Vuleta, the reigning World Indoor champ, holds off defending Olympic and World Outdoor gold medalist Mihambo in front of Munich fans in long jump showdown; Klosterhalfen earns emotional win in women’s 5,000, with Ingebrigtsen becoming first male athlete to twice achieve 1,500 and 5,000 double

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

On a night when spectators at the European Athletics Championships at Olympic Stadium in Munich endured a brief rainstorm and subsequent delay to enjoy the resurgence of Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi, the resilience of national record holder Konstanze Klosterhalfen and another remarkable double from Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, German fans were also hoping for one final moment of celebration Thursday in the women’s long jump final from their most reliable champion in Malaika Mihambo.

But Serbia’s Ivana Vuleta continued to add to her impressive legacy with a second career European outdoor title and 13th overall international medal, relying on a first-round effort of 23 feet, 2 inches (7.06m) to prevail in an exciting showdown with Mihambo and her second-round performance of 23-0.75 (7.03m).

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“It even wasn’t an option to come here and not to win, even it’s Malaika’s home soil,” Vuleta said. “This season I have won World indoors and now European outdoors, the only one missing was the medal from Eugene. The jump over there would be a good one for the medal but it was a slight fault. But I know how those kind of falls influence on me, so I just needed to wait those three weeks to jump far again.”

It marked the first time since 1998 that each of the top two competitors both surpassed the 7-meter mark, with Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers rallying in the sixth round to earn bronze with a leap of 22-3.75 (6.80m).

Former Florida standout Yanis David, competing for France, earned eighth with a mark of 21-4.25 (6.51m) and Iowa graduate Jahisha Thomas, representing Great Britain, was 10th at 20-10.75 (6.37m).

Perhaps it was only fitting that Vuleta, 32, was wearing a long black trench coat during the competition to remain warm when she wasn’t jumping. The reigning World Indoor gold medalist was almost cast in the role of anti-hero against the 28-year-old Mihambo, the defending Olympic and World Outdoor champion who also won the European crown in 2018 in Berlin.

After finishing seventh July 24 at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore., Vuleta looked as dynamic as ever on her first two attempts, placing the pressure from the outset on Mihambo, who was unable to deliver another dramatic sixth-round performance like she did to win at Hayward Field.

“I came here with a lot of focus. I wasn’t really bothered by my competitors,” Vuleta said. “This was really fantastic, everybody was cheering for everybody which I really enjoyed. This was one of the strongest and one of the most beautiful competitions in my career. Usually I love the rain, so the rain wasn’t a problem for me at all today. If I could have wished for the rain, it would be at this championships.”

Vuleta now has a pair of European outdoor titles, along with 2016 in Amsterdam, and a silver in 2014 to go along with three straight European Indoor gold medals in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

With Mihambo capturing silver, the highlight of the evening for German fans was the performance of Klosterhalfen in the women’s 5,000 final, not only winning the title in 14:50.47, but capturing the first medal in meet history for her country in the event.

“The audience carried me so much,” Klosterhalfen said. “After those two difficult years, to win a gold medal at European Championships on home soil, this is just amazing, I have tears of joy. I am on cloud nine. I do not have words to describe my feelings. It is a dream come true.”

Klosterhalfen, 25, rebounded from being slowed by COVID-19 during the summer, along with the emotional challenges of not qualifying for the 5,000 final at the World Athletics Championships. She also finished fourth in Monday’s 10,000 championship race.

But after Turkey’s Yasemin Can took the lead at the midway point of Thursday’s final, Klosterhalfen remained within contact during the second half of the race until passing the 2016 European champion with 600 meters remaining.

Klosterhalfen, representing Nike’s Union Athletics Club, covered the final lap in 66.8 seconds, smiling the entire length of the home stretch, before being overcome by emotion as she crossed the finish line and then running over to grab a German flag to accompany her during a victory lap.

“The crowd gave me everything,” Klosterhalfen said. “At the beginning of the race, I stayed in the group and when Can paced very hard I let her go and stayed patient. When I got closer to her, I heard the crowd get so loud. I had so much adrenaline. I have to thank the crowd so much.”

