Mondo Duplantis won his fourth European crown as the final day of competition in Birmingham at the European Athletics Championships came to a close and the last ten titles were decided inside Alexander Stadium and on the streets.
In a battle that came down to whether Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis would respond to the bar going higher, Duplantis cleared 6.15m in a championship record late in the match that gave him his fourth consecutive title in a season where he saw a nearly three year unbeaten streak fall in June in Stockholm.
“It feels amazing. I am trying not to take it for granted,” Duplantis said. “Four of these in a row is a really amazing feat, so I am trying to soak it all in and enjoy it. I am proud of my whole journey – and am proud to be here. It was an amazing night — really special. The lead-up has been very difficult and stressful but luckily I was able to make it work. I had a great team of people around me, who worked really hard to be here. That is something to be proud of.”
Karalis took second after failing to go past the 6.00m mark and missing on 6.10 and 6.15m as France’s Baptiste Thiery got bronze with 5.85m.
Meanwhile, the morning began with a pair of marathons in the early session as Germany’s Amanal Petros, the current world champion, nearly needed a similar performance to his dramatic win in Tokyo last year as he kicked late to a 2:09:11 win in the men’s race over Italy’s Pietro Riva who got silver in 2:09:18 and Israel’s Gashau Ayale who took third in 2:09:21.
“I am someone who learns from my mistakes,” Petros said about his championship record win. “I just chose one of the best tactics. I was going very well but it was not easy. At the beginning, I was going back and front, back and front – it took a little bit of energy, but I made the right decision to move. The road was very hard and was one of the biggest challenges today. It was not easy. In the end I am very happy that I managed it.”
Finland’s Alisa Vainio won the women’s marathon in a 2:22:26 championship record victory ahead of Hungary’s Lili Anna Vindics-Tóth (2:27:21) and Great Britain’s Abbie Donnelly (2:27:33).
In the women’s javelin, Sara Kolak hurled a 62.43m toss for Croatia over Germany’s Julia Ulbricht (61.53m) and Serbia’s Adriana Vilagoš (60.93m) while Italy’s Larissa Iapichino barely held on in the women’s long jump with a 7.00m leap that put her past Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers (6.99m) and France’s Hilary Kpatcha (6.98m).
Germany’s Frederik Ruppert surged to a late lean to take the men’s 3,000m steeplechase in 8:25.33 over Luxembourg’s Ruben Querinjean (8:25.61) and fellow German Karl Bebendorf (8:26.65) as Great Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell shifted gears on the bell lap to take the women’s 1,500m in 4:07.78 as Poland’s Klaudia Kazimierska took silver in 4:08.80 and Portugal’s Patricia Silva got bronze in 4:09.22.
Relays brought a dramatic end to seven packed days of events and Great Britain’s 4x100m mixed relay squad with Jeremiah Azu, Dina Asher-Smith, Zharnel Hughes, Amy Hunt took the win in 39.97 over Germany (40.11) and Spain (40.42) as Hunt secured her fourth gold of the championships.
The Netherlands won the women’s 4x400m relay in 3:21.10 under the effort of Myrte van der Schoot, Lieke Klaver, Eveline Saalberg and Femke Broeders-Bol ahead of Great Britain (3:21.68) and Italy (3:23.57) while Italy took the men’s 4x400m relay in 2:59.16 as Edoardo Scotti, Luca Sito, Mohamed Soudassi and Lorenzo Benati inched out the victory over Great Britain (2:59.19) and the Netherlands (2:59.49).
Italy led the overall medal tally with 22, including ten gold, six silver and six bronze while Great Britain and Northern Ireland won 19 medals (nine gold, right silver and two bronze) while Germany rounded out the top three with 21 (six gold, ten silver and five bronze).
Day 7 Results
Women’s Marathon
1. Alisa Vainio (Finland) – 2:22:26 CR
2. Lili Anna Vindics-Tóth (Hungary) – 2:27:21
3. Abbie Donnelly (Great Britain) – 2:27:33
Men’s Marathon
1. Amanal Petros (Germany) – 2:09:11 CR
2. Pietro Riva (Italy) – 2:09:18
3. Gashau Ayale (Israel) – 2:09:21
Men’s Pole Vault
1. Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) – 6.15m
2. Emmanouil Karalis (Greece) – 6.00m
3. Baptiste Thiery (France) – 5.85m
Women’s Javelin
1. Sara Kolak (Croatia) – 62.43m
2. Julia Ulbricht (Germany) – 61.53m
3. Adriana Vilagoš (Serbia) – 60.93m
Women’s Long Jump
1. Larissa Iapichino (Italy) – 7.00m
2. Jazmin Sawyers (Great Britain) – 6.99m
3. Hilary Kpatcha (France) – 6.98m
Mixed 4×100 Relay
1. Great Britain – 39.97
2. Germany – 40.11
3. Spain – 40.42
Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase
1. Frederik Ruppert (Germany) – 8:25.33
2. Ruben Querinjean (Luxembourg) – 8:25.61
3. Karl Bebendorf (Germany) – 8:26.65
Women’s 1,500m
1. Georgia Hunter Bell (Great Britain) – 4:07.78
2. Klaudia Kazimierska (Poland) – 4:08.80
3. Patricia Silva (Portugal) – 4:09.22
Women’s 4x400m Relay
1. Netherlands – 3:21.10
2. Great Britain – 3:21.68
3. Italy – 3:23.57
Men’s 4x400m Relay
1. Italy – 2:59.16
2. Great Britain – 2:59.19
3. Netherlands – 2:59.49
Medal Table
1. Italy: 10 Gold, 6 Silver, 6 Bronze = 22
2. Great Britain & NI: 9 Gold, 8 Silver, 2 Bronze = 19
3. Germany: 6 Gold, 10 Silver, 5 Bronze = 21
4. Netherlands: 5 Gold, 3 Silver, 6 Bronze = 14
5. Norway: 4 Gold, 0 Silver, 2 Bronze = 6
6. Switzerland: 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze = 7
7. Spain: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze = 8
8. Sweden: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze = 5
9. Ireland: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze = 4
10. Finland: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 0 Bronze = 3
