A week after winning silver at the European Championships in Berlin, Andreas Kramer was a comfortable winner at home in the Goteborg Athletics Grand Prix, a European Athletics Outdoor Classic Permit Meeting, on Saturday (18) evening.
Kramer won the 800m in 1:45.27 ahead of a strong field including world U20 champion Solomon Lekuta (1:46.00) and Poland’s Mateusz Borkowski (1:46.97). Kramer, 21, just missed his Swedish record of 1:45.03 which he set in Karlstad last month and then equalled to finish second behind Adam Kszczot in Berlin.
Kramer is progressing rapidly through the ranks although he is still eligible to defend his European U23 title on home soil in Gavle next July.
Thobias Nilsson Montler also took a good win on home soil in the long jump. His four valid jumps were the four best marks of the competition and he also surpassed the eight metre line twice, with 8.00m in the first round and 8.06m in the second round.
But world and European silver medallist Daniel Stahl couldn’t produce a valid mark in the discus. Austria’s Lukas Weisshaidinger, who won a bronze medal at the European Championships, went out to 65.37m to finish ahead of Sweden’s Simon Pettersson with 63.29m.
There was a straightforward victory for reigning world and European high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene. After winning at 1.91m, Lasitskene then cleared 1.97m on her third attempt before three unsuccessful tries at 2.01m.
Three-time European bronze medallist Shanice Craft won the discus with 58.90m and Latvia’s Madara Palameika won the javelin with 60.36m ahead of former European champion Tatsiana Khaladovich from Belarus with 59.34m.
In a re-run of the European Championships final, Lisanne de Witte from the Netherlands had the beating of European 400m champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, 51.55 to 51.71, and Dutch teammate Jamile Samuel won the 100m in 11.55.
Poland’s Anna Sabat also won the women’s 800m in 2:01.70 ahead of Sweden’s Lovisa Lindh (2:01.85) and Latvia Liga Velvere (2:02.20).
From an international standpoint, the highlight of the meeting was a world-leading 3000m time of 7:28.00 from Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, the world's fastest time since 2011.