Camilla Richardsson changed the 3,000 meter steeplechase to smooth distances. The top performances at the European Championships in Munich proved that changing the main sport was the right solution.
Aino Paloniemi,
Petra Manner
The European Championship week in Munich can be seen on channels from August 11 to 21. You can find live broadcasts, highlights, the competition schedule, interesting news and topics on ‘s competition page.
Camilla Richardson ran his new record again at the European Championships in Munich. On Thursday evening, Richardsson improved his record for 5,000 meters with a time of 15:16.71, which brought the Finnish runner 10th place.
Richardsson’s previous record time of 15:30.08 was from Midsummer. On the opening day of the Games on Monday, Richardsson already improved his 10,000 meter record. However, the runner had clearly recovered from his previous run.
– I have known during this summer that it would be possible to run with such results. When it was ten on Monday, I thought we’d see. But I was obviously completely recovered, Richardsson commented after the final.
– The legs were surprisingly good. From the beginning I felt this was going to be good.
The second Finnish runner of the competition Ilona Mononen reached the 18th place in his first adult race final. At 3,000 meters still, Mononen was at his own record pace, but the last two kilometers were challenging for the young Finnish runner. Mononen’s final time was 16.10.97.
– It was quite a work site, I could feel it in my legs. I don’t know if it was due to the value competition of the youth, and I don’t want to say it directly as an excuse, so to speak, but today just didn’t go anywhere.
At the beginning of August, Mononen, 18, finished fifth in the 3,000 meters at the World Junior Championships.
– It was still great to run today in the first adult race and of course I’m really proud of Camilla’s amazing record improvement.
Richardsson, who switched from the 3,000-meter steeplechase to longer running distances for this season, still hesitated about his decision at the beginning of the summer. Huge improvements in results on smooth journeys show that the decision was the right one.
– Now I am satisfied. At the beginning of the summer, I was still wondering if this was the right decision, but now I feel good.