Tried everything, but it wasn't enough: the German track and field athletes remained without a medal on the last day of the European Indoor Championships. Despite strong performances, Malaika Mihambo, Torben Blech, Manuel Eitel and Tobias Potye have to settle for fourth place.
Malaika Mihambo raised his arms helplessly and shook his head in disappointment. Instead of the long-awaited first big title under the roof of the hall, the long jump queen was left with nothing but metal in the end in Istanbul. At the European Championships, the Olympic and world champion couldn't cope with her run-up at all, she couldn't get more than 6.83 meters and fourth place. The surprise winner Hanna Klein (3000 meters) was the only big ray of hope for the German team on the Bosporus.
"The competition was very strong. I didn't have a jump where I hit it perfectly," said Mihambo: "Then it will be difficult to keep up." Mihambo fabricated three invalid attempts, again and again she sought help from trainer Ulli Knapp. With her 6.83 meters in the fourth attempt, the 29-year-old then took the lead - but the competition hit back hard. In the fifth round, Mihambo was finally passed. The British Jazmin Sawyers surprisingly secured gold with a strong 7.00 meters. Behind them, Larissa Iapichino (6.97/Italy) and European Champion Ivana Vuleta from Serbia (6.91) took second and third place.
Not only Mihambo had hopes for a medal on the last day of the title fights in Turkey, but in the end fourth places literally rained down. Vice European champion Tobias Potye in the high jump with 2.26 meters, Torben Blech with 5.80 meters and all-around man Manuel Eitel ended up in the most thankless of all places despite a new personal best of 6047 points in the heptathlon. 32 points were missing Eitel on the podium, world champion and world record holder Kevin Mayer from France won the title with 6348 points.
The previously highly traded Sam Parsons was seventh over 3000 meters, pole vaulter Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, after all Vice European Champion from Munich, disappointed with 5.40 meters and ninth place. The German team only won four medals in Istanbul, sensationally Klein won the only gold medal right at the start on Friday. The last time the DLV was better was in 2017. Without stars like European sprint champion Gina Lückenkemper or decathlete Niklas Kaul, who are already concentrating entirely on the summer with the World Championships in Budapest, the DLV athletes ended up in ninth place in the medal table.
For association president Jürgen Kessing, the European Championships in Istanbul were a "good orientation" on the way to the high point of the season in summer. The Outdoor World Championships in Budapest will take place from August 19th to 27th, 2023. A year after Eugene's World Cup disaster and the EM summer fairy tale in Munich, it will be trend-setting how the DLV presents itself in Hungary one year before the Olympic Games.
Klein caused the greatest celebration in the German team in Istanbul - with a win against the favored Konstanze Klosterhalfen over the 3000 meters. Klein waited a long time on Friday evening, 100 meters from the finish she simply sprinted past and gave Klosterhalfen no chance in the final sprint. "I'm overwhelmed. I'm happy that we performed so well as a team. Gold and silver - you can't have more," said Klein. Your tactics worked perfectly. As second on the entry list, she wanted to "defend her chances of winning a medal". The fact that it ended up being gold "is all the more awesome."
