Stein had counted eleven podium places as well as the ranks behind and, according to good athletics tradition, imagined an international competition and awarded points for it.
These athletes are often the ones you treat with patience “because we see medal potential in them”.
On Friday evening, the list of hopefuls was expanded.
Hanna Klein came in fifth over 1500 meters (Katharina Trost was 10th), Karl Bebendorf in the 3000 meter steeplechase and Joshua Hartmann at other British sprint festivals (places 1, 2, 4).
20.50 seconds was an appealing time.
Joshua Abuaku was the best example of how a fifth place can be a pleasure and a little painful at the same time: his 48.79 seconds over the 400 meter hurdles was a personal best, but also only a hundredth away from bronze.
Carolina Krafzik did well in the 400 meter hurdles.
As expected, Femke Bol from the Netherlands ran her solo in front, Krafzik was on course for bronze halfway down the home stretch.
A stumble at the last hurdle threw her out of rhythm and she finished last.
"I started faster than ever," said the 27-year-old, describing her courageous run.
Nevertheless, she was happy about the course of the European Championship.
By midday, she had run the 400m flat, serving the relay that took her to Saturday's final.
Alexandra Burghardt from Bavaria went into the 200-meter final with a laugh.
She knew: Being there meant a lot in this class field (winner: Kambundji, the Swiss).
She finished eighth.
Discus thrower Henrik Janssen, who was more than two meters short of being able to make a fourth, fifth, sixth attempt, remained under his chances.
His modest 61.11 meters (Lithuanian Alekna threw the disc to 69.78) brought him tenth place.
It was the evening of the international stars.
Karsten Warholm (Norway) ran the 400m hurdles record in 47.12 seconds – and Ukraine celebrated silver and bronze in the women's hurdles and gold for Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk in the triple jump a day after fourth place in the long jump.
GUNTER SMALL
