TORUŃ, POLAND, March 05 — Friday’s 6 finals at the European Indoor Championships produced a pair of yearly world leaders, by Miltiádis Tentóglou of Greece in the men’s long jump (27-4¾/8.35) and Nafi Thiam of Belgium in the women’s pentathlon (4904).
The finals:
Men’s 1500
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, still just 20, was a big favorite in the 13-man 1500 and showed his superiority over 33-year-old Marcin Lewandowski relatively easily. The Norwegian phenom was in the lead by 300m and never relinquished the front position after that, crossing the line in 3:37.56. Problem was, he was DQed for stepping inside the curve early in the race, ceding gold to Lewandowski’s 3:38.06.
Said Ingebrigtsen, “The rules are on my side; there is a paragraph saying if you’re pushed to the inside of the curb and it’s not your fault, it’s OK. I don’t feel I’ve done anything wrong, there were just too many runners in the race.”
But several hours later a Norwegian appeal was upheld and Ingebrigtsen moved to the top of the podium.
Medals: 1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) 3:37.56; 2. Marcin Lewandowski (Poland) 3:38.06; 3. Jesús Gómez (Spain) 3:38.47.
Men’s Long Jump
He was last in the jumping order, but Miltiádis Tentóglou was in 1st to stay after his opening-round 27-4¾ (8.35), the year’s longest jump. Behind him, both Thobias Montler of Sweden (27-3¼/8.31) and Kristian Pulli of Finland (27-½/8.24) claimed national records. The 22-year-old Miltiádis Tentóglou then passed twice, fouled twice and passed again because of a bad knee.
“My patella is in bad shape right now, so the plan was to win this competition with just one jump in qualifying and one in the final,” he said. “But if Tobias Montler had overtaken me, I might have found the strength to go again and move back into 1st place.
Medals: 1 Miltiádis Tentóglou (Greece) 27-4¾ (8.35) (WL); 2. Thobias Montler (Sweden) 27-3¼ (8.31) NR; 3. Kristian Pulli (Finland) 27-½ (8.24) NR.
Men’s Shot
“It took me a while, but I found my rhythm and wanted to surprise them all,” said Tomáš Staněk after a slow start. The 29-year-old Czech fouled on his first attempt and was only 5th after two rounds and 4th after three. Then he fouled on No. 4. It wasn’t until the penultimate round that he took the lead, reaching a seasonal best 70-11¼ (21.62). Nobody improved in round 6.
Medals: 1. Tomáš Staněk (Czech Republic) 70-11¼ (21.62); 2. Michał Haratyk (Poland) 70-5¼ (21.47); 3. Filip Mihaljević (Croatia) 69-11 (21.31).
Women’s 3000
American fans may remember her as import Amy-Eloise Neale when she was a high school and college star in Washington, but now the 25-year-old Mrs. Markovc is making even bigger headlines for her native Great Britain. She dawdled back in the pack for much of the race, with Israel’s Selamawit Bayoulgn leading for the first 2500m.
Markovc moved to the fore on the penultimate lap and eked out the win over France’s Alice Finot, 8:46.43–8:46.54. “It was close in the end,”said the winner. but I never relax until I reach the finish line. I also set a PB, which was a bonus.”
Medals: 1. Amy-Eloise Markovc (Great Britain) 8:46.43; 2. Alice Finot (France) 8:46.54; 3. Verity Ockenden (Great Britain) 8:46.60.
Women’s Shot
As the yearly world leader coming in (64-5¾/19.65), Auriol Dongmo was favored, but she had to fight to pull it out when Fanny Roos briefly took the lead by 8cm in round 5 with a Swedish Record 63-3½ (19.29). But the 30-year old former Cameroonian responded with her best of the day (63-5½/19.34) and that was that.
“The competition went very well,” judged the winner. “I was just a bit stressed, because it was my first European Championship. So to come back with a gold the first time is great.”
Medals: 1. Auriol Dongmo (Portugal) 63-5½ (19.34); 2. Fanny Roos (Sweden) 63-3½ (19.29) NR; 3. Christina Schwanitz (Germany) 62-5¾ (19.04).
Women’s Pentathlon
Statistically speaking, the best mark of the day came from Nafi Thiam in the 5-eventer as the reigning Olympic heptathlon champion moved to No. 9 on the all-time world list with her 4904 total. Her previous PR of 4870 was set back in ’17. “I surprised myself in the shot put and the long jump,” said the 26-year-old Belgian.
Medals: 1. Nafi Thiam (Belgium) 4904 NR (WL) (9, x W) (8.31, 6-2¼/1.89, 49-9/15.16, 21-8/6.60, 2:18.80); 2. Noor Vidts (Belgium) 4791 PR; 3. Xénia Krizsán (Hungary) 4644 PR.
There will be another 6 finals on Saturday and 14 on Sunday.