MUNICH, GERMANY, August 15-21 — The last Euros saw Mondo Duplantis advertise his prodigious talent to sports fans beyond just pure track aficionados when he cleared a then-meet record of 19-10¼ (6.05), which was also a World Junior (U20) Record.
Turn the clock forward four years and the Louisiana native dressed in Swedish colors returned to the continental stage and defended his title in flawless fashion by flying clear on his first attempts at 18-6½ (5.65), 19-2¼ (5.85), 19-4¼ (5.90), and 19-6¼ (5.95).
He then added a centimeter to his previous MR with a first-time clearance at 19-10½ (6.06) before retiring.
Any disappointment at his calling it a day without having a tilt at a WR height was tempered by the fact that the conditions were tricky for vaulting, to say the least, with a downpour just prior to the session starting and a very damp runway.
“Considering the situation and circumstances, I cannot complain,” said Duplantis, who extended his unbeaten run to 19 competitions, with his last defeat coming at the ’21 Lausanne DL.
“It was very special for me today. I just focused on winning. Sometimes you can get very unlucky with all these kinds of things, but I am just glad that everything worked out the way it did tonight. I think this season, I have experienced all kind of situations and these championships were very special to me.”
A reflection of the conditions, and Duplantis’ skill in mastering them, can be seen by the fact that no one else went higher than 19-2¼ (5.85), with silver going to Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre and the bronze being decided at 18-10¼ (5.75).
Karsten Warholm continued his rapid return to form by lowering the MR in the 400H to 47.12, taking down the long-standing mark of 47.48 by Germany’s Harald Schmid from ’82, which at the time was a European Record and the second-fastest ever.
The Norwegian superstar won by the massive margin of more than a second from France’s WC 4th-placer Wilfried Happio.
Warholm’s compatriot Jakob Ingebrigtsen got partial compensation for his 1500 defeat in Eugene by retaining his metric mile crown with a 3:32.76 MR, moving to the front just 300 into the race and never relinquishing the lead, gradually winding up the pace before concluding with a last lap of 55.25.
“I felt I have this speed in my legs today, so I wanted to go fast from the beginning,” reflected Ingebrigtsen. “Also, when I heard the great home crowd cheering for us and I also saw so many Norwegian flags in the stands, it was a great motivation for me today.”
The 21-year-old’s triumph came two days after he had won the 5000 in 13:21.13 to complete a double-double after having taken two golds over the same distances four years ago in Berlin.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs put behind him the illness and injury woes that have dogged him since May as he shook off the ring rust and won the 100 crown in 9.95 with Britain’s ’18 champ Zharnel Hughes this time having to settle for 2nd in 9.99.
Like Warholm, Ingebrigtsen and Jacobs, long jumper Miltiádis Tentóglou was another Tokyo champion who hadn’t fulfilled his own — or the pundits’ — expectations at the World Champs but bounced back with aplomb in Bavaria.
Having jumped 27-0 (8.23) and then 27-4¾ (8.35) in the second and third stanzas, which alone would have sealed gold, the Greek flew out to an outdoor-world-leading 27-11½ (8.52) in the fourth round before passing his final two attempts.
The LJ final also featured one of the talking points of the week. At the end of the competition, three men were massed behind Tentóglou all with a best mark of 26-5½ (8.06), led by Jacob Fincham-Dukes.
However, post-event protests by Sweden and France that the Briton’s best effort was a very marginal foul not picked up by the Hawk-Eye technology were upheld. The Oklahoma State alum found himself dropping to 5th with Sweden’s Thobias Montler and France’s Jules Pommery elevated to silver and bronze.
The men’s discus saw Slovenia’s WC winner Kristjan Čeh set an MR 226-7 (69.06) in the qualifiers only to be bested by Mykolas Alekna in the final, who upped the meet best to 228-11 (69.78) to reverse the pair’s positions from Eugene.
Čeh produced three consecutive 67 meter-plus throws in rounds 2-3-4, but when Alekna launched his implement out to his winning distance in the fifth, his rival could only respond with 224-0 (68.28).
