Men’s Marathon to kick off last-day medal rush
With eleven track and field finals on the bill it will be a hectic afternoon in the Letzigrund Stadium on day six for the concluding session of the European Athletics Championships in Zurich.
But the biggest drama of the day could well come on the roads on Sunday morning where Swiss favourite and European record holder Viktor Röthlin defends his marathon title alongside the hosts’ big new hope Tadesse Abraham.
Röthlin triumphed in 2010 in 2:15:31 and the almost-40-year-old will no doubt receive massive support from the home crowd. As will Abraham, the winner of last year’s Zurich Marathon, whose Swiss citizenship was confirmed only in June after the Eritrean emigré had been living in the city for a number of years.
Distance running will be the centre of attention on the track too as 10,000m champion Mo Farah goes for his second gold in the 5000m aiming to repeat his double from Barcelona four years ago. Great Britain’s 10,000m silver medallist Andy Vernon and Türkiye’s Ali Kaya, the bronze medallist, are also in the field.
Norway’s Henrik Ingebrigtsen defends his title in the 1500m against Britain’s Chris O’Hare while Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad hopes to claim a medal without upsetting the judges.
Scandinavian success is on the cards in the women’s 3000m steeplechase too where European leaders Charlotta Fougberg of Sweden and Finland’s Sandra Eriksson go head-to-head.
Another Finn is among the contenders in the men’s javelin as Tero Pitkämäki takes on Czech world champion Vitezslav Vesely and German find Thomas Röhler. Vesely is trying to emulate his compatriot Barbora Spotakova, who won the women’s event on Thursday.
Christina Schwanitz is also looking to follow her male colleague David Storl by completing Germany’s dominance of the shot put finals. World indoor champion Mariya Kuchina will be the women to beat in the high jump, and Olympic champion Greg Rutherford the man to beat in the long jump.
After winning eight medals from the six individual sprint events, Britain will expect a haul of medals from the relay finals. France should provide the main opposition in the 4x100m races, although double champion Dafne Schippers is going for a third gold with her Dutch sprint relay colleagues and Germany’s men were fastest in the men’s semis.