Smilla Kolbe recorded the fastest time by a German woman over 800 meters since the year of German reunification in 1990 at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. The Frankfurt-based athlete finished third in her 800m heat, clocking a time of 1:57.80, which stands as a personal best.
No German female athlete had run the 800 meters in under 1:58 since 1990. According to the World Athletics federation, the last time a German woman achieved a faster time in the two-lap race was on 29 August 1990, when Sigrun Wodars and Christine Wachtel, competing for the GDR, took a double victory at the European Championships in Split.
Smilla Kolbe's 800m heat time and personal best.
British Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson won the heat with a time of 1:57.28.
The German 800m champion's performance follows a difficult event for other German athletes. Majtie Kolberg was forced to abandon her race after approximately 300 meters due to a thigh injury. Kolberg stated she had been unable to train fully for a month due to the injury and added, ”I really wanted to stand at the start line here,” while noting, ”Of course you always give everything.”
Discus and Field Results
In the discus, only Henrik Janssen qualified for the final among the German trio, recording 65.42 meters to place third among the twelve athletes competing for medals on Thursday evening. Steven Richter was eliminated in 13th place with 62.02 meters, remarking, ”It's just annoying. These are distances I can do in my sleep.” Marius Karges also failed to advance, finishing 15th with 60.73 meters.
In the high jump, defending champion Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy reached the final with a season's best of 2.23 meters despite recurring health problems. Falk Wendrich also reached the final, equaling his season's best of 2.23 meters. Former European Championship runner-up Tobias Potye is not present in England.
Sprints and Hurdles
Eileen Demes missed the 400m hurdles final after stumbling at the final hurdle. Despite a season's best of 54.63 seconds, she finished third in her semifinal, missing the final by 13 hundredths of a second.
The 100m event saw mixed results for Germany. Gina Lückenkemper missed the European Championship final. Lucas Ansah-Peprah reached the semifinals with a time of 10.52 seconds in a three-meter headwind. He stated, ”The semifinal was the goal, I'm simply happy. And now I'll just see what happens next.”
German 100m record holder Owen Ansah, who was directly seeded for the evening semifinal, faces a possible four-year ban following an alleged refusal of a doping test in July. While Ansah is not currently suspended and may compete until a decision is reached, he risks the retroactive disqualification of his results since early July, including any successes in Birmingham.
Heiko Gussmann, the German vice champion, was also exempt from the 100m heats. The 100m semifinals were scheduled for 21:32, followed by the final at 22:47.
