European Athletics Championships
Klosterhalfen storms to title – silver for Mihambo and Potye
Won over 5000 meters with an outstanding run: Konstanze Klosterhalfen. photo
© Angelika Warmuth/dpa
Konstanze Klosterhalfen ensured the next German triumph at the European Athletics Championships. The running ace wins over 5000 meters. Malaika Mihambo takes silver, as does high jumper Tobias Potye.
Konstanze Klosterhalfen gave the German athletics fans in Munich the next great moment at the European Championships, while Malaika Mihambo was also celebrated for silver in the long jump after the end of her title series.
Klosterhalfen was surprisingly crowned the first German European champion over 5000 meters and already provided the fifth title for the hosts. The next German gala evening, after a thunderstorm before the competitions, was rounded off by local hero Tobias Potye with the completely unexpected silver in the high jump.
Mihambo was three centimeters short
With 7.03 meters, Mihambo had to admit defeat to the Serbian indoor world champion Ivana Vuleta, who jumped a tiny three centimeters more in the first attempt. “Maybe luck was a bit lacking,” said Mihambo and seemed satisfied, even if after the European title in 2018, World Cup gold in 2019 and 2022 and the Olympic victory last year, there was a defeat this time.
Potye delivered the competition of his life and with 2.27 meters was beaten only by the favorite Italian Gianmarco Tamberi, who crossed 2.30 meters. “It was really fun,” said Potye, who was happy to receive a congratulation from Mihambo.
“This is the best moment of my life”
Meanwhile, Konstanze Kosterhalfen ran the best race of her career. In 14:50.47 minutes, the 25-year-old from Leverkusen left behind the 10,000-meter champion Yasemin Can in the last kilometer and enthused with the German flag around her shoulders: “This is the best moment of my life.” Three years ago, Klosterhalfen celebrated her greatest success with World Cup bronze in Doha. Over the ten kilometers she finished fourth in Munich and did not necessarily raise hopes of a big coup.
In this race she had not been able to follow Can’s pace, this time she caught up with the Turkish woman and was more than six seconds ahead of her at the finish. “I wanted to run for myself, for the spectators, I have no words, I can’t believe it,” said Klosterhalfen on ARD. “It’s a dream. I’ve never won a title, I haven’t even dared to dream of a medal.”
Klosterhalfen, who lives in the USA and was weakened by a corona infection before the World Cup last month, said to the frenetic cheering from the around 35,000 fans: “I heard this sound, it was crazy.” At the World Championships, she had missed the final over 5000 meters.
Klosterhalfen did not let the significantly cooler temperatures stop them. An hour and a half before the scheduled start of the competitions in the Olympic Stadium, it began to rain heavily. Because of the thunderstorm, athletes had to be patient on the fourth day of competition. The organizers asked all spectators to take shelter from the heavy rain under the roof of the Olympic Stadium. Then the mood was just as frenetic as before with the gold triumphs of sprinter Gina Lückenkemper and decathlete Niklas Kaul.
Relay start from Lückenkemper open
According to her, whether 100-meter European champion Lückenkemper will be used in the final of the German sprint relay on Sunday will probably not be decided until Saturday. The 25-year-old suffered a laceration on her left knee from her spikes when she fell after crossing the finish line of the sprint final on Tuesday, which required stitches.
“So we really have to see how the leg and the seams work,” said Lückenkemper of the Sky TV channel. “But we’re really in good spirits.” The German relay team, which won bronze at the World Championships in Eugene, has to make it into the final without Lückenkemper and possibly also without 200-meter finalist Alexandra Burghardt.
The German pole vaulters are all in the competition for the medals on Saturday evening. Oleg Zernikel, fifth in the World Championships, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, seventh in the World Championships and Torben Blech survived the qualification with a jump of 5.65 meters, as did the big Swedish favorite Armand Duplantis.