Munich. Finsk sisu returned to the Olympic Stadium when Wilma Murto vaulted to EC gold at 4.85 in the baton.
Personal record of twelve centimeters.
It gave off feelings of accomplishment like when Lasse Virén came home with Olympic gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the same stadium 50 years ago.
Yes, what a show from former child prodigy Wilma Murtaugh, who broke the junior world record for Angelica Bengtson when she was 17 in 2016.
Record still stands.
Now she touched the record in the championship, when she crushed everything and everyone including Greek favorite Ekaterina Stefanidi.
Fun for Finland, who haven’t won a gold in the women’s European group since the European Cup in 1994.
28 years ago.
Meanwhile, I’m sitting here dreaming of Swede Wilma Murtaugh.
Someone who steps forward when it really matters.
Someone who writes history.
Now the lackluster Swedish efforts have continued and I don’t even want to call it a pole.
When EC went near, the stands exploded
This Wednesday, the most interesting thing was Bianca Salming’s pursuit of a personal record in the heptathlon with Borghi’s father in the stands.
One of Athletics’ most enjoyable chapters, the All-around brought the branch back to life, bringing the branch back to life a silver and Swedish bronze at the JVM in Cali recently and fourth place for Marcus Nilsson here at the EC.
Here in Germany, everything is huge, and when it was decided here on Tuesday evening, German Niklas Kaul was selected by an absolute vote hurricane of 50,000 spectators.
That allowed him to take the nearly impossible lead in the last two events, the javelin and the 1500m.
When EC’s gold was clear, the stands exploded.
Behind that is Marcus Nilsson a superb fourth, Sweden’s best decathlon since Henrik Dagard took EC silver in Helsinki in 1994.
It’s Sweden’s last medal in the men’s decathlon at a major outdoor tournament and it’s been a long time. So to speak.
But the giant in this area is, of course, Carolina Kluft.
It provided two days of continuous entertainment in all tournaments from the last EC here in Munich 2002 until the last WC gold and European record of 7,032 points in Osaka 2007.
We will never see that again
Carolina Kluft was a phenomenon we probably won’t see again, incomparable as she managed to collect one Olympic gold, three World Cup golds, and two European Championship golds before retiring.
She was only 24 years old.
From her second gold medal in the JVM in Kingston, Jamaica to her last WC gold in Osaka in 2007, she hasn’t lost a sevens or fives indoors.
We won’t see that again.
It is unique.
When I follow Bianca Salming here in Munich it is on a whole different level, although Bianca was an all-time in Sweden with her personal record of 6101 SM at Ljungby last year.
What she is now about to conquer here in Munich.
It is clearly advanced after the four events of the first day.
It won’t bring in a medal, but I still know what it would mean for Bianca and for my father Boereh who is sitting in the stands and watching the competition here in Munich.
That’s why I keep my fingers crossed.
We have to wait for the Swedish fuss of Morto
Bianca finished fifth after her third event shot, but after her weakest 200m event she fell back to 14th.
But few branches are swinging fast and offering such drama, and Bianca is strong in two of the three branches that finish the heath race on Thursday.
In both the javelin throw and the 800m, she can take a lot of valuable points, while she will lose some in the long jump.
But it will be very interesting to follow her ongoing fight on Thursday.
Bianca is absolutely superior at home in Sweden, but on the men’s side, the decathlon received a real boost.
It’s been a few weeks since Jacob Thelander took a JVM Silver and Elliot Duffert took a JVM Bronze in Cali.
And Marcus Nilsson did a great decathlon here at the European Commission, finishing fourth and taking just nineteen points from bronze.
And that’s after being forced to retire from the restroom in Eugene with a backache.
It’s a tailwind that seems unusual in Swedish athletics at the moment.
OOO
Wednesday evening was quite quiet in Swedish terms.
Great Ahlberg may have been the only hope for a spot in the women’s slalom, but WC fom Eugene wasn’t here.
She finished ninth just as in the water, but with a mediocre 67.29 and had to thank herself after three rounds, when only the top eight were allowed to advance.
We’ll have to wait for the Swedish fuss here in Munich – if that happens.