Can was seeking another sweep of the 5,000 and 10,000 like she achieved in 2016 in Amsterdam, but secured silver in 14:56.91, to go along with her bronze in 2018. Eilish McColgan of Great Britain, the 10,000 silver medalist, took bronze in 14:59.34 after earning silver in the 5,000 in 2018.

Fellow British athletes Amy-Eloise Markovc (15:08.75), a Washington graduate training with Reebok Boston Track Club, and former New Mexico standout Calli Thackery (15:08.79) were fifth and sixth overall.

Roisin Flanagan, an Adams State graduate competing for Ireland, finished 14th in 15:33.72.

Not only did Ingebrigtsen, 21, become the first male athlete in meet history to sweep the 1,500 and 5,000 titles twice, but he also established an ambitious pace that resulted in him winning in 3:32.76 and all three podium finishers running faster than the 1994 championship record of 3:35.27 achieved by Spain’s Fermin Cacho.

It also marked the fourth European 1,500 gold medal for the family, with older brothers Henrik Ingebrigtsen winning in 2012 and Filip Ingebrigtsen prevailing in 2016.

“I felt I have this speed in my legs today, so I wanted to go fast from the beginning,” said Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who secured the title after earning silver July 19 at the World Championships.

“I wanted to have a fast race and I wanted to win. Also, when I heard the great home crowd cheering for us and I also saw so many Norwegian flags in the stands, it was a great motivation for me today. The fans here are just awesome. The rain, it feels almost like at home. Rain feels good. I am very glad I managed this double and the championships record is a nice bonus.”

Ingebrigtsen closed in 55.25 seconds to prevail against Great Britain’s Jake Heyward (3:34.44) and Spain’s Marcio Garcia Romo (3:34.88). A recent On Athletics Club signee, Romo won the NCAA Division 1 title June 10 for Ole Miss and finished fourth July 19 at the World Championships.

Former Virginia Tech standout Neil Gourley, representing Under Armour and competing for Great Britain, earned eighth in 3:38.40.

Tamberi, who finished fourth July 18 at the World Championships after sharing the Olympic high jump gold medal last year in Tokyo with Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, rebounded to capture his second European crown after winning in 2016 in Amsterdam.

Tamberi, 30, cleared 7-6.50 (2.30m) on his second attempt to prevail against Germany’s Tobias Potye and Ukraine’s Andriy Protsenko, who both achieved 7-5.25 (2.27m). Potye secured silver based on fewer attempts than Protsenko at 7-3.75 (2.23m).

“It was an amazing night, an amazing night. I felt this vibe inside me because of the crowd and because of the atmosphere, it was amazing,” Tamberi said. “I said that we could really jump high, and everyone in the stadium became part of the competition just by the way they were supporting us.”

Poland’s Wojciech Nowicki, 33, repeated as men’s hammer throw champion with a world-leading performance of 269 feet (82.00m) in the fifth round, becoming the first male athlete to defend his crown since Russian Yuriy Sedykh won three in a row in 1978, 1982 and 1986.

Bence Halasz of Hungary captured silver with a third-round mark of 265-6 (80.92m) and maintained a one-centimeter advantage against Nowicki until the fifth round.

Norway’s Eivind Henriksen produced a fourth-round effort of 260-8 (79.45m) to grab bronze, preventing five-time World champion Pawel Fajdek of Poland from making the podium at a major international competition for the first time since the 2016 Olympics.

Fajdek, who prevailed July 16 at the World Championships with a mark of 268-11 (81.98m) that stood as the world lead until Nowicki’s performance Thursday, only managed a sixth-round effort of 259-8 (79.15m) to finish fourth.

Nafi Thiam of Belgium secured back-to-back heptathlon gold medals, the first female athlete to achieve the feat since Antoinette Nana Djimou of France in 2012 and 2014, with 6,628 points. Thiam triumphed in Berlin with 6,816 points and won the World title with 6,947 points July 17-18 in Oregon.

Thiam, 27, now has a pair of Olympic gold medals, two World Outdoor titles and multiple European crowns in her career.

Adrianna Sulek of Poland won the 800 in 2:09.49 to help her overcome a 44-point deficit against Switzerland’s Annik Kalin and secure the silver medal.

Sulek accumulated 6,532 points, with Kalin running 2:13.73 to produce a Swiss national record 6,515 points. Sulek was fourth at the World Championships and Kalin placed sixth in Eugene.