GENT – Slovakian athlete Emma Zapletalová triumphantly won the 400 m race at the IFAM Gent Indoor meet in Ghent, Belgium.
At the challenger status World Athletics Indoor Tour event, she achieved a time of 51.67, beating her own Slovak indoor record (52.61) from last January in Ostrava by 94 hundredths.
Behind the bronze medalist in the 400 m hurdles from last year’s World Championships in Tokyo, the domestic Ilana Hanssensová finished second (52.86) and the Frenchwoman Camille Seriová-Ghenaiová finished third (53.57).
The winner of the award for the Slovak Athlete of the Year has an absolute maximum of 50.76 on the smooth four hundred, the Slovak Athletic Association (SAZ) reminded.
She met the limit for the March indoor WC
Zapletalová thus met the sharp limit (51.75) for the March indoor world championships in Torun, Poland. She reached first place in the current European indoor charts.
“It wasn’t that big of a surprise for me, based on the last practices I felt that it was possible to run under 52 seconds. But the beginning of the season and the first race, there’s always a little extra nervousness,” she told her agency Top Athletics.
“I ran well, basically I was alone and I ran it without pressure from my opponents. Right after the first meters I overtook my opponent in the sixth lane, I was in the fifth. And then I didn’t quite follow the pace, that’s why the first 200 meters were slower. I’m happy and I have something to bounce back from. I ran in the threes in which I won bronze in Tokyo, they bring me success. I’m looking forward to Tuesday, reserves there they are” added Zapletalová, who is awaiting another start in strong competition at the Czech Indoor Gala on Tuesday, February 3.
Her Dutch coach Bram Peters said of her performance: “She started the first 200m too slowly in 24.3. But it will be different in Ostrava. Otherwise I’m satisfied, a great start to the season.”
- Author: © List/
- Facebook/Slovak Athletic Association
- Source: TASR
