MUNICH
\nTurkey\u2019s Kenyan-born Yasemin Can won her second European 10,000m title in Munich on Monday as a trio of world-class heavyweights guaranteed their spots in respective finals.
\nFresh from sealing the Commonwealth title, Britain\u2019s Eilish McColgan forced the pace in the 25-lap race, but Can hit the front with just under 3km to go. Can, who previously won the 10,000m title in Amsterdam in 2016, was merciless as she turned the screw at Munich\u2019s Olympic Stadium, clocking a winning time of 30min 32.57sec.
\nMcColgan claimed silver more than 8sec behind while a second Kenyan-born athlete, Israel\u2019s defending champion and world marathon bronze medallist Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, took bronze. In the first field medal of the Euros, world bronze medallist Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands won the women\u2019s shot put with a best of 20.24m on the second of her six attempts.
\nPortugal\u2019s Auriol Dongmo took silver with a national record of 19.82m, Schilder\u2019s teammate Jorinde Van Klinken claiming bronze (18.94).
\nThat was closely followed by Croatia\u2019s Filip Mihaljevic claiming victory in the men\u2019s shot with a best of 21.53m, Serbia\u2019s Armin Sinancevic taking silver with 21.39m and Czech Tomas Stanek bronze (21.24). Norway\u2019s Jakob Ingebrigtsen kept his bid for a repeat double gold on course after winning his 1,500m heat in 3:38.48.
\nThe Norwegian was one of the stars of the Berlin Euros in 2018 when he went home with golds in both the 1,500 and 5,000m. It will be a quick turnaround for Ingebrigtsen, who had to settle for silver behind surprise British winner Jake Wightman in the 1,500m at the world champs.
\nThe 5,000m final is scheduled for 1908 GMT on Tuesday, with the 1500m final to be held on Thursday. \u201cToday was a first test for me and the test result is: very good,\u201d Ingebrigtsen said. \u201cThe Olympic stadium is a beautiful arena and the track is really good and fast.\u201d
\nCroatia\u2019s Sandra Perkovic, bidding for a record sixth continental title, also qualified for the final of the women\u2019s discus throw. \u201cThe European championships are always very special to me because my first major medal was a European gold medal in Barcelona in 2010,\u201d said the two-time Olympic and world champion.
\n\u201cI am proud to be the number one in Europe and to represent Europe around the world. They all know who the discus girl is, and I think I want to stay in this position for a long time.\u201d Cuban-born Portuguese triple jumper Pedro Pichardo, the reigning world and Olympic champion, also sailed through qualifying for Wednesday\u2019s final with a best of 17.36m.
\n\u201cI know I am in very good shape, and my only goal today was to get the big Q to the final\u2013it was easy and relaxed,\u201d Pichardo said. Poland\u2019s Aleksandra Lisowska claimed the first title at the European championships, winning the women\u2019s marathon on the streets of Munich.
\nThe men\u2019s marathon title went the way of host nation Germany as Richard Ringer produced an extraordinarily well-judged final burst past Ethiopian-born Israeli Maru Teferi for gold. The opening day had kicked off in dramatic style as world decathlon champion Kevin Mayer\u2019s bid for a first European title came to a shuddering halt as he pulled up in the opening 100m.
\nWorld record holder Mayer, twice world champion and a two-time Olympic silver medallist, said he had made the decision to ease up \u201cbefore injury\u201d. In the Frenchman\u2019s absence, Switzerland\u2019s Simon Ehammer goes into Tuesday\u2019s second day of action in pole position on the back of a massive 8.31m in the long jump, an event in which he won world bronze in Oregon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MUNICH Turkey\u2019s Kenyan-born Yasemin Can won her second European 10,000m title in Munich on Monday as a trio of world-class heavyweights guaranteed their spots in respective finals. Fresh from sealing the Commonwealth title, Britain\u2019s Eilish McColgan forced the pace in the 25-lap race, but Can hit the front with just under 3km to go. Can, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-277754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n