With neither man improving in the final round, the title returned to Lithuania following on from Andrius Gudžius’ win four years ago, he finishing 6th on this occasion.
Alekna, still only 19, also became the first teenager — male or female — to win a medal in the throws at the Euros, let alone a gold, and followed in the footsteps of his two-time OG-winning Dad who won the European title in ’06.
The hammer’s meet record remains at 284-7 (86.74), the still-standing WR that Yuriy Syedikh achieved at nearby Stuttgart in ’86, but last year’s OG winner Wojciech Nowicki produced a world-leading 269-0 (82.00) in the penultimate round to retain his crown.
The Pole had to dig deep to fight back against an inspired Bence Halász of Hungary, who threw a 265-6 (80.92) PR in the third round to eventually take the silver.
Nowicki’s compatriot and 5-time world champion Paweł Fajdek, who won at the ’16 Euros, could only finish 4th in the high-quality competition with 259-8 (79.15).
One of the most eagerly anticipated track contests was the 800, held on the last night, with Britain’s 1500 world champion Jake Wightman dropping down in distance.
However, Mariano García ran a tactically astute race and hit the front just before the bell. Following a 52.07 first lap, Spain’s ’22 WIC winner kept the tempo high and the inside line all the way to the finish and won in a 1:44.85 PR while Wightman left his finishing surge just a fraction too late, as well as having to go the long way around tiring runners, and was 2nd in 1:44.91.
EURO CHAMPS MEN’S MEDALISTS
100(0.1): 1. Lamont Marcell Jacobs (Ita) 9.95; 2. Zharnel Hughes (GB) 9.99; 3. Jeremiah Azu (GB) 10.13 PR.
200(-0.3): 1. Hughes 20.07; 2. Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (GB) 20.17; 3. Filippo Tortu (Ita) 20.27.
400: 1. Matthew Hudson-Smith (GB) 44.53; 2. Ricky Petrucciani (Swi) 45.03; 3. Alex Haydock-Wilson (GB) 45.17.
800: 1. Mariano García (Spa) 1:44.85 PR; 2. Jake Wightman (GB) 1:44.91; 3. Mark English (Ire) 1:45.19.
1500: 1. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 3:32.76 (MR); 2. Jake Heyward (GB) 3:34.44; 3. Mario García Romo (Spa) 3:34.88.
St: 1. Topi Raitanen (Fin) 8:21.80; 2. Ahmed Abdelwahed (Ita) 8:22.35; 3. Osama Zoghlami (Ita) 8:23.44.
5000: 1. Ingebrigtsen 13:21.13; 2. Mohamed Katir (Spa) 13:22.98; 3. Yemaneberhan Crippa (Ita) 13:24.83.
10,000: 1. Crippa 27:46.13; 2. Zerei Mezngi (Nor) 27:46.94 PR; 3. Yann Schrub (Fra) 27:47.13 PR.
110H(-0.2): 1. Asier Martínez (Spa) 13.14 PR; 2. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (Fra) 13.14; 3. Just Kwaou-Mathey (Fra) 13.33.
400H: 1. Karsten Warholm (Nor) 47.12 (MR); 2. Wilfried Happio (Fra) 48.56; 3. Yasmani Copello (Tur) 48.78.
Mar: 1. Richard Ringer (Ger) 2:10:21; 2. Maru Teferi (Isr) 2:10:23; 3. Gashau Ayale (Isr) 2:10:29.
20W: 1. Álvaro Martín (Spa) 1:19:11 PR; 2. Perseus Karlström (Swe) 1:19:23; 3. Diego García (Spa) 1:19:45.
35W: 1. Miguel Ángel López (Spa) 2:26:49; 2. Christopher Linke (Ger) 2:29:30 PR; 3. Matteo Giupponi (Ita) 2:30:34 PR.
4 x 100: 1. Great Britain 37.67 (Azu, Hughes, Efoloko, Mitchell-Blake); 2. France 37.94 (M. Zeze, Pablo Mateo, R. Zeze, Vicaut); 3. Poland 38.15 NR (Brzeziński, Słowikowski, Wykrota, Kopeć).
