No less than 12 Finns participated in the first day period of the EC Athletics Championships. Pole vaulters Wilma Murto and Elina Lampela cleared their way to the final.
15:23•Updated 15:23
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The EC athletics championships as part of the EC week in Munich started on Monday. 12 Finns participated in the first day section.
In the women’s pole vault Wilma Murto and Elina Lampela made their way to Wednesday night’s final. Murto topped 425 and 440 in his first, but struggled in the 450 – which he topped in his third, though.
Lampela cleared 410 on his first attempt, 425 on his second and 440 on his first. 450 was not exceeded, but the protocol was enough for the final.
Instead Saga Andersson experienced the same bitter fate as in the World Championships in Oregon, being the first qualifier. Britain’s Sophie Cook bent his record 450 on his third attempt, dropping Andersson’s qualifying to 13th.
Check out Wilma Murro’s crossing of the 450 and Cook’s record jump and Andersson’s emotional reaction in the videos below.
Murto, 24, was very happy to have a Finnish club in the final, even though the third Finnish place in the final was close. Murto already used a bigger stick in the qualifying, thinking about the final. The final will be contested on Wednesday evening from 21:00.
– This is certainly one of the most even finals that seipää has had in a long time. It can happen either way, it will be really interesting as a race, predicts Murto and estimates that we would be very strong in the medal fight if 470 were exceeded in the final.
– The medal result can be anything from 460 to 475. A very unpredictable finale. Nice to go, with an open mind and without bowing down to anyone.
When asked about the final goal, Lampela, 24, said that the new record should already come. His record is 453 jumped in Turku 2021.
For Lampela, the place in the final is the first of his career in prestigious competitions for adults. He was happy for STT that there is no need to be labeled as an athlete who always fails to qualify.
You can watch the interview with the duo in its entirety below.
Samuli Samuelsson ran a time of 10.39 in the men’s 100 meter preliminaries and did not make it to the semi-finals, for which 10.33 was required in the time comparison.
– To leave a bad taste, it felt really good in the net. I just couldn’t pull it off in this run, Samuelsson said.
In the preliminaries, 10 semi-final runners were screened, 14 men made it directly to the semi-finals. Thus, 24 athletes will be seen in the semi-final stage. Samuelsson criticized the system, which he considered unworthy.
– I don’t like this rule, and probably neither does anyone else who runs the prelims. I hope everyone is on the same page. It is the salt of value competitions that everyone is on the same line in the heats, Samuelsson said according to STT.
Watch Samuelsson’s heat run and interview in the video below.
Women’s shot put qualifying Senja Mäkitörmä pushed 16.94 and Eveliina Rouvali 17.07. A result of 17.33 was required for the final.
Kristian Pullin the series in long jump qualifying was: overstepped, 761 and 770. Suffering from injuries, the EC indoor bronze medalist and SE man (827) did not make it to the finals. The final place was only four centimeters away, when Norway’s Ingar Kiplesund was 12th in the qualifier with a score of 774.
Pulli said that the mood felt surprisingly good considering that he has been able to train mostly in the weight room, but not much on the track.
You can listen to and watch Pulli’s interview below.
Alisa Vainio interrupted – a great finish in the men’s marathon
During the first competition period, the first medals were also decided. Polish Aleksandra Lisowska won EC gold in the women’s marathon. Surprise champion Lisowska grabbed her first gold medal in the competition with a time of 2:28:34.
of Croatia Matea Parlov Kostro ran for silver (+0.07) and the Dutch Nienke Brinkman sky for bronze (+0.17). Brinkman only narrowly beat, at the same time, fourth-placed Germany Miriam Dattken.
Finland’s number one hope Alisa Vainio stopped after about 30 km. Nina Chydenius ended up as the best Finn in 39th place (2.43.00). Suvi Miettinen was 46th (2.47.15) and Annemari Kiekara 49th (2.48.30).
The only Finnish representative in the men’s marathon Arttu Vattulainen stopped at about 25 kilometers after being in 66th place.
In the men’s marathon race, there was an exciting finish, at the end of which the Home Audience could celebrate. Earlier in the 5,000 meters European Championship bronze (2016 in Amsterdam) reached Germany Richard Ringer crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of Israel To Maru Teferi. The third was Israel Gashau Ayale nine seconds off the lead.
You can watch Ringer’s amazing final draw below. At the finish, Ringer still helped his compatriot who came in 16th place Johannes Motschmannwhose legs were cramping.
Mayer’s risk paid off – a wild length performance from Ehammer
The most significant news internationally was by Kevin Mayer suspension in the men’s 10 match. The 30-year-old Mayer faltered in the first event, the 100-meter run, and soon after said that he would leave the decathlon.
– The Achilles tendon is fine, it was a muscle injury. The injury bothered Eugene even before the World Championships. I did everything I could to compete here at the European Championships, Mayer told Urheilu.
In July, Mayer won the World Championship gold, and he also has two Olympic silver medals, among other things. It was known in advance that two decathlon matches in four weeks is a tough job. After the World Cup gold medal, the Frenchman himself said that it is “dangerous” to go to the European Championships.
Watch Mayer’s 100m performance in the video below.
Swiss Simon Ehammer jumped a great result of 831 in the decathlon. The second best result in the decathlon was 756.
At the World Championships in Oregon, the 22-year-old Ehammer competed only in the long jump and took bronze.
Ehammer broke his record of 845 in the Götzis decathlon in the spring, with which he got 1,178 points for the decathlon. It is the most individual score of all time in the sport of decathlon.
With his completely superior length performance, Ehammer leads the decathlon after three events with 2,845 points ahead of Italy Dario Dester (2,591) and Poland Pawel Wiesiolekia (2,563).
Below is Ehemmar’s length performance.
Five Finns in the arena in the evening
The evening session at the European Athletics Championships starts at 19:15.
Finns are included Salla Sipponen in puck qualifying, Mette Baas and Milja Thureson in the heats of 400 meters, Simo Lipsanen in the triple jump qualifying as well as Camilla Richardson 10,000 meters, which is run directly as the final race.