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The European Athletics Championships in Rome are especially remembered for their farcical incidents.
Confusing mix-up at the start of running distances, a slipper scandal, the commiseration of officials, the continuous crash of the results service, scandalous jury decisions…
Even in ‘s narration, sometimes there has been no other choice but to just laugh at all this.
In this article, we gathered the events that amazed us during the Games.
There has been enough confusion in the fast distances, but it was even in the women’s 10,000 meters, which aptly underlined the confusing problems.
The runners were already in a ready position when the dispatcher gave the stand up command.
– Somehow it is part of this that even a tenth of a ton has a transmission adjustment, wondered in the commentary room Johannes Oikarinen.
Then there was a gunshot, even though the runners weren’t even ready. It caused hasty gasps and then laughter.
– What what! This was a surprise start. This is this hustle again. Now that bang came so suddenly, Oikarinen was startled.
– I think it came to the sender as well, the narrator Kimmo Porttila your comp.
– Huhhuh, you shouldn’t laugh, but there is this…, an expert Tuomas Raja teased
And the start was not successful on the next attempt either.
– Eee! This is an incredible hustle! Now we need to find a teddy bear gun somewhere to get this going, Oikarinen was amazed.
– With a clap of hands, Raja suggested.
In the men’s 10-match 110-meter hurdles, France Makenson Gletty didn’t hear the starting shot, even though the others fired normally.
Tuomas Raja said that there have been problems with the broadcasting equipment at the games.
– I went completely crazy.
The speaker behind Gletty, who was running on the ninth lane, from which the start bang should be heard, did not work.
– This should not be the case at the European Championship under any circumstances. He’s in a terrible situation.
Gletty was finally allowed to run again, broke his record of 13.88 and at the end of the dramatic day was the EC bronze with a record 8,606 points. The gold went to Estonia Johannes Erm (8,764) and silver from Norway Sander Skotheim (8,635).
Finland in women’s javelin qualifying Sanne Erkkolan the opening throw was not measured for one reason or another. In the end, Erkkola got to throw it again. Erkkola’s opening throw would have been the best of the qualifying round – of course, even that would have been far short of a place in the final.
Erkkola first saw the color green on the scoreboard. A moment later there was a crack on the board. Erkkola looked confused.
– I don’t know if there was wrong information, that the spear had come down to its tip.
– That’s when the Italians spread their hands, and we wondered why not measure. Then they were very sorry and said that a new company. I have not been in such a situation.
In the end, Erkkola’s best measured throw in the qualification was 51.36.
Women’s 3,000m steeplechase in France Alice Finot managed to lose his championship for a while due to a track fault. France made a protest which went through, and Finot was, as it were, champion.
The women’s triple jump qualification was colored by a scandal. In the three-jump qualification, the three athletes who made it to the next round wore Adidas’ Adizero TJ/PV jumping shoes. They are listed by the International Association of Athletics Federations as prohibited equipment in field sports due to their too high heel part.
Sweden made a protest and suggested that 15 athletes would have made it to the final instead of 12 – thus also Kristiina Mäkelä. The protest did not go through.
A confused situation, protests and special communication were discussed in Rome throughout Friday.
Italy in the men’s 100m final Chituru Under only got a yellow card for his theft. In the end, he ran European Championship silver.
– A completely absurd decision. As obvious a false start as can be, Sports Federation’s competition manager What Stranger your line to Urheilu.
Even the men’s 100m semi-finals turned into chaos. The start was shot back due to a false start, but some of the runners didn’t hear this and ran to the finish line.
– This is a flop! This is a disaster! This is where these outputs go wrong. And the apricot-making begins, says Johannes Oikarinen in the commentary.
In the end, the first semi-final was repeated, but the men got a rest break so that rounds two and three were run first.
Another company also took a lot of time. Polish Oliwer to Wdowik was shown to be dished out due to a thief’s departure. The Pole was not satisfied with this, but protested that his reaction was caused by Italy Matteo Melluzzo jerking in the starting racks. The Pole was allowed to run under the threat of protest and did not make it to the final.
On the opening day of Poland Klaudia Wojtunik was disqualified in the heats of the 100m hurdles due to a false start. Poland made a protest, which went through, and Wojtunik got to run the heat again in the evening section, alone.
Wojtunik also had to beat the time 13.23. He stopped the clock at 13.22, even though the run was partially broken. Before the second fence, Wojtunik chipped and even took four steps, one extra.
The situation had been so strange for the Pole that he crossed the first fence with the wrong foot. However, when the time 13.22 flashed on the board, Wojtunik was absolutely stunned.
– Yes, the craziest day of my life, he laughed for Polish media.
Even before the start of the Games, the logistics arrangements were discussed. Then on opening day Saga for Vanni and To Lotta Harala there was a jump with the initial warm-ups, when the trip took an hour and a quarter due to a crash and traffic jams.
– 45 minutes longer trip than normal, but it’s like this sometimes when you’re in prestigious competitions, and apparently in Italy, Vanninen’s coach Jesse Jokinen would break down.
Before the games, I was shocked by how bad the stands and toilets were in the Stadio Olimpico.
On the opening day, the athletes did not get water. The training field was missing fences. Lotta Harala said that the organizers confirmed to everyone’s surprise that “this is the first day”.
At 1,500 meters, he barely made it to the heats Sara Lappalainen told how there was a shortage of toilets and there was no toilet paper in them. The athletes were amazed in the call room before the heats.
– There was a huge rush and there was no toilet paper, so everyone was in a panic, Lappalainen laughed.
Experts and athletics bosses did not hide their irritation when Urheilu asked about the problem areas of the games.
The information provided by the Atos company, which manages the official results service of the Games, could not be trusted.
– This is by far the best performance ever, downloaded an acquaintance from Tilastopaja data bank Mirko Jalava.
Board member of the European Athletics Federation Antti Pihlakoski according to the competition organization already managed the marketing of the competitions with the very left hand, which is the logical consequence of the empty stands.
– They were warned and pointed out about this many times, but the manana mood continued.
Finland’s leading sender Sprout Artman found at least one reason for the constant clashes and protests.
– Some decisions regarding departures have undoubtedly given the impression that you don’t want to cause anyone a bad feeling. That cannot be the starting point. That, if anything, is unfair to the sport itself and to the seven other athletes.
Anger has spread especially from Sweden, which has held several protests. Sweden in the men’s 200m semi-finals Eric Erlandsson and the Czech Republic Tomas Nemejc were running at the same time.
First, both were shown a place in the final, then only the Czech. Sweden made a protest, which did not go through. Until late at night, it was decided that both made it to the finals, where nine runners were then seen.
Despite the favorable decision, the Swedish national team boss Kajsa Bergqvist was furious.
– I don’t know when was the last time I was this angry. I’m going absolutely crazy with what’s been happening the last few days.
And there have been those special coincidences from the Finnish team as well. From Camilla Richardsson “everything he owned” was stolen from his rental car, which was, of course, a sad and miserable incident.
On Wednesday, the last night of the European Championships, there are four Finns on the move. Mika Kotiranta race in the 10,000 meter B heats at 21.12. Spearmen Oliver Helander, Toni Keränen and Lassi Etelätalo will decide from 9:28 p.m. whether Finland will open its medal account at the Games.
Oliver Helander grimaced ominously in his warm-up before the javelin qualification. Finally, the coach Tero Pitkämäki revealed an amusing reason. Helander had swiped the hot gel too close to his sensitive spots.
The European Athletics Championships will end on Wednesday evening. Live broadcast on Areena, TV2, app and website from 9 p.m.
Urheilu follows the European Championships moment by moment in this article.