She throws herself to the finish and is rewarded: Gina Lückenkemper is European champion over 100 meters. But the party has to be interrupted - the 25-year-old injured her leg and had to go to the hospital and have stitches. But the sprinter is still "overjoyed".
"I'm going to the hospital first." With these words, Gina Lückenkemper reports to her fans via Instagram story. A damper on the total euphoria and ecstasy, not good news - especially not after this evening at the European Athletics Championships. Because it's one where jubilation, hustle and bustle should prevail for the 25-year-old. What happened around 10:30 p.m. in the Munich Olympic Stadium finally knocked the 40,000 spectators out of their seats. The sprinter is the new European champion over 100 meters.
With a furious finish, Lückenkemper pushed past Mujinga Kambundji from Switzerland, who seemed to have rushed, and Brit Daryll Neita. Wafer-thin, at the same time, but in front. The finish photo is the proof, the evaluation keeps the stadium under high tension before Lückenkemper's name appears next to the 1 on the scoreboard. Shouting out in joy surrounded by her competitors, tears flowing, she sinks to her knees and is covered with the Germany flag by Claudine Vita, who is still at the stadium having just won the bronze medal herself in the discus throw. But the attention is not with the throwers, it is with Gina Lückenkemper.
The Soesterin, who has been training in the USA since 2019, is already holding her bleeding leg. She falls at the finish, injures herself, has to be bandaged by the paramedics, she gives the stadium interview while sitting while her leg is treated. "The stadium is absolutely amazing today. I'm so incredibly grateful to you," said Lückenkemper. "I don't feel anything right now, I have so much adrenaline," she calls out to the fans, who let the LaOla slosh through the stadium and turn it into a madhouse. A little later, with a thick bandage, she has her picture taken in front of the scoreboard with her winning time of 10.99 seconds, and dances with a flag across the track, which means the world to her.
She is still in front of the camera on ARD, but her press assignments are then canceled. The reason is that: She has to go to the hospital and is sewn up there with eight stitches, as reported by the German Athletics Association. But things are moving quickly, at 1:10 a.m. she is welcomed at the team hotel with "big cheers", it is said.
"I'm overjoyed and can't really believe it all yet," she says. She had been considered a medal candidate in the run-up, but only a few had believed her capable of the title. But after bronze in 2016 over 200 meters and silver in 2018 over 100 meters, she increases again and completes her medal collection.
The way there is bumpy, not only because she already competes in the semifinals in the early evening with tape on her left thigh. The drama comes to a head unnoticed by the audience: "I didn't know if I could start in the final," she says after the greatest success of her career. Her supervisors would have worked wonders. Above all, her coach played a large part in the victory: "He gave me the pep talk (motivational speech, editor's note) of my life and without her it would not have been possible," she says on ARD. Together they managed that Lückenkemper is now the first German 100-meter European champion since Verena Sailer in 2010.
Above all, the road is bumpy because a lot of their attention has shifted from the track to the trappings in recent weeks. After the World Cup, she attacks the DLV harshly. Because the funding is bad compared to other countries and you shouldn't be surprised if you don't achieve success with athletes who, as semi-professionals, "can't keep up with full professionals." She is rebuked by the association and recently she even concedes a broadside from the former two-time high jump Olympic champion Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth, who finds her criticism excessive. She dubbed her "Lady with the quick legs and the even quicker mouth."
Lückenkemper impressively proves that her legs are faster than Nasse-Meyfarth believes before the start of the European Championship. She has the fans on her side. The celebration will follow in a few hours. Lückenkemper invites you via Instagram story to 6:25 p.m., to the award ceremony, which will be held on the stage at Olympiasee. Then the national anthem will sound for her, she will have her gold medal hung around her shoulders - and probably still don't quite understand what happened late Tuesday evening.
In the run-up to the European Championships, it seemed more likely that she would not be alone on the podium, if at all. But with her three season colleagues. Together with Tatjana Pinto, Alexandra Burghardt and Rebekka Haase, she had won bronze at the World Championships in Eugene a good three weeks ago and had already caused a sensation. It is currently unclear whether she will even be able to compete in the season after her injury. The preliminary heats take place on Friday morning, the finale takes place on Sunday evening as the crowning glory of the title fights in Munich.
She and her team will try everything again to make the start possible. However, Lückenkemper could best save himself the detour via the hospital to the celebration.
