Munich. The European Championships in Munich are underway and I know national team captain Kagsa Bergqvist was hoping for a few turns after the failure in Eugene.
But this first day turned as black as the sky during the evening hours.
The opening race was a nightmare, with Sarah Lahti swaying the 10,000m or else she was mostly out of the starting.
It was a great long jump in qualifying by Thobias Montler that put it in among the really big results.
Muntler was the only one to pass the eight meters and also qualifying limit of 8.05 in qualifying.
Great Greek favorite Miltiadis Tentoglou stopped at 7.94, but it would of course be a completely different jump in the final.
But Muntler has a high chance of winning a medal on Tuesday night.
Yes, I would be surprised if he didn’t.
But other than that, there were a few Swedes who raised themselves on this first day.
Decathlon Marcus Nelson was very strong on day one and nine.
It also entered Henrik Larsson in the 100 meters into the Plus account with a semi-final spot.
Jesper Hellstrom reached the final in three steps as the twelfth and final man, but at a modest 16.07.
But Sweden’s only hope for a medal, Fanny Ross finished fourth in the final shootout and was almost a meter away from her newly set Swedish record of 19.42. Young Axelina Johansson took seventh place with a jump of 18.04, which was clearly approved.
But Lisa Gunnarson had no chance of pole vaulting with her bad back and Vanessa Kamga was the last of 25 people to start the discus with a throw of 51.66 – nearly nine meters worse than her newly set personal record at SM in Norrköping. Since a week.
Samuel Bellstrom missed out on the 1500m trials and Sarah Lahti finished the first night as the thirteenth girl at 10,000 metres.
A race in which Briton Eilish McCulgan took the lead as usual and moved ahead at a pace that few could match, and where Lahti was suspended early. A whole group of girls managed to overtake her, as Turkish Yasmine Cannes finally won.
But maybe it was just good that it started off a little crunchy half.
You can only get the best.
or not.
OOO
EM i München v/s VM i Eugene?
The landing was on the first day of the restroom.
There were already 15,500 spectators for the morning sessions – more than entered the Hayward Field toilet courtyard.
The length of the queue to enter the ticket alone was one kilometer.
It wasn’t great now that there was any positive effect of the huge interest in the first day’s competitions.
Even the organizers did not expect this onslaught and many turned around and went home, because they did not reach the ticket booths in time.
But it’s great to be in a tournament worthy of that name and not end up in a place where the World Cup ended for political reasons and for reasons of market only.
Athletics in the United States is a mess.
In Germany, it is as big as it is at home in Sweden, where both WC 1995 and EC 2006 have turned into group parties in Gothenburg.
Now the Germans are off to a perfect start with the gold in the men’s marathon and team gold in the women’s.
It was interesting to note, after the poor results of the Germans at the World Cup.
There was a lovely atmosphere even in the evening session where there were an estimated 20,000 people.
It would still be dotted with an arena like the Olympic Stadium, which normally seats 70,000.
But the sound stage that greeted the athletes was enormous.
Love her.
This is how you should be in the tournament.
Folk festival.
Then it’s just the beginning.
Above all for the Swedish segment, where EC ends with a great weekend with a discus final on Friday with Daniel Stahl and Simon Peterson and then entertainment on Saturday with Mondo Duplantes.
OOO
But already on Tuesday, the long-distance qualifiers await Take Sanneh And above all, the final 5000 meters with Andreas Magyar.
I hope he doesn’t stumble into the bathroom, or roll his foot on his way to breakfast in the hours before the start, for the gods know it wouldn’t be a surprise in that case to the unlucky seducer.
But if he stands on the starting line, he can become a sensation.
At least that’s what I hope and believe in.