Race after race was longer and a lot worse.
Gesa Felicitas Krause had just been able to influence her luck herself, after 9:21.02 minutes she had finished her lead over the 3000 meter obstacle with her last strength. A respectable time, as bumpy as it was last through the preparation; but that wasn’t enough for direct promotion to the final, no chance. So Krause was now given the procedure that track and field athletes value about as much as a twelve-hour flight in the wooden class: She had to hope that in the last heat enough runners would be slower than her to push through to the final. Krause followed the procedure in the basement of Hayward Field, between sponsor boards and concrete, his eyes wide. At one point she leaned against a railing, her head buried in her hands.
It didn’t take long for it to be clear that her tears were for joy. Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew, who could have ousted her, was eight-hundredths of a second too slow. Not even a twitch separated her between the final, Krause’s sixth at her sixth World Cup, and the early departure. She had already given up hope, she later said, now she was “incredibly grateful that the stars were on my side. Reaching the final on Wednesday was “a huge win” this time.”
That hit the German leitmotif of the first days at the World Championships in Athletics quite well, and it will probably accompany the association over long stretches of the title fights. The preliminary fights are already a finale for most of them, it takes strength – and favorable stars – larger consecrations are reserved for an exclusive circle. A few first specimens: The 400-meter mixed relay got stuck in the lead (3:16.89 minutes), the shot putter and the triple jumper Neele Eckhardt-Noah (13.93 meters), who was so strong last time, also, walker Christopher Linke , otherwise constantly in the shadow of the podium, climbed out over 20 kilometers – he wanted to save energy for the 35 kilometers in the second week. Other deserving top performers had recently canceled at short notice (javelin throw European champion Christin Hussong) or shortened their program, such as Konstanze Klosterhalfen (5000 instead of 10,000 meters).
Pole vaulter Jacqueline Otchere shows what athletes can create from unexpected opportunities
Positive outliers were initially rare: 1500-meter sprinter Katharina Trost advanced to the semi-finals with a best performance (4:03.53 minutes), but had just as little chance there as Hanna Klein. Pole vaulter Jaqueline Otchere also earned a diligence card, despite a modest season best (4.40 meters) she was subsequently in the World Cup field because others had passed. In the past, the German Athletics Association was reluctant to include such candidates in its squad – the extended final chance applied – this time Otchere showed in the qualification what athletes can do with unexpected opportunities: the 26-year-old brought Eugene momentum into a season and also a career that had recently faltered a bit, with 4.50 meters including reaching the final (on Monday night).
For Krause, such preliminary fights are usually a bureaucratic act, as a two-time European champion and holder of two bronze medals at the World Championships. This year, however, their story is more reminiscent of how fragile the German presence at the top of the world is. The past summer at the Olympics was a turning point after years in which Krause had little time to balance success and tough altitude training. She retired with Achilles tendon pain, often had colds, and had bowel surgery in December. In January, when she was training again at altitude, “I was just bad, I started at the bottom, and then of course you have these ups and downs,” she said now. She only got into the season after the German championships in Berlin, where Lea Meyer won, who involuntarily came to the fore in Eugene: she got stuck at the first water ditch, fell headlong into the water – and still saved 9:30.81 minutes Target.
Involuntary application for the swimming world championships: Lea Meyer falls at the obstacle – and still only misses her best time by around five seconds.
(Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP)
Few things are as fleeting as sporting excellence, almost every summer of strength comes with a premonition of decline. But Krause moderated her current low as bravely as ever. When you’re flattered by success like she is, she mused after her prelim, the thought can creep into your head that you should even take part in a final. “But if I gave up now because I won’t be on the podium – what is the motivation for young people to do this sport?” she said. “It’s just part of having ups and downs.”
Practical side effect: The World Cup final is now above all a fitness booster for the European Championships in Munich in just under a month, since there aren’t many races left by then. And track and field athletes usually acquire toughness in competition: in competition. Munich will probably be Krause’s last major event at home; After the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, it will become clear “whether I’m still doing an obstacle course,” said the 29-year-old. “One already belongs to the older pavement.” This is also a pointer for German athletics.