Europeans 2018, part two: field and combined events

Jumps have been a great success for the greek team. With a 1-2 in women's pole vault the domination of the greek jumpers was total. 

Stefanidi and Kyriakopoulou celebating

E. Stefanidi was everybody's favourite. The injury which had tortured her during winter was gone and her recent results were more than encouraging. During the competition she showed her mastery, was never menaced and won with 4.85 m. The unknown factor was Kyriakopoulou. She was coming back from a year off due to pregnancy and no one could gauge her condition. When she missed at 4.55 m I was afraid that she would be out of medal contention, but she went on to align first-time clearances up to 4.80 m which brought her just behind the winner. Sidorova (the other pre-competition favourite) was not in top shape. Moreover she did a curious gamble with the heights she decided to pass, ending outside the medals. I have mixed feelings about A. Bengtsson (an athlete I always keep an eye on). I was hoping something better than 6th place for her, but then, her 4.65 m clearance was not that bad (after all the bronze medal height was beyond her personal best). 

Duplantis jumping in Berlin

Men's pole vault was a great event and the victory of A. Duplantis one of the highest moments of the championships.  Was it surprising? Not at all. The talent of Duplantis is well known and everybody was expecting it to fully bloom one day. What was impressive was the ease with which he negotiated the 6 m and 6.05 m jumps. I have seen him jump at Tampere in the World U20 championships, where he made attempts at 6 m and I was thinking that it was too early for those heights. Well, I was wrong. What was surprising was the 6 m clearance of the silver medalist, T. Morgunov, who was virtually unknown till this year (his only international result pre-2018 was a 5th place in the 2015 european junior championships. That was the championship where K. Warholm obtained a silver medal in decathlon and in the 400 m). R. Lavillenie was 3rd with a season's best of 5.95 m, a height that would have been enough even for a gold medal in "normal" situations. It was pleasure to see Lavillenie happy in a competition he did not win. He was always a great jumper; now he is becoming a great champion. K. Filippidis finished the competition at 6th place with a season's best of 5.75 m. I was crossing my fingers for something better but this contest was of so high a level that a 6th place is more than honourable.

Lasistkene is (at last) smiling during the medal ceremony

Women's high jump was a most interesting event. Lasitskene was the indisputable favourite (despite having lost a competition in July). And she won. Easily? I would say yes, although she momentarily lost the lead at 1.96 m. But she went on to jump 2.00 m (on her second try) which turned out to be a winning jump. She then missed thrice at 2.04 m and it was impressive to see at which point she was disgruntled about this. It's rare to see such an unsatisfied champion. But the suspense of the competition was due to M. Demirova. She missed once at 1.94 m which pushed her temporarily to 5th place. And then she decided to pass both 1.96 and 1.98 m. It was an all or nothing move, but one which payed out. She passed the 2.00 m height on her third attempt and won the silver medal. She then went on to try at 2.04 m like Lasitskene but none of her three jumps was close. The main surprise of the event came from elimination, with 1.86 m on second attempt, in the qualifiers of E. Vallortigara who had jumped 2.02 m two weeks before the European's and who have been jumping consistently above 1.90 m all season long.

The favourite for the men's high jump was D. Lysenko, world indoor champion this year, and a 2.40 m performer. Unfortunately, due to a violation of the whereabout, his authorisation to participate as an ANA athlete was revoked and he could not participate in the championships. M. Przybylko won the competition with a 2.35 m clearance but, somehow, he did not impress me. The one I am definitely going to follow is, silver medalist, M. Nedasekau, who could manage only 2.33 m but who did show a definite potential. G. Tamberi is back and slowly recovering from the devastating injury he sustained two years ago. He was 4th with a 2.28 m season's best (which he went on to improve just a few days later to 2.33 m).

