Dhe German hopes for medals at the European Championships in Munich are dampened by the elimination of steeplechase runner Gesa Felicitas Krause. After former world champion Johannes Vetter (Offenburg) and European champion Christin Hussong (Zweibrücken) as two candidates for good placings in the javelin throw, the defending champion has to Krause canceled her start for the EM from August 15th to 21st due to a “deeper medical” background. After the disappointing World Cup, the German team in Munich is hoping for a double-digit medal result even after the failures.
“It breaks my heart to say it out loud now, but I can’t and won’t start in Munich,” said the 30-year-old, who won European Championship gold in 2018 and 2016 over 3,000 meters. Long jump Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo is now raising hopes in the squad with initially 112 athletes. After successfully defending the World Championship title in Eugene in July, she wants to win the gold medal in Munich, as she did at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin.
Earlier hints
That is not possible for Krause at the European Championships from August 11th to 21st in the Bavarian capital with 177 decisions in nine sports. “My current state of health has a deeper medical background that cannot be solved quickly. It’s been incredibly difficult to make this decision, but after consulting with my coach and medical team, I know it’s the only right one. My body can’t do any competitive sports at the moment, so my recovery comes first,” said the athlete from Trier on Instagram.
That was already indicated at the World Cup when Krause was left behind in the final and finished last. After her disappointment at the World Championships, Konstanze Klosterhalfen (Leverkusen) is part of the squad for the European Championship, as expected. At the Diamond League meeting on Saturday in Chorzow, she wants to pick up the pace for her race in Munich’s Olympic Stadium over 3,000 meters.
She had to cancel her start at the German championships in June due to a corona infection, and in the final phase of the World Cup heat over 5000 meters she had run out of strength.
The German team in Munich will be strengthened by a few athletes who were still missing at the World Cup. For example, the Olympic seventh in the heptathlon, Carolin Schäfer (Frankfurt), the German record holder in the marathon, Amanal Petros (Wattenscheid), the Olympic silver medalist in walking, Jonathan Hilbert (Gotha), or the Olympic eighth in shot put, Sara Gambetta (Halle/Saale), back again.
Relay places not awarded
“The anticipation for the home EM is huge, and with the nomination we can now take the last step towards Munich,” said DLV head national coach Annett Stein according to the announcement on Friday. The fine-tuning is to take place in Erding from the beginning of next week.
“At the historic site in the Olympic Stadium from 1972, it’s then about getting in shape and using the backdrop with the home crowd behind you for top performances.” The squad is a little smaller than in Berlin four years ago, when the German Athletics Association sent 128 athletes to the competitions. However, some relay places have not yet been allocated.
At the World Championships in the USA in July, Mihambo won gold and the women’s sprint relay bronze. This is the numerically worst German yield in World Cup history. The fewest medals to date were in Paris in 2003, with one silver and three bronzes.
