European Athletics Championships: Javelin thrower Weber and sprint relay win gold

Aall for one, one for all. At the end of the European Athletics Championships, a sense of community was once again required in the Munich Olympic Stadium. The sprint relays for men and women were the crowning highlights of these title fights on the program – and in fact Alexandra Burkhardt, Lisa Mayer, Gina Lückenkemper and Rebekka Haase, frenetically cheered on by the Munich audience, ran again to gold for the German team.

What could have gone better with these atmospheric days in Munich than an interplay of different legs, hands and heads? From Monday onwards, track and field athletes from all countries praised the great audience, which above all, but not only, cheered on and sometimes inspired the German athletes to excellent performances.

And that’s how it was on this seventh day of the competition – but before the relay teams were allowed to start their final work, the filigree women were still challenged on the high jump mat and the strong men in the javelin throw. The Saulheim handball school produced a European champion for the second time these days from Munich.

Saulheim Handball School

Julian Weber, who once played handball with decathlon champion Niklas Kaul in the Rheinhessen wine village south of Mainz, fired the 800 gram javelin at 87.66 meters in the fourth attempt – and was unbeatable that evening. He had still felt shoulder pain when throwing in. But when the Munich crowd cheered for him, the Olympic and World Cup fourth-placed was unstoppable. “I can’t believe it,” the 27-year-old shouted into the stadium microphone and knew who he owed part of his success to: “Munich, you’re so awesome. Thank you very much”. Silver went to Olympic silver medalist and World Championship third Jakub Vadlejch from the Czech Republic, who managed 87.28 meters. The Finn Lassi Etelätalo won bronze with 86.44 meters.

Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch, German hope in the high jump and third place at the European Championships in 2018, took sixth place this time with 1.90 meters. As expected, the Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchich won the title, even if she surprisingly only managed 1.95 meters.

When “scandal in the restricted area” echoed through the stadium, Julian Weber could no longer be held back – he danced with the German flag over his shoulders in the reporter’s stand, his box seat with a view of the relay events.

First it was the men’s turn, but the German quartet mutated into a duo. The first change from Kevin Kranz to Joshua Hartmann went wrong. Owen Ansah and Lucas Ansah-Peprah didn’t even have to start running. Great Britain won ahead of France and Poland. “It’s a shame it didn’t work out,” Weber felt about the German boys.

The German women did better, much better: they showed an impressive performance and won in 42.34 seconds ahead of Poland and Italy. The fact that the favorites from France and Great Britain were eliminated after mistakes in substitution naturally favored the German victory. After a total of seven gold medals, seven silver medals and two bronze medals, the German team finished the competition as number one in the medal table.

“It was an unbelievably great run,” Gina Lückenkemper gushed in her usual manner after the win. “I didn’t think it was possible,” she added. “We gave everything and it paid off,” added Alexandra Burghardt, starting runner. “I’m at a loss for words” said the thoughtful Rebekka Haase. And at the moment of great success, Lisa Mayer also thought of her teammate Tatjana Pinto, who had contested the preliminary heat but was now absent from the grand finale due to injury. All for one, one for all. The rest was partying.