Bol lowers national record to 49.44, elevating to No. 2 competitor in world this year; Murto wins memorable women’s pole vault title for Finland, with Spain’s Martinez edging France’s Martinot-Lagarde in dramatic 110 hurdles battle and Hudson-Smith repeating in men’s 400 final

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Femke Bol said during the press conference prior to the European Athletics Championships that although it landed first on the schedule, winning the 400-meter title would be the most difficult challenge in her pursuit of becoming the first female athlete in meet history to capture gold medals in both the open final and the 400-meter hurdles in the same year.

Bol, 22, made the task look easy Wednesday at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany, winning the first title in the event for The Netherlands by lowering her own national record to 49.44 seconds, elevating to the No. 2 competitor in the world this year and producing the fastest time by a European athlete since 2013.

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“I am very happy. I think that this race was harder than the 400 hurdles,” said Bol, the World Athletics Championships silver medalist and third-fastest female athlete in history in the 400 hurdles.

“After the race, I realized that it wasn’t so close, I won by 0.50 seconds and with the big personal best.”

Bol improved on her 49.75 effort Aug. 6 in Poland, becoming the first female competitor to run sub-49.50 at the European Championships since East Germany’s Marita Koch in 1986. The Netherlands had only previously earned women’s 400 bronze medals in 1962 and 2018.

“I felt very confident today, as well as very strong. I got the great lane as my strongest competitors were running in the outside lanes,” said Bol, who will run Thursday in the 400 hurdles semifinals.

“This is my first gold medal at the outdoor championships. I know that I won’t sleep a lot today, so tomorrow’s 400 hurdles (semifinal) is gonna be tough.”

Natalia Kaczmarek (49.94) and Anna Kielbasinska (50.29) helped Poland become the first country since 2010 to have a pair of podium finishers in the women’s 400 final. Rhasidat Adeleke of Texas set an Irish national record by finishing fifth in 50.53.

Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain repeated as men’s 400 champion in 44.53, just missing the championship record of 44.52 by fellow British competitor Iwan Thomas in 1998.

“It feels amazing defending my title. It is great to be here and to get the job done. I came here to take it,” said Hudson-Smith, the bronze medalist at the World Championships.

“This is all I wanted. I told myself to not to push it too hard from the beginning and I knew the time is coming. I wanted to escape and to gain the victory.”

Hudson-Smith, 27, followed another British athlete in securing back-to-back titles, as Martyn Rooney prevailed in 2014 and 2016, extending the country’s streak to four in a row overall.

Ricky Petrucciani of Switzerland secured silver in 45.03, earning the first medal for his country, and Great Britain also grabbed bronze with Alex Haydock-Wilson edging Dutch athlete Liemarvin Bonevacia by a 45.161 to 45.169 margin for the final podium spot.

Another photo finish was needed to decide the winner of the men’s 110-meter hurdles final, and the outcome was even closer.

After holding off authorized neutral athlete Sergey Shubenkov by thousandths of a second in 2018 in Berlin to capture the title, France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde saw his bid for a repeat Wednesday thwarted by Spain’s Asier Martinez by a 13.137 to 13.138 margin.

“This means a lot. I was running next to some great athletes, and it was a great battle on the track,” Martinez said. “This is a reward for all of those who support me. This is very special because I was running up against Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, who is a force to be reckoned with. It was a very close finish, so I have no idea how it happened.”

Martinez, 22, the bronze medalist at the World Athletics Championships, became the first Spanish male competitor to secure gold in the 110 hurdles after Orlando Ortega earned bronze four years ago.

“We knew this would be a tough competition,” Martinez said. “But I also knew Martinot-Larged would have to do a great race to beat me.”

Martinot-Lagarde was looking to become the first back-to-back champion since Shubenkov in 2012 and 2014, along with producing a third consecutive title for France, which also added a bronze medal Wednesday with Just Kwaou-Mathey clocking 13.33.

