MUNICH, Germany: Poland’s Aleksandra Lisowska claimed the first title at the European championships, winning the women’s marathon on the streets of Munich on Monday.
The 31-year-old Pole clocked 2hr 28min 36sec, Croatia’s Matea Parlov Kostro taking silver, at 7sec, with Nienke Brinkman of the Netherlands claiming bronze, a further 10sec adrift.
The men’s marathon title went the way of host nation Germany as Richard Ringer produced an extraordinarily well-judged final burst past Ethiopian-born Israeli Maru Teferi for gold.
Ringer dug deep in front of thousands of onlookers to time 2:10.21, with Teferi taking silver, 2sec behind, and another Ethiopian-born Israeli, Gashau Ayale, claiming bronze a further 6sec adrift.
The opening day of the athletics championships had opened in dramatic style as world decathlon champion Kevin Mayer’s bid for a first European title came to a shuddering halt as he pulled up in the opening 100m.
World record holder Mayer, twice world champion and a two-time Olympic silver medallist, had warned that he would withdraw from the gruelling two-day event should he feel even the slightest pain.
And so it proved as the Frenchman took the foot off the pedal after 70 metres of the 100m, the first of 10 events at Munich’s Olympic Stadium.
“I did a decathlon three weeks ago,” he said in reference to his world title-winning effort in Eugene, Oregon, dubbing his bid to add the continental title to his haul as a “mission impossible”.
“I pulled up before injury. I had a hundredth of a second to decide: carry on and I injure myself, or I stop. It’s very hard.
“I gave myself every chance to have a great time again because, regardless of the fears and stress it could generate, on the track I have so much fun!
“I wanted to give myself a chance to get there, I didn’t succeed, it doesn’t matter: I’m world champion, my season has been a success, which was unexpected given my injuries.”
The evening session at the Olympic Stadium sees medals up for grabs in both the men and women’s shot put, as well as the women’s 10,000m.
MILAK PIPS PONTI
Hungary’s Kristof Milak won the men’s 100m butterfly in 50.33 seconds at the European Championships in Rome on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Olympic silver medallist pipped Switzerland’s Noe Ponti in second place with Poland’s Jakub Majerski in third.
Milak was in line to beat his own continental record of 49.68sec at the halfway stage before slowing down in the final 50m in the open-air pool at the Foro Italico complex.
“I wanted to win this, but with a better time. I always want to go under 50sec which I was unable to do today,” Milak said.
“I want to improve all the time, I want to do 49s all the time,” he added.
Elsewhere, France’s Analia Pigree claimed the women’s 50m backstroke in 27.27sec, almost 0.30sec slower than the world record with Italy’s Silvia Scalia in second and the Netherlands’ Maaike de Waard taking bronze.
“I’m totally happy, I’m in shock,” 21-year-old Pigree said.
“It’s my first long-course championships and my first medal, and this gives me strong motivation to carry on,” she added.
Britain’s James Wilby claimed gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke after starting in lane number eight in 2min 08.96s with Finland’s Matti Mattson in second and home favourite Luca Pizzini in third.
Wilby, 28, also raced in the world championships earlier this summer and in the Commonwealth Games with the competitions having been re-scheduled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It was a real wrestle in that last 25 but I executed my process just how I wanted to,” Wilby said.
“It’s extremely complicated. We are going through things that we have never gone through before, three internationals in one year is a hell of an ask,” he added.
In the women’s 200m freestyle, the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen swam a personal best of 1min 56.36 to win with Wilby’s compatriot and 2019 champion Freya Anderson taking silver and Germany’s Isbael Marie Gose claiming bronze.
In the final race of the day in the Italian summer heat, hosts dominated the men’s 4x100m freestyle final in a time of 3min 10.50.
Milak’s Hungary were almost two seconds slower in second with Britain in third as France were disqualified for an illegal handover.
Earlier, Romanian David Popovici claimed a place in the men’s 200m freestyle final after breaking the world record in the 100m on Saturday, beating Milak who was second.
Popovici, 17, finished in 1min 44.91 and will compete for another gold in Monday’s late session but Milak will be missing from the race after having to settle for fourth place in his heat. — AFP
