Shepherd experiences a rare European Championship setback.
In the shot put event at the European Athletics Championships in Rome, Carolin Schäfer faced a significant setback. Following three unsuccessful attempts, the previous vice-world champion in the heptathlon called it quits. Alongside Schäfer, two other German competitors battled through difficulties.
The performance of the German heptathletes on the first day was average at best in Rome. Sophie Weissenberg holds the seventh spot, scoring 3715 points. Being 200 points shy of the podium after four events, Weissenberg had a mediocre morning, with a high jump success of 1.71 meters. Her performances in the 100m hurdles (13.58), shot put (13.84), and 200 meters (23.53) were satisfactory.
The Belgian Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam took the lead in the Stadio Olimpico, amassing an impressive 3955 points. Close on her heels were her compatriot, Noor Vidts (3920) and the French athlete, Auriana Lazraq-Khlass (3915). While world champion, Katarina Johnson-Thompson lowered the curtain after competing in three events.
Weissenberg, whose impressive performance at the World Championships last year secured one of the few top 8 spots, saw her teammates lose crucial points early on, particularly in the high jump with a 1.71m clearance. She stated, "This wasn't at all what I had envisioned," as her high jump failing to reach 15cm of her personal best.
Schafer decided not to join in the concluding 200 meters following her invalid shot put attempts. She intends to compete unexpectedly at the multi-event meeting in Ratingen (22nd-23rd June) to prepare for the Olympics with a "complete heptathlon."
Grimm faced a chaotic start to the competition: she was disqualified over the hurdles (14.09) due to a seemingly sideways hurdle clearance on the outermost lane. The DLV instigated a successful protest, but during the high jump, she struggled to clear the bar in 24.94 seconds as her shot put distance was only 13.59m.
The German discus throwers missed out on the medal podium in an enthralling discus throwers showdown. Slovenian athlete Kristjan Ceh reigned victorious, with a throw of 68.08 meters. The top German athlete, Henrik Janssen, finished fifth having fallen two meters short of the bronze medal.
Ceh outshined in the discus throwers clash, recording a 68.08m throw, defeating the unanticipated Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist, Lukas Weißhaidinger from Austria by just 0.3 meters. Despite Mykolas Alekna shattering the world record to 74.35m back in April, he left without a medal, struggling to find his rhythm at the Rome competition. The Olympic and world champion Daniel Stahl (Sweden) joined Alekna without a medal.
Janssen's attempt was a respectable 65.84 meters, and the 11th place Olympic thrower, Clemens Prüfer (Potsdam), managed 64.60 meters. Mika Sosna (Bergedorf) finished in a disappointing twelfth place, among twelve finalists, noting that the last German medal won at a European Championships was earned by Robert Harting in 2014 in Zurich.
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In the discus throw event during the European Athletics Championships, Henrik Janssen finished fifth, missing out on a medal by just two meters. The Belgian multi-event meeting in Ratingen in late June will see Carolin Schäfer, who experienced a setback in the shot put event at the European Athletics Championships, compete in a "complete heptathlon" to prepare for the Olympics.
