athletics
Sprint relays reach EM finals: hoping for Lückenkemper
Even without Gina Lückenkemper, the German women’s 100-meter relay sprinted confidently into the final. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
The German track and field athletes continue to hope for the relay appearances of 100-meter European champion Gina Lückenkemper and Tatjana Pinto. Lückenkemper had to have stitches on her knee after her fall after crossing the finish line in her victory on Tuesday.
The German track and field athletes continue to hope for the relay appearances of 100-meter European champion Gina Lückenkemper and Tatjana Pinto. Lückenkemper had to have stitches on her knee after her fall after crossing the finish line in her victory on Tuesday.
One is “very optimistic that Gina might be able to start,” said the leading national sprint coach Ronald Stein in the team hotel in Munich. “Of course that would increase our chances significantly.”
This also applies to the use of Pinto, which Stein said was not used in the run-up “for safety reasons”. Pinto has had problems with his knee for a long time. “I hope it’s 100 percent operational,” Stein said.
The German sprint relays reached the final on Sunday evening at the European Athletics Championships in Munich. The men even ran a German record over the 4×100 meters as the winners of their heat in 37.97 seconds and set the overall fastest time in the qualification. After that, the German women made it into the final without Lückenkemper and Pinto from the World Cup bronze relay. Alexandra Burghardt, Lisa Mayer, Jessica-Bianca Wessolly and Rebekka Haase bought the final ticket.