Another pursuit of multiple titles was halted in the women’s pole vault, as two-time winner Katerina Stefanidi of Greece had her bid for a three-peat prevented by Finland’s Wilma Murto, who cleared a national record of 15 feet, 11 inches (4.85m) on her second attempt.

Murto, 24, became only the fifth female athlete from Finland in meet history to earn a gold medal in any event, including the first since 1994.

“After the World Championships, I felt like there is so much more to come, so I am very thankful now,” Murto said. “This competition was just great. My dreams came true. I knew it had been in me for a long time, but I just needed this day to come. Today, it felt like a perfect day to do that with my family and friends in the stands supporting me. This was like the strongest experience I have ever had.”

Murto set the World U20 indoor record in 2016, but has enjoyed a breakthrough season, tying for sixth place July 17 at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore., one place behind Stefanidi.

But after Stefanidi was in command through 15-7 (4.75m), Murto took control by clearing 15-9 (4.80m) on her first opportunity, followed by 15-11 on her second try to equal the championship record achieved in 2018 by Stefanidi, a Stanford graduate.

“I was like in a bubble until the very end. Until the medal was certain. Then I opened up and heard all the crowds cheering for me and the noise at the stadium. And then I just jumped and jumped and jumped,” Murto said. “This means that the work we have put in has paid off and this is like a start of a new era for me. I have had struggles after my teenage success and now I finally made it to the senior level and it is great.”

Stefanidi missed once at 15-9 and then took two attempts at 15-11, but was unsuccessful, although she became the first female athlete to earn four consecutive European Championships pole vault medals, securing the silver ahead of former Arkansas standout Tina Sutej of Slovenia based on fewer attempts at 15-5 (4.70m).

“Of course I would have liked to have won, but Wilma was amazing today, and it is great that she did it at these major championships,” Stefanidi said. “I feel that Wilma had a very similar progress to mine. We both did very well in the youth groups, then a few struggles after that, so after this title here, my advice for her is to enjoy it.”

It marked the first European outdoor medal for Sutej, who finished fourth at the World Championships.

Bianca Ghelber, 32, capped an exciting final round of the women’s hammer throw, winning the first title for Romania since 1998 with a 238-7 (72.72m) performance on her final attempt.

Ghelber opened her series with a 236-11 (72.22m) effort and never relinquished control.

Poland’s Ewa Rozanska applied some pressure in the sixth round with a 236-7 (72.12m) mark, but it wasn’t enough to catch Ghelber, who only increased her lead on the final throw of the competition.

Italy’s Sara Fantini earned bronze with a 234-10 (71.58m) effort, also in the sixth round. 

Pedro Pablo Pichardo, the reigning World gold medalist in the men’s triple jump, made it two in a row for Portugal at the European Championships, following Nelson Evora in 2018.

Pichardo produced a second-round performance of 57-5 (17.50m), the best mark at the European final since 2012, and his competitors were unable to respond.

Italy’s Andrea Dallavalle secured silver with a fifth-round mark of 55-11 (17.04m) and France’s Jean-Marc Pontvianne took bronze with a 55-7 (16.94m) effort in the third round.

Emmanuel Ihemeje, a three-time NCAA Division 1 champion for Oregon, finished ninth for Italy with a mark of 54-3.75 (16.55m).

Nafi Thiam of Belgium, the defending World champion in the heptathlon, produced the top first-day score Wednesday with 4,063 points, highlighted by winning the high jump with a 6-6 (1.98m) clearance.

Noor Vidts, also representing Belgium, is second with 3,849 points and Dutch athlete Anouk Vetter is third at 3,824 points.

Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia, the reigning World gold medalist in the men’s discus throw, produced a championship record in qualifying with a mark of 226-7 (69.06m) on his only attempt, surpassing the 2010 standard of 225-11 (68.87m) by Poland’s Piotr Malachowski.