by Larry Eder
EME NEWS (AUG 14, 2014) PART TWO
QUOTE OF THE SESSION
“We took my son Janek to the stadium and I heard him crying, maybe that was the reason why I did not throw farther,” Barbora Spotakova after winning javelin and getting the European gold wich she missed so far, said with a smile.
RESULT OF THE SESSION
Benjamin Compaore 17.46 European lead in the triple jump, he is first ever French triple jump champion.
SURPRISE OF THE SESSION
Triple jump was virtually decided in first round, where all three medalists achieved their best results. And unexpected two disqualifications which changed the medal podium. In both cases a disqualification of a French athlete promoted another French athlete.
FAVORITES FALLS
Pascal Martinot-Lagarde intially fourth but at the end third after his team-mate Dimitri Bascou was disqualified for obstruction. Old generation in triple only 6-7-8 (Oprea, Evora, Donato). Title defender Svobodova 6th in pole vault, DL high scorer Martina Ratej only 6th in javelin, out in javelin qualification olympic medalist Aleksandr Pyatnytsa, in 200 m semifinals out Ivet Lalova.
TITLE DEFENDERS
Yes: Storl, Lesueur, Harting, Shubenkov
No: Felix, Lemaitre, Arikan, Lalova, Svobodova, Mekhissi, Donato
MEDALS
1. GBR 4-2-2, 2. FRA 3-5-2, 3. RUS 3-2-5, 4. GER 2-0-2, 5. ESP 1-1-1, 6. CZE 1-0-1, 14 countries medaled.
POINTS
1. FRA 89, 2. RUS 83, 3. GER 69, 4. GBR 66, 5. ESP 33, 6. POL 26, so far 28 countries with position in the top 8.
GOLD MEDALS (by agents)
Rene Auguin and Pavel Voronkov 2, Ricky Simms, Mark Wetmore, Vera Michallek, Caroline Feith, Carine Knapp-Messerschmidt, Czeslaw Zapala, Kerstin Pohlers, Alex Porkhomovsky, Olga Nazarova, Alberto Armas, Libor Varhanik all 1. No agent for Yoann Kowal.
STATS (by Ken Nakamura)
Despite setting a European lead, Benjamin Compaore’s winning mark of 17.46 is the shortest winning mark in the men’s triple jump since 1982. He became the first French man to win the title, their previous best was silver in 1994. Barbora Å potáková of the Czech Republic now has a complete set of European medals in the women’s javelin; silver in 2006, bronze in 2010 and gold this year. She ties Germany’s Ruth Fuchs top medal tally of 3, although Fuchs won 2 golds. Å potáková is the second athlete to win the women’s javelin title in the Worlds, Olympics and Europeans, Norway’s Trine Hattestad was the first. Sergey Shubenkov of Russia defended his 110mH title, becoming the fourth multiple winner of the event. The others are Colin Jackson of Great Britain (4 golds), Thomas Munkelt of Germany and Eddy Ottoz of Italy. Shubenkov is the first athlete to win the 110mH at European u23 (2011) and senior level. With 3rd and 4th on equal time, to the hundredth of a second, the margin was the tightest ever seen at a European Championships. Matthias Buhler’s 13.39 is the fastest time ever that didn’t lead to qualification to the final, the previous fastest was 13.43 from 1998. James Ellington ran 20.52 in the 200m semis, another fastest ever non final qualifying time. In the women’s pole vault, Ekaterini Stefanidi won Greece’s best medal with silver; they won bronze in 2012.
STEEPLE
ZÃœRICH (SUI): Race Results Weekly writes that while exiting the final turn, Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad in lead of steeple final suddenly ripped off his uniform top, placed it in his mouth, spread his arms, looked up at the crowd at the Letzigrund, and encouraged their cheers. He cleared the final barrier with the uniform still in his mouth, and crossed the finish line first in 8:25.30. Still shirtless, he then sprawled on the track on his back. Initially, the Frenchman was given a “yellow card” under IAAF
rule 125.5 for unsportsmanlike conduct, a slap on the wrist which doesn’t change the order of finish. Mekhissi-Benabbad even tweeted a selfie from under the stadium with Kowal and Zalewski to further celebrate his victory. But the Spanish team filed a protest, and about an hour after the race Mekhissi-Benabbad was disqualified under IAAF rule 143.1 (clothing) and 143.7 (athlete bibs). The French team counter-protested, but the Jury of Appeal rejected that counter protest, and the disqualification was confirmed. Mekhissi-Benabbad explained himself via his Facebook page. He wrote, in part (in French with computer translation): “No one can remove me my victory and the sensation and felt absolute happiness in crossing the finish line. Sorry I thought just celebrated my victory as a football player, there’s no arrogance to my opponents and the public.” Mekhissi-Benabbad had planned to double back in the 1500m (the preliminary round is tomorrow morning), but he said, again via social media, that now he probably wouldn’t. “At the time it is, I don’t know if I’ll start in the 1500m tomorrow morning, I don’t have the morale. Whatever happens, I will respect the decision of the judges.” Informs Race Results Weekly.
ZURICH (SUI): Technical director of French federation Ghani Yalouz said for L´Équipe: “The approach of the Spanish team was unsportsmanlike. When you see the ease of the victory of Mahiedine Mekhissi … It’s pathetic. Football players do, Robert Harting does too. Mahiedine has not bothered anyone. He was well ahead. He only expressed his joy in his way. Let the athletes express their joy. This is sport.”
OTHER EURONEWS
ZURICH (SUI): Championships CEO Patrick Magyar apologized in a statement published on Thursday about what happened on Wednesday in connection with weather issues and conditions and subsequent operations from the organizers side due to changes in the time-table.
ZURICH (SUI): Great Britain’s Lawrence Clarke was a DNS in the 110mH final due to a hamstring injury sustained in the warm up.
ZURICH (SUI): British hurdler Andy Turner hopes to finish his career at the Great North CityGames in Newcastle-Gateshead in September, report Athletics Weekly. The 33 year old says that he will attempt the long jump in his hurdles retirement; “It’s been burning at me for years. I did it when I was 16 and I beat Chris Tomlinson. I jumped 7.23m and I haven’t done it since.”
ZURICH (SUI): Double World Junior gold medallist Morgan Lake is trying to gain as much experience as she can at the European Championships, report Athletics Weekly. “It’s exciting being in a team with people that I’ve seen on TV and have always aspired to be like,” said the 17 year old. “I’m going to try and watch as many events as I can to see how the athletes prepare.” She is competing in the high jump, where she is hoping to jump around the level of her PB, which is 194.
ZURICH (SUI): Portugal’s Dulce Felix will not run the 5000m, reportcmjornal.xl.pt. Sara Moreira will be Portugal’s only representative in the race. Felix finished 12th in the 10 000m, where she was the defending champion.
ZURICH (SUI): Italy’s Giuseppe Gibilisco, the 2003 World pole vault champion, has announced his retirement. The 35 year old made the announcement after failing to qualify to the final in Zurich. His best this year is 570, while the highest vault of his career is the 590 he cleared in 2003 to win the world title in Paris. One year later he claimed the Olympic bronze in Athens.
ZURICH (SUI): Sebastian Coe visited the European Championships and confirmed that “Zurich is my spiritual home.” He set here world records in the 1500 m in 1979 and over the mile in 1981.
