European Indoor Championships

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(Bild: Adam Warzawa)

The best came at the end! 5,600 spectators turned the Omnisport Arena in Apeldoorn into a madhouse on the third evening of the European Indoor Championships and drove local hero Lieke Klaver to a magnificent 400m victory in 50.38 seconds. The 26-year-old, who had already won seven gold medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Indoor Championships, European Championships and European Indoor Championships, took her first major individual victory!

The "Krone" reports from Apeldoorn

She benefited from the fact that the Olympic champion and indoor world record holder Femke Bol is not competing in the individual indoor races this year and is only running in the relay for Holland. But no matter! She jumped into the brooch with her gold medal run. Lieke Klaver had already won gold in the 4 x 400 m mixed relay (with Femke Bol) at the start of the European Championships. Her third European Championship title is to follow on Sunday with the women's 4 x 400 relay, with Bol once again competing as the final runner ...

(Bild: Thomas Windestam)

After the European record set the day before by Switzerland's Ditaji Kambundji over 60 m hurdles in 7.67, Norway's Sander Aae Skotheim set the second European record of this European Indoor Championships. With a strong 1000 m run in 2:32.72, the 22-year-old overtook Simon Ehammer of Switzerland, who had been the leader until then, in the last competition of the heptathlon with a total of 6558 points, thus improving his own European record (6484) set this year by 74 points. It was Skotheim's first major international title after winning silver three times recently (World Indoor Championships, European Championships, European Indoor Championships). Ehammer, last year's world indoor champion, took silver with 6506 points.

The men's 60 m was won by 23-year-old Jeremiah Azu. The Olympic bronze medallist with the British sprint relay team won with a new personal best of 6.49 ahead of Sweden's Henrik Larsson (6.52) and his compatriot Andrew Robertson (6.55). Six sprinters remained under 6.60 seconds in this 60 m final.

(Bild: Robin van Lonkhuijsen)

There had previously been a surprise in the women's long jump: The German favorite Malaika Mihambo, already Olympic champion and two-time world champion, had jumped 7.07 m this year, but did not find her way into the competition for a long time at this European Championships, but improved to 6.88 m in her last attempt. She thus won bronze behind Italy's Larissa Iapichino (6.94) and Switzerland's Annik Kälin (6.90). However, Mihambo is still denied a major indoor title. "Of course I imagined the competition to be different!"