Czech pole vaulter Amálie Švábíková.
Istanbul – Pole vaulter Amálie Švábíková won bronze at the European Indoor Championships. The 2018 world junior champion won her first medal at a major senior event. The 23-year-old athlete jumped 470 centimeters in the final, falling just two centimeters short of her fresh national record from the domestic championship. Only the Finnish Wilma Murtová (480) and the Slovenian Tina Šutejová (475) beat her. After the silver of shot putter Tomáš Staňek, she added a second medal to the Czech collection at the HME in Istanbul.
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Švabíková went through the competition smoothly up to a height of 460 centimeters. She was already certain of a shared bronze medal before the third attempt at 470 cm, when Katerina Stefanídiová failed at this height. She then jumped 470 herself, deprived the Greek woman of a valuable metal and continued the competition. She did not succeed at 475 centimeters, but she still won a medal at the European Indoor Championships as the third Czech pole vaulter. She followed up on the silver of Daniela Bártová from Valencia in 1998 and the title of Pavla Hamáčková from Ghent in 2000.
Even though she started with the third best performance among the finalists, she did not feel very well immediately before the final. “The warm-up was incredibly difficult for me, I really struggled with the technique. I didn't believe in myself at all. I don't understand that I jumped 470. I'm satisfied,” she told Czech Television.
Other Czech athletes did not achieve a medal in the final races. Lada Vondrová, the fourth-ranked player, fought the most for her, who was attacking the continuously third Polish Anna Kielbasiňská. In the end, however, it was not enough, and the Austrian Susanne Goglová-Walliová, who had the same time of 51.73, surpassed her on the board by three thousandths of a second.
“I don't think I did anything tactically wrong there. She was just a little faster there,” the Czech number one regretted. The second Czech in the final, Tereza Petržilková, finished sixth (52.81). The role of the favorite was confirmed by the Dutchwoman Femke Bolová (49.85), who was covered by the silver compatriot Lieke Klaverová (50.57)
Only five runners entered the final of the men's quarter. Matěj Krsek came into contact already on the run and was not good enough for the best. In the medal race, he finished in 46.48, falling 45 hundredths short of his personal best from Friday's semifinal. “It was really hard today. Yesterday's double race tired me out a lot. But I arrived eleventh, I'm leaving fifth with a car and a lot of experience, so I'm satisfied,” he said. Norwegian favorite Karsten Warholm (45.35) won.
Runner Kristiina Mäki withdrew from the 1500 meters final less than two laps before the finish line. In the race, which was quickly started by the Romanian Claudia Mihaela Bobocea, she was losing and dropped to the last twelfth place. “It wasn't possible. I shouldn't have stopped, but it was just wrong,” she said. She had a problematic indoor season full of health problems. “I guess miracles don't happen. I tried not to think about it, but the pace killed me,” she added. The third title on this track was won by British Laura Muir (4:03.40).
Ondřej Kopecký has completed the first day of the heptathlon and he was not satisfied. He recorded a height of 192 cm and a total of 3184 points places him in eighth place. “I'm not completely satisfied with this. I expected more from the height. I knew I could collect points there and pull my opponent down,” said Roman Šebrle's protégé, who will rely on Sunday's pole vault.
To the front of the competition Norway's Sander Skotheim got in. He jumped 219 cm, the best performance in this event among all-arounders in the history of the HME. Thanks to this, he reached 3541 points, 67 points ahead of the French favorite Kévin Mayer.
Sixty belonged to Italian sprinters. The winner was Samuele Ceccarelli, who with a performance of 6.48 surpassed defending champion and Olympic 100m champion Marcello Lamont Jacobs by two hundredths.
Stromšík messed up the 60m run and did not advance to the semi-finals
Sprinter Zdeněk Stromšík failed at the European Indoor Championships in the 60-meter run. At the championship in Istanbul, he ran his worst time of the year, 6.79 seconds, which was not enough for the semi-finals. He was two tenths behind his performance from the indoor championship of the republic, where he came one hundredth closer to František Ptáčník's long-standing Czech record.
In the absence of the injured Jan Veleba, Stromšík was the only Czech representative in the 60s. He did not follow the procedures of his representative colleagues on Friday. In the opening run, he took sixth place out of seven participants in a sub-average time. “I can't believe my eyes, that's bad. I apologize to everyone who had any hope in me,” Stromšík told Czech Television. He searched in vain for an explanation for his failure.
Ondřej Kopecký has completed three heptathlon disciplines. The top event debutant clocked 7.09 seconds in the 60, three hundredths short of his personal best, and then added 736 centimeters to the distance, 11 centimeters short of his best. In the shot put, he was among the weakest on paper, and his performance of 13.57 was behind his personal record, which is worth 14 meters. In this discipline, he was the worst of the twelve all-rounders who entered it.
With a gain of 2453 points, Kopecky is in seventh place. “It's such a non-greasy unsalted. I'm not satisfied. I thought it would be better. For now, I'm struggling a bit with it, I'm comparing myself,” said Roman Šebrle's protégé.
The fight for the medal ended prematurely for one of favourites, reigning world indoor vice-champion Simon Ehammer. The 23-year-old Swiss had three missteps in the distance, which is his strongest discipline. During the third rescue attempt, he flew eight meters, but missed by seven and a half centimeters. He did not participate in the shot put again.
The third discipline brought European record holder Kévin Mayer to the top of the competition. The Frenchman has collected 2689 points so far and is 38 points ahead of Estonian Hans-Christian Hausenberg.
Results of the European Athletics Indoor Championships
Finals:
Men:
60 m: 1. Ceccarelli 6.48, 2. Jacobs (both It.) 6.50, 3. Larsson (Sweden.) 6.53.
400 m: 1. Warholm (Nor.) 45.35, 2. Watrin (Belg.) 45.44, 3. Bengström (Sweden.) 45.77, …5. Krsek (Czech Republic) 46.48.
Heptathlon (after 4 disciplines): 1. Skotheim (Nor.) 3541 (60 m: 7.05 – distance: 760 – ball: 14.09 – height: 219), 2. Mayer (Fr.) 3474 (6.85 – 741 – 15.81 – 198), 3. Eitel (German) 3429 (6.81 – 719 – 15.27 – 201), …8. Kopecký (ČR) 3184 (7.09 – 736 – 13.57 – 192).
Women:
400 m: 1 . Bolová 49.85, 2. Klaverová (both Netherlands) 50.57, 3. Kielbasiňská (Poland) 51.25, …5. Vondrová 51.73, Petržilková (both Czech Republic) 52.81.
1500 m: 1. Muir (Britain) 4:03.40, 2. Bobocea (Romania) 4:03.76, 3. Ennaoui (Poland) 4:04.06, …Mäki (Czech Republic) did not finish.
Triple jump: 1. Danismazová (Tur.) 14.31, 2. Derkachová (It.) 14.20, 3. Mamonaová (Portugal) 14.16.
Pole: 1. Murtová (Fin.) 480, 2. Šutejová (Slovenia) 475, 3. Švábíková (ČR) 470.
Heats and qualifications with Czech participation:
Men:
60 m: 1. Jacobs (It.) 6.57, …32. Stromšík (Czech Republic) 6.79 – did not advance to the semi-finals.