Spanovic jumping in the qualifiers

Women's long jump was a bitter disappointment for me. If you are following this blog you will have noticed that I. Spanovic is one of my favourite athletes. A consistent 7 m jumper, she was my favourite for the event. And after she jumped a leading 6.84 m in the qualifiers, she became everybody's favourite. Unfortunately disaster struck, she was injured and could not participate in the final. The later was won by M. Mihambo with a 6.75 m in a competition which was interesting despite (or due to?) Spanovic's absence. J. Sawyers (an athlete I'm following) fought till the end, finishing just outside the medals with a 6.67 m jump (redeeming herself for her undeserving 7th place in this winter's Commonwealth Games). 

Tentoglou winning the long jump

M. Tentoglou was hailed as a great talent for long jump but what he did in Berlin surpassed our expectations. At 20 years of age he showed a great mastery leading the qualifiers with a 8.15 m jump and going on to win the final with a season's best of 8.25 m. I expect him, in the years to come, to be competitive on a global level. Age is on his side. I was somewhat disappointed by the 10th place of I. Smajlaj, who had created the surprise last year, winning the european indoors. The enjoyable moment of the long jump was the absence of a certain olympic, world and european champion (if you haven't guessed, I am talking about G. Rutherford whom I cannot stand). Fortunately he is retiring and hopefully we will not hear about him again (but one never knows: some athletes become big bosses and they stay in the limelight for life).

Papachristou was the logical favourite of triple jump

Women's triple jump offered another gold medal to Greece. Just like Tentoglou, P. Papachristou led the qualifiers and went on to win the final with a 14.60 m jump (equalling her regular conditions season's best). She had won a bronze medal two years ago in Amsterdam. Speaking of that championship I was surprised by the elimination in the qualifiers of P. Mamona, the reigning champion. She was somewhat below par this season but she could have made it to the final. The qualification for the latter was perfectly targeted this year. Just 12 athletes jumped 14.05 m or more (which was necessary for a direct qualification to the final), with world and triple european champion O. Saladukha being left out of the final with a 14.04 m jump. And after two years of so-so performances G. Petrova, whom I have been following, is back. She finished 6th with 14.26 m jump but she is definitely back.

The three medalists of men's triple jump

There was another greek medal in men's triple jump. D. Tsiamis, with 16.78 m, practically at the end of his career could obtain a, well deserved, bronze medal. What is funny is that all three medalists of the event are veteran athletes. N. Evora (who won with 17.10 m) was born in 1984, A. Copello (second with 16.92 m) in 1985 and Tsiamis in 1982. Olympic bronze medalist and european champion (both in 2012) F. Donato participated at the Europeans 16 years after his first participation but could not make it to the final. He went over 17 m in 2000 and was still beyond this mark last year. I somehow have the feeling that we haven't seen the last of this great jumper.

Haratyk and Bukowiecki celebrating

Shot put was dominated by polish throwers. P. Guba won with 19.33 m, surpassing, C. Schwanitz (19.19 m) at her last throw. World indoor champion A. Marton could not participate due to a knee injury. M. Haratyk (21.72 m) and K. Bukowiecki (21.66 m) managed a polish 1-2 in men's event pushing the local hero, D. Storll (and one of the last gliders) to the third place, with 21.41 m. Women's discus was won, quite expectedly by S. Perkovic, and with a comfortable almost 5 m margin. However her winning throw of 67.62 m came only at the 5 attempt: up to that time she was led by the three german throwers. Men discus throw saw a bis repetita (like in last year's World's) of A. Gudzius, with 68.46 m, prevailing over D. Stahl, who threw 68.23 m, (only this time Gudzius secured his victory at the very last throw). World and european champion P. Malachowski as well as olympic champion C. Harting were out at the qualifiers with three fouls each. M. Nesterenko, a thrower who at 17 years of age had obtained a record of 77.50 m with the 1.5 kg discus, was 12th with 57.66 (after having qualified with 63.34 m). 

