2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships: Femke Bol cruises to victory as Samuele Ceccarelli upsets Olympic champion
Femke Bol, Karsten Warholm and Samuele Ceccarelli shine on the third day of the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
Athletics
Italy’s Samuele Ceccarelli produced one of the biggest upsets of the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul, beating Olympic champion and compatriot Marcell Jacobs in the men’s 60m final on Saturday, March 4.
Sprinting to his maiden European Indoors gold medal, Ceccarelli again had the number of his revered countryman. Ceccarelli also showed Jacobs a clean pair of heels at the Italian Indoor Championships in February.
Victory again belonged to Ceccarelli in Istanbul, where he clocked a winning time of 6.48 seconds, with Jacobs (6.50s) following shortly behind him for an Italian gold and silver. Sweden’s Henrik Larsson set a national record of 6.53s for his bronze medal.
“To become the European champion – that sounds great and I am over the moon because it is the first time in the Italian senior team, my first time competing at such championships, and the first win,” Ceccarelli said.
“He (Jacobs) was happy for me and said a few words in the finish. We keep the gold medal at home in Italy so he was happy for me. He is like my big brother.”
The Bol and Klaver show
Flying Dutchwoman Femke Bol continued her spectacular early season form to defend her title in the event successfully and, in the process, claim a fourth gold medal at the European Indoor Championships.
Bol got her nose just in front of her training partner Lieke Klaver at the bell but held her line coasting to victory in a time of 49.85 seconds. Klaver finished second in 50.57s for a Dutch 1-2, with Anna Kiełbasińska of Poland taking the bronze in 51.25s.
The 23-year-old Bol has been in sensational form this season, breaking the longest-standing indoor world record when she smashed the world mark Jarmila Kratochvílová set in 1982. Running in front of her home crowd at the Dutch National Championships in Apeldoorn in February, Bol stormed across the line in a time of 49.26s.
"The race was nice, just like all races on championships like these. It is very cool, especially that my teammates are also on the podium," Bol said.
"It makes it even more special that I could defend my title, and become European Champion for the second time in a row. I have multiple European titles, but the world title is still missing. The world record is step one."
Warholm goes ‘stupid fast’
Norwegian track phenom Karsten Warholm won his second European Indoor title in the flat 400m event crossing the line in a time of 45.35 seconds.
The Olympic 400m hurdles champion and world-record holder won the race in typical Warholm fashion gritting his teeth and launching himself around the track with reckless abandon.
Warholm led from start to finish despite losing some steam in the final stretch but did enough to outgun Belgium’s Julien Watrin (45.44s), who set a national record to claim the silver medal. Sweden’s Carl Bengtstrom bagged the bronze medal in a time of 45.77s.
“I was stupid fast today I think. I do not know if you saw it but I felt lactic acid in the last 100 so I had to fight all the way through. It just had hit me like a wall,” Warholm said.
“With this, you never know what is going to come. I was just fighting my ass off to save myself and I am just very happy it was gold today.”
Muir wins fifth European Indoors gold
Olympic 1500m silver medallist Laura Muir added a fifth gold medal to her collection, becoming the most decorated Briton at the European Indoor Championships.
The 29-year-old Muir ran a well-timed tactical race sitting back and biding her time in the opening laps of the contest before she moved towards the front of the pack.
Settling in behind Claudia Mihaela Bobocea of Romania at the front, Muir finally produced her characteristic kick with a lap-and-a-half to go to cross the line in a winning time of 4:03.40. Bobocea followed in second place, clocking 4:03.40 with Poland’s Sofia Ennaoui finishing third in 4:04.06 – both posting personal bests.
"I am really happy. I put quite some pressure on myself to win another gold, so I am very happy to actually win a gold medal,” Muir said.
“Ten years ago, as a junior, I finished last in the final. It is kind of crazy how my career has changed, but I just hope that I can be an example to other athletes. You do not have to be best in the world when you are a junior, but you just see whatever stage you are at: you can do it.”
In the women’s pole vault, Wilma Murto of Finland sailed over 4.80 metres to set a national record en route to the gold medal.
Meanwhile, Tuğba Danişmaz delivered some Turkish delight winning the women’s triple jump with a winning leap of 14.31 metres in front of her home crowd.