Petros and his team DLV celebrate receiving two European Championship bronze medals.
The beginning of the third day at the competition saw the German athletics team having something to cheer about. In the half marathon, there are not one but two medals for them - Amanal Petros claiming bronze individually and the team securing third place.
Amanal Petros made quite a statement at the European Athletics Championships in Rome with his performance in the half marathon. With a nail-biting finish, he took home the bronze medal, clocking in at 1:01:07 hours. Gold went to Yemaneberhan Crippa from Italy (1:01:03) and Pietro Riva from the same country (1:01:04), both of whom also beat the previous championship record of 1:02:03 hours comfortably.
Petros described his experience to ARD, saying, "We kept motivating each other as a team. It was incredible! I just didn't have that extra speed at the end." In addition to his own achievement, Petros could also celebrate a team victory - thanks to Samuel Fitwi coming in a strong fifth with a time of 1:01:17 and Filimon Abraham's courageous showing in 22nd place (1:03:09), the German team fetched a bronze medal in the team rankings.
Fitwi and Petros were solidly in the mix since the beginning, racing alongside others on the remarkably stunning course. Two kilometers from the finish, both decided to speed up, forming a five-man leading group. As they reached the Olympic Stadium, Petros reduced his speed and conceded the silver to Riva.
This brings the tally for Germany to a total of two individual medals in Italy - the first having been taken by Yemisi Ogunleye with her bronze in the shot put on Friday. Unfortunately, the marathon distance wasn't included in the program due to the fast-approaching Olympic Summer Games, scheduled to take place within eight weeks. Richard Ringer, the European champion, ended up finishing in 28th place (1:03:53).