A. Wlodarczyk, the undisputed queen of hammer throw

A polish 1-2 in men's hammer throw was accompanied by a polish 1-3 in the women's event. At long last W. Nowicki (80.12 m) managed to prevail over P. Fajdek (78.89 m). After three consecutive seasons it looks like A. Wlodarczyk will not have an over-80 m throw this year. Still she dominated once more women's hammer beating, with a 78.94 m, A. Tavernier by more than 4 m. I was hoping for something better from K. Klaas who, with a personal season's best of 71.50 m, finished 7th. Javelin throw was a german affair. C. Hussong killed the competition with a first attempt throw of 67.90 m. (She had thrown over 67 m in qualifiers also). World champion of 2015 K. Molitor could not make it to the final, finishing 15th in the qualifiers with a 58 m throw. 

The three German javelin throwers (the photo is not from Berlin)

I was expecting a german medal sweep in the men's javelin throw but world champion (and best performer of the year) J. Vetter could not throw beyond the 5th place. His qualifying throw of 87.39 m would have secured him the bronze medal. T. Röhler won the competition, flirting with the 90 m (he threw 89.47m), while A. Hofmann was second with 87.90 m. I haven't payed much attention to the latter till now but from now on I will definitely keep an eye on him. (And I was very glad that a certain Finn thrower has apparently retired).

Thiam added another title to her list of successes

N. Thiam was the great favourite in the women's heptathlon, but C. Johnson-Thompson did not make life easy for her. (If you follow my blog you should have noticed by now that I adore Thiam and do not like very much Johnson-Thompson). Thiam is a jumper-thrower as I like them, while Johnson-Thompson is a runner-jumper. She managed to beat Thiam in both runs and jumps (the latter jumping a below-par 1.91 m in high jump). Fortunately Thiam managed a 6.60 m long jump and minimised the losses. Having thrown a 15.35 personal best in shot put, she backed it up with a massive 57.91 m (more than 15 m more than Johnson-Thompson) and the victory was hers: a world leading 6816 points ahead of  J-T's personal best of 6769. I was expecting I. Dadic (6652) to win the bronze medal but C. Schäfer (6602) beat her to it, essentially because of a better javelin throw. Reigning european champion A. Vetter finished 5th (6414). A. Shukh, who has been hailed as the next big talent (a jumper-thrower with a good 800 m) was only 15th (5985), but she most probably hasn't quite recovered from the injury she sustained in the year's U20 World's (where, nevertheless, she won the individual javelin throw). 

Johnson-Thompson had to contend with the silver medal

I already wrote about K. Mayer and long jump debacle. In his absence, A. Abele, with 8431 points, won the first major title in his career. I was also very happy with the silver medal of I. Shkurenyov (8321). T. Duckworth was the revelation of these championships, leading up to the 8th event but finishing 5th with 8160 points. But he is a sprinter-jumper unable to throw a decent javelin and what is even worse unable to run a decent 1500 m: he registered his personal best in the europeans running fo the first time (just) below 5 min. I cannot understand what is his coach thinking. You cannot be competitive in today's decathlon is you have such weaknesses. This reminds me of the good old times (say 50 years back) where decathletes were lousy pole vaulters. Things have definitely changed today. Speaking of pole vault, I was watching the athletes' efforts and I noticed that M. Roe (6th with 8131 points) jumps almost with the style of non-bending poles. I found that interesting. 

A (bad quality) video capture of M. Roe pole-vaulting

Pole vault was the event where J. Ureña respected his tradition of fouling the european decathlon. Two years ago he had fouled in the discus and this time he no-heighted in the pole vault. M. Uibo was one of the favourites (at least for the silver medal) in particular after his Götzis 2nd place behind D. Warner of Canada (another pole vault no-heighter at the Commonwealth Games, something that costed him the title). But it was clear from the beginning that Uibo was suffering and he was constrained to withdraw after the pole vault. Remember that all three french athletes had fouled out in the long jump. While Mayer called it quits, the remaining two went on with their decathlon and finished up to and including the 1500 m. (Ureña, by the way did the same). I noticed R. Gado (he needs to improve his hurdles and his discus throw) who could easily become an 8400 points decathlete. I will keep an eye on him.


As always I am not going to comment of race-walking. I will just repeat what I am always saying: I have a great respect for walkers, because they are genuine athletes training very hard, but I believe that the whole discipline should not exist (since the rules, as they stand today, allow race-walkers to run).