Dhe new 100-meter European champion Gina Lückenkemper had to make a short detour to a Munich hospital. “Mission to hold hands was successful,” the 25-year-old wrote on Instagram. “May go back to the hotel.” The German Athletics Association is based in the north of Munich, not far from the Olympic Stadium.
Lückenkemper had celebrated the first title of a German woman over 100 meters at the European Athletics Championships in Munich since Verena Sailer’s in Barcelona in 2010 and fell immediately after crossing the finish line. She then had to go to the hospital because of a wound on her thigh, where, according to the German association, she was sewn up with eight stitches.
“I’m so happy”
“I don’t know exactly where the wound came from. Whether from the fall or something else. But I am fine. I’m overjoyed and can’t quite believe it all yet,” said Lückenkemper after she arrived at the team hotel in Munich at 1.10 a.m. and was greeted with great cheering by the rest of the German team.
Four years after her European Championship silver, she had previously won in 10.99 seconds, just ahead of the Swiss indoor world champion Mujinga Kambundji at the same time. Third place went to Neita Daryll from Britain, just a hundredth of a second slower. “I’ll need a little more time to process all of this,” said Lückenkemper on ARD.
Whether Lückenkemper’s start in the 4×100 meter relay on the final day of the European Championships in Munich was in jeopardy could not be foreseen on Tuesday evening. On Sunday, the quartet of the German Athletics Association (DLV) with Tatjana Pinto (Wattenscheid), Alexandra Burghardt (Burghausen), Lückenkemper (Berlin) and Rebekka Haase (Wetzlar) are also aiming for a medal at the World Championships.
After winning the title, Lückenkemper also reported that her start in the final on Tuesday evening had been in jeopardy for a while. The 25-year-old competed in the semi-finals of the European Athletics Championships with a blue tape on her left rear thigh. It was only her coach who convinced her to take part in the final.
Luckily the numbers: 10.99 seconds is enough for first place over 100 meters.
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Image: AP
With the German sprint relay, Lückenkemper recently secured one of only two German medals at the World Championships in Eugene and then defended himself against criticism of German athletics. In response to the criticism, she did not want to see her EM triumph. “No, not at all. It was just Gina Lückenkemper, who had an incredible amount of fun,” said the native of Westphalia, praising the atmosphere in Munich’s Olympic Stadium. Already four years ago in Berlin, such an atmosphere was very motivating.