4 x 400: 1. Great Britain 2:59.35 (Hudson-Smith 45.05, Dobson 44.30, Davey 45.53, Haydock-Wilson 44.47); 2. Belgium 2:59.49 (Doom 45.35, Watrin 44.73, K. Borlée 44.92, D. Borlée 44.49); 3. France 2:59.64 (Biron 45.88, Prévôt 44.21, Andant 44.87, Jordier 44.68).
Field Events
HJ: 1. Gianmarco Tamberi (Ita) 7-6½ (2.30); 2. Tobias Potye (Ger) 7-5¼ (2.27); 3. Andrii Protsenko (Ukr) 7-5¼.
PV: 1. Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 19-10½ (6.06) (MR) (18-6½, 19-2¼, 19-4¼, 19-6¼, 19-10½) (5.65, 5.85, 5.90, 5.95, 6.06); 2. Bo Kanda Lita Baehre (Ger) 19-2¼ (5.85); 3. Pål Haugen Lillefosse (Nor) 18-10¼ (5.75).
LJ: 1. Miltiádis Tentóglou (Gre) 27-11½ (8.52) (out WL) (f, 27-0, 27-4¾, 27-11½, p, p) (f, 8.23, 8.35, 8.52, p, p);
2. Thobias Montler (Swe) 26-5½ (8.06); 3. Jules Pommery (Fra) 26-5½.
TJ: 1. Pedro Pichardo (Por) 57-5 (17.50); 2. Andrea Dallavalle (Ita) 55-11 (17.04); 3. Jean-Marc Pontvianne (Fra) 55-7 (16.94).
SP: 1. Filip Mihaljević (Cro) 71-9½; 2. Armin Sinančević (Ser) 70-2¼ (21.39); 3. Tomáš Staněk (CzR) 69-9 (21.26).
DT: 1. Mykolas Alekna (Lit) 228-11 (69.78) (MR) (218-8, 220-8, 219-3, f, 228-11, 217-1) (66.67, 67.26, 66.82, f, 69.78, 66.18); 2. Kristjan Čeh (Slo) 224-0 (68.28) (f, 221-10, 222-5, 221-11, 224-0, f) (f, 67.62, 67.81, 67.64, 68.28, f); 3. Lawrence Okoye (GB) 220-3 (67.14).
Qual: Čeh 226-7 (69.06) (longest Q ever) (MR).
HT: 1. Wojciech Nowicki (Pol) 269-0 (82.00) (WL) (259-0, 265-5, 265-5, 264-7, 269-0, f) (78.95, 80.90, 80.91, 80.66, 82.00, f);
2. Bence Halász (Hun) 265-6 (80.92) PR; 3. Eivind Henriksen (Nor) 260-8 (79.45).
JT: 1. Julian Weber (Ger) 287-7 (87.66) (272-5, f, 252-8, 287-7, 273-4, p) (83.05, f, 77.01, 87.66, 83.33, p); 2. Jakub Vadlejch (CzR) 286-4 (87.28) (f, 286-4, 275-8, f, f, f) (f, 87.28, 84.03, f, f, f); 3. Lassi Etelätalo (Fin) 283-7 (86.44) PR.
Dec: 1. Niklas Kaul (Ger) 8545 (11.16, 23-3½/7.10, 48-10¾/14.90, 6-7½/ 2.02, 47.87, 14.45, 137-2/41.80, 16-¾/4.90, 249-6/76.05, 4:10.04);
2. Simon Ehammer (Swi) 8468 NR (10.56, 27-3¼/8.31, 46-8¾/14.24, 6-9¾/2.08, 47.40, 13.75, 114-7/34.92, 17-¾/5.20, 175-5/53.46, 4:48.72);
3. Janek Õiglane (Est) 8346 (11.01, 23-10¼/7.27, 48-7½/14.82, 6-7½/2.02, 48.80, 14.39, 137-8/41.97, 16-8¾/5.10, 232-9/70.94, 4:42.78);… dnf—Kevin Mayer (Fra) (11.67 inj, dnc). ◻︎