SPORT / TRACK AND FIELD
Turkey’s Kenyan-born Can gets second European 10,000-meter title
Published: Aug 16, 2022 06:57 PM
Turkey's Yasemin Can reacts after the women's 10,000m final during the European Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, southern Germany on August 15, 2022.

Turkey's Yasemin Can reacts after the women's 10,000m final during the European Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, southern Germany on August 15, 2022.

Turkey's Kenyan-born Yasemin Can won her second European 10,000-meter 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's Eilish McColgan forced the pace in the 25-lap race, but Can hit the front with just under 3 kilometers to go.

Can, who previously won the 10,000-meter title in 2016, was merciless as she turned the screw at Munich's Olympic Stadium, clocking a winning time of 30 minutes 32.57 seconds.

McColgan claimed silver more than 8 seconds behind while a second Kenyan-born athlete, Israel's defending champion and world marathon bronze medalist Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, took bronze.

In the first field medal of the Euros, world bronze medalist Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands won the women's shot put with a best of 20.24 meters on the second of her six attempts.

Portugal's Auriol Dongmo took silver with a national record of 19.82 meters, Schilder's teammate Jorinde van Klinken claiming bronze.

That was closely followed by Croatia's Filip Mihaljevic claiming victory in the men's shot with a best of 21.53 meters, Serbia's Armin Sinancevic taking silver with 21.39 meters and Czech Tomas Stanek bronze (21.24).

Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen kept his bid for a repeat double gold on course after winning his 1,500-meter heat in 3:38.48.

The Norwegian was one of the stars of the Berlin Euros in 2018 when he went home with golds in both the 1,500 and 5,000 meters.

It will be a quick turnaround for Ingebrigtsen, who had to settle for silver behind surprise British winner Jake Wightman in the 1,500 meters at the world champs.

The 5,000-meter final is scheduled for 1908 GMT on Tuesday, with the 1,500-meter final to be held Thursday.

"Today was a first test for me and the test result is: very good," Ingebrigtsen said.

"The Olympic stadium is a beautiful arena and the track is really good and fast."

Croatia's Sandra Perkovic, bidding for a record sixth continental title, also qualified for the final of the women's discus throw.

"The European championships are always very special to me because my first major medal was a European gold medal in Barcelona in 2010," said the two-time Olympic and world champion.

"I 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."

AFP