Germany’s track and field athletes enchant their fans at the European Championships at home. A total of 16 medals bring the big mood brightener after the World Cup sadness. A big challenge remains.
Germany’s track and field athletes delighted the home audience of their summer fairy tale after giving them goosebumps again with two gold medals at the grandiose European Championship final.
At the showdown at the end of the European Championships, the women’s relay around Golden Girl Gina Lückenkemper also secured the title, as did javelin thrower Julian Weber, who rocked the Olympic Stadium with his victory distance of 87.66. “It’s just incredibly cool,” said Lückenkemper on the stadium microphone.
Weber to the audience: “You are awesome”
The men’s relay over 4 x 100 meters caused a cry of disappointment in a crackling atmosphere when the first exchange failed completely and the final for the German quartet was over.
24 hours earlier, after Lea Meyer’s obstacle show, which was rewarded with silver, many tears had flowed. Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, second at the European Championships, challenged Mr. Unbeatable Armand Duplantis for a new piece of winning mentality. With 16 medals, the German team around the Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo, who was beaten this time, did a great job of image cultivation shortly after the great sadness of the World Cup and two years before the Olympics.
“You guys are amazing,” said Weber, who was plagued by shoulder and back pain, to the frenetic Munich track and field audience. “A giant stone falls from my heart.”
After just one gold and one bronze at the world title fights in the USA four weeks ago, Weber and the women’s relay with Alexandra Burghardt, Lisa Mayer, Lückenkemper and Rebekka Haase celebrated on Sunday. Previously, Lückenkemper in the individual race, long-distance ace Konstanze Klosterhalfen, decathlon king Niklas Kaul, marathon man Richard Ringer and the marathon women’s team all celebrated lavish title parties.
Dramas such as Mihambo’s circulatory collapse after long jump silver and a corona fight, Lückenkemper’s night in the emergency room or medals from teammates who only just missed fourth place also made for memorable moments.
Head coach Stein: “They were wonderful days”
“That was a great moment for our sport,” said President Jürgen Kessing about the double gold from Lückenkemper and Kaul on one evening. “I get goosebumps now.” Next to him, Annett Stein spoke about her “most beautiful championship” as head coach. “They were wonderful days,” she said. You didn’t perform at the World Cup, “but managed the balancing act with the European Championship and the World Cup quite well”.
During the EM days she spoke of “concentrated emotions” or of “stories and an atmosphere that got under your skin”. One example was Meyer’s breathtaking run over 3,000 meters in front of a sea of black, red and gold flags. “It was wonderful,” said the 24-year-old, remembering her trainer Henning von Papen (69), who died this year after illness, with moving words. “I thought before the race, Henning, the race is for you,” said the runner from ASV Köln.
After the 19 medals won during the 2018 European Championships in Berlin and a later awarded medal, the similarly successful title fights in Munich were even more in focus as the main attraction of the European Championships. They increased interest in the Olympic sport in the shadow of football. “I think we had magical moments,” enthused Lita Baehre about the enthusiasm in the venerable Olympic Stadium for the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Summer Games. “People are so keen on athletics.” Hours earlier, many spectators had even cheered in the pouring rain at bronze for walker Saskia Feige.
After the European Championship is before the World Cup and the Olympics
The mood lifter with successes against European competition without Russian and Belarusian athletes can give impetus for the path to next year’s World Championships in Budapest and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. But the sobering performance at the World Cup must be worked through further in order to be more competitive again on a global scale in the long term or maybe even in the medium term. Finally, javelin thrower Weber, after fourth place at the Olympics and the World Championships, managed to win the longed-for first medal.
“Yes, it’s not a world championship, you can say that. And yes, the world level is sometimes even higher,” said Meyer after her personal best time improved by around ten seconds. But you “should just really appreciate us now”. This was especially true for Meyer, who had already shown great fighting spirit in Eugene after her worrying fall in the World Cup moat.
24-year-old and 23-year-old Lita Baehre represent younger athletes who inspire hope for the future. This also applies to Lückenkemper (25), Klosterhalfen (25) or Kaul (24), who were sewn on their knees after their gold fall. The all-time winner Mihambo (28), who was dethroned this time and who “won silver and didn’t lose gold” after Corona disease, remains a guarantee for top performances anyway. Weber (27) is also in a good age as a javelin thrower.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
