Leichtathletik-EM: Geherin verjubelt Bronze – Das Gesicht müssen Sie sehen
A clear case of premature celebration… With her right arm raised in jubilation and her tongue sticking out, Spanish racewalker Laura García-Caro (29) appeared to be on top of the world at the European Athletics Championships in Rome on Friday evening. However, seconds after that photo was taken, everything changed. And the coveted medal slipped through her fingers… Racewalker blows her chance at an EM medal! What went wrong?
After 20 kilometers of walking, Italian athlete Antonella Palmisano crossed the finish line first in 1 hour, 28 minutes, and 8 seconds. Just under 30 seconds later, her compatriot Valentina Trapletti (1 hour, 28 minutes, and 37 seconds) followed closely behind. García-Caro believed she was in third place. While the Italian athletes were already embracing joyfully at the finish line, García-Caro was also celebrating. With a Spanish flag around her neck, she got closer to the finish line, smiling, raising one arm in the air with joy. What she DID NOT see was Ukrainian walker Ljudmila Oljanowska approaching from the right. When she noticed this, her head turned, her arm dropped, and the tongue disappeared into her mouth. Instead, her eyes widened, her mouth formed an ‚O‘. It was an ‚O‘ like Oh NO! Oljanowska passed her. Now García-Caro realized she had blown the chance for bronze.
After the celebration blunder, García-Caro had tears in her eyes: „100 meters before the finish line, I looked back and saw that I was 40 or 50 meters ahead of her, and I thought she wouldn’t catch up with me. I still gave it my all, but she passed me. Even though I was celebrating, I was running full throttle. I am very disappointed by what happened.“
The only German competitor in the race was Saskia Feige (26). The athlete from Leipzig finished in 18th place after 20 kilometers, with a time of 1 hour, 33 minutes, and 57 seconds, nearly six minutes behind winner Palmisano. Track and field athlete Feige remarked, „I could feel my legs getting heavy quickly, so I had to slow down the pace early on. I had aimed for a top 20 finish here, so I am not too unhappy with 18th place.“
Keywords: Leichtathletik-EM, Geherin, Laura García-Caro, Antonella Palmisano, Valentina Trapletti, Ljudmila Oljanowska, premature celebration, racewalking, European Athletics Championships, disappointment, Saskia Feige.