EC athleticsAthlete Nadine Visser has made a convincing start to the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul. The 28-year-old defending champion in the 60-meter hurdles quite easily won her run in 7.88 and can hunt for her third gold medal in a row on Sunday.
Visser became European indoor champion in 2021 (Torun) and in 2019 (Glasgow). She will first run the semifinals on Sunday. The final then forms the final piece of the tournament in the Ataköy Arena. In the series she was the fastest of them all.
Maayke Tjin A-Lim and Zoë Sedney also reached the semi-finals directly by finishing in the top three in their series. Tjin A-Lim ran to second place in her heat in 8.03, Sedney was third in her race in 8.08.
Bouju to semi-finals 60 meters
Sprinter Raphael Bouju has convincingly qualified for the semi-finals of the 60 meters. The 20-year-old Dutch champion won his heat in 6.59, a personal best and only 1 hundredth above the Dutch record.
Only Olympic champion 100 meters Lamont Marcell Jacobs was faster than Bouju in the heats. The Italian, who is also the defending champion, scored 6.57. Joris van Gool, who is the holder of the Dutch record, did not make it in the series.
Foppen and Verbaandert to final 3000 meters
Mike Foppen and Tim Verbaandert have reached the final of the 3000 meters. Verbaandert finished fourth in his series and qualified directly. Foppen continued on the basis of his time of 7:51.61. He was eighth in his series. That ranking did not mean direct passage to the final battle, but he was one of the three ‘fastest’ athletes who may also compete in the final on Sunday.
Verbaandert was added to the Dutch team late. He had not met the limit for the European Indoor Championships, but was just high enough on the European ranking to be allowed to participate. He ran in a series that was won by the Jakob Ingebrigtsen. The Norwegian great goes for the double in Istanbul; he already won the 1500 meters on Friday.
Title candidate Vloon misses pole vault final
Menno Vloon is missing in the final of the pole vault on Sunday. The 28-year-old athlete was eliminated in the qualifications. He came to a height of 5.55 meters and that was more than enough to be among the top eight who will jump for the medals.
It was a setback for Vloon, who was previously a candidate for the gold medal because Swedish world record holder Armand Duplantis is missing in Istanbul. Vloon was number 1 on the start list with his best season performance of 5.91.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.
#Defending #champion #Nadine #Visser #fastest #meters #hurdles #Bouju #Foppen