She didn't get the coveted World Record of Nataliya Dobrynska (5013 points in 2012), but Katerina Johnson-Thompson personified the thrilling (and record-challenging) happenings in Prague over the past 3 days in the European Championships.
KJT might have had a JJK moment (breaking a Multi WR, something which Jackie Joyner-Kersee made a habit of), but it seemed as if she were at least channeling the A-T great throughout the 5 events.
After 4 strong events, she needed to run the 800 in 2:11.8 to get the WR.
From comments she made afterward, it sounded as if she might not have known how fast she needed to run.
And with an OUTdoor 800 best in the 2:07's, she was fully capable of getting it!
Alas, she ran "just" 2:12.8, missing the record by 13 points.
(Shades of Ashton Eaton missing the Olympic Games record in the Decathlon by just 14 points in 2012!)
Still, she became the 2nd woman in history to score 5000 points, a number she got exactly!!
It's the National Record of Great Britain, as well as the Age 22 record and the European Championships Meet Record!
She's now 2nd A-T on the World list!
Her 17 year old teammate, Morgan Lake, got the Age 17 record with her 4527 point total, breaking her own mark!
And Eliska Kucinova scored 4687 points, getting the National Record of the Czech Republic!
In fact, National Records and Age Records dominated the record assault.
Another WR that didn't fall was the Men's PV.
But the man who holds that record still cleared 19-9.50.
So Renaud Lavillenie breaks his own Age 28 record, and his own Meet Record!
His 3 misses were at 6.17, one centimeter over his WR!
The Women's PV produced some good marks.
Anzhelika Sidorova jumped 15-9 for the win.
This moves her from 13th A-T World, tied with 2 others, up to 8th, tied with 1 other.
Ekaterina Stefanidi jumped 15-7 in 2nd, but didn't PR.
And 21 year old Angelica Bengtsson reached 15-5, her INdoor best, making her 24th A-T World, but tied with 4 others.
Kira Grundberg duidn't make the final, but her jump of 14-7.25 in Qualifying is the National Record of Austria!
Not at the Euros, but Li Ling vaulted 14-9 for the National Record of China!
The Women's 60 produced several great marks, and not just in the final!
Mujinga Kambundji broke the National Record of Switzerland twice!
She ran 7.15 in her semi, then broke it again with a 7.11 final!
Ezinne Okparaebo ran 7.10, getting the National Record of Norway.
Dina Asher-Smith, the British 19 year old, first ran 7.10 in a prelim, then tied the National Record of 7.08 in the final!
It's also the Age 19 record, which she first broke with her 7.10.
And while not medaling, 17 year old Ewe Swoboda ran quite well!
She just missed her own Age 17 mark in the heats with her 7.22.
Then in the final, she broke it, hitting 7.20!!
Another Age 17 record was set by Konrad Bikowiecki.
His SP mark of 67-2 happened first in the Qualifying, then again in the final!
Stipe Zunic got the National Record of Croatia with his toss of 67-9.75.
Bob Bertemes threw 67-5.25 for the National Record of Luxemburg!
(Both of these marks came in the Qualifying round. They didn't improve in the final!)
The winner of the Women's SP, Anita Marton, threw 63-1.25 for the National Record of Hungary.
The Men's 3000 produced surprisingly fast marks.
I say surprisingly, because most Championship meet distance races are more strategic---meaning SLOW!
Ali Kaya got both the European Championship Meet Record, and the National Record of Turkey with his 7:38.43.
Henrik Ingebrigtsen scored twice in the National Record department!
He got the 1500 and 3000 NR's of Norway with his times of 3:39.70 and 7:45.54.
A very popular win for the home crowd was Jakob Kolusa's surprising upset in the Men's 1500.
And his time of 3:37.68 is the National Record of the Czech Republic!
Sandra Eriksson ran 8:54.06 in the Women's 3000, getting the National Record of Finland.
Anita Hinriksdottir ran 2:01.56 in the 800, breaking her own National Record of Iceland.
(Jenny Meadows, the British favorite in the 800, made the final only because of a DQ of a runner ahead of her. Her illness--a flu?--getting worse, however, she withdrew from the final!)
The Women's Triple Jump and 60H produced several NR's.
Hanna Kryozyeva broke Israel's National Record in the TJ---twice!
She hit 47-3.25 in the Q's, then 47-6.75 in the final.
The winner, Yekaterina Koneva, upped her PR to 48-2.25, reaching 24th on the A-T World list!
Pablo Torrijos got the National Record of Spain in the Men's TJ with his jump of 55-11.
The winner of the Women's 60H, Alina Talay, ran 7.85 for the National Record of Belarus.
Nooralotta Niziri ran 7.97, getting the National Record of Finland.
And Andrea Ivancevic ran 8.02 in the heats of the 60H, then 7.97 in the semi, that getting the National Record of Croatia.
Both LJ's produced some new records.
Micho Torreus jumped 27-2.75 for the National Record of Sweden.
The Women's winner, Ivana Spanovic, leaped 22-10.75 for the National Record of Serbia.
It also gained her the 23rd spot on the A-T World list, but tied with 2 others!
Another Age Record fell---twice!!
Florentina Marincu LJ'ed 22-0 for the Age 18 record.
She then broke her own mark, jumping 22-4.
The Men's Heptathlon didn't break any records, but it got 2 marks onto my DDD.
Winner Ilya Shkurenyou scored 6353 points, reaching 13th A-T World.
Arthur Abele's 6279 points makes him 19th A-T World, tied with 1 other.
He didn't PR, but maybe the most popular athlete for the Prague crowd was hometown boy Pavel Maslek, who won the 400 in 45.33.
He did, however, get the European Championships Meet Record.
In the final event on the final day, the Men's 4X400 Relay, Maslak couldn't help his team to a win!
That honor went to the team from Borlee----um, I mean Belgium!!
With THREE Borlee's on the team, it was hard to tell the difference!!
Belgium's time of 3:02.87 makes them the 2nd fastest Nation!
They had been 12th!
Right behind them was Poland.
Their time of 3:02.97, an improvement of 0.04 seconds on their previous best, actually moved them DOWN the list!!
They'd been 2nd, behind the USA, but Belgium's win slid the Polish team down a notch--to 3rd best Nation!
Maslek's Czech Republic team ran 3:04.09, moving them from 11th Nation to 7th.
Outside the Euros, two major marks were broken!
Yohan Deniz, already the WR holder in the 50,000 meter Walk, added the 20K WR to his list!
He Walked the distance in 1:17:02.
And in the Nagoya Women's marathon in Japan, 2nd placer Mariya Konovalova shattered the Age 40 record by more than 2 minutes, running an astounding time of 2:22:27!
So, all in all, the European Championships was a great meet.
Which could have been even better if a few athletes hadn't been missing.
And if Katerina Johnson-Thompson---who IMHO has the SADDEST looking, yet most BEAUTIFUL face in our sport!!!---had only known what she'd needed to run for the WR, we would've seen that mark go down!
After finishing her 800 run---and Event Win---instead of wildly celebrating, KJT sat forlornly on the track, covering her head with her National Flag, crying!
THAT is the sign of a true Champion---that she would be so very distraught and disappointed----scoring FIVE THOUSAND points!!!
Cheer up, young lady, your best is yet to come!!
And watch out, World, because the Europeans are VERY strong this year!!
Coming in a few days will be my Meet Record predictions for both the NCAA and NBIN meets!
See you then!
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