Bloudek on the Race of His Life: I'll Remember It Forever
The Croatian athlete revealed how he outsmarted faster rivals in the European Championship final in Birmingham, who gave him the key advice, and what awaits him in Lausanne.
The Croatian athlete revealed how he outsmarted faster rivals in the European Championship final in Birmingham, who gave him the key advice, and what awaits him in Lausanne.
A few days have passed since the final of the 800-meter race at the European Championships in Birmingham, and the impressions are slowly settling. Croatian athletics has gained its third runner with a European outdoor medal, 52 years after Luciano Sušanj's gold in Rome and 32 years after Branko Zorko's bronze in Helsinki. Marino Bloudek's silver completed that historic set.
In the final, Bloudek took the lead and held the front position almost the entire time, fending off attacks from the favorites. His personal best of 1:44.01 was only the eighth fastest among the eight finalists, but tactics prevailed. "This is the European Championships, where different rules apply than at meetings," he explained to Sportske novosti. "First, you have to get through the heats and semifinals to reach the final; I'd even call it chess because these are mostly tactical races."
In the semifinal, he couldn't push to the front from the start because he started from lane nine and had no view behind him, and then rivals boxed him in. "I didn't panic; I believed in my finish," he said. A key advantage came from the semifinal heats. Bloudek advanced on position from the first heat, while runners from the second, including champion Mark English, who broke the European Championships record, expended significantly more energy. "Five from that heat made the final, but they spent a lot more energy before Thursday night," he emphasized.
Bloudek admitted that he had visualized winning a medal even before the competition. "I wouldn't have settled for a lower placement and a good time," he said. Experience from the World Indoor Championships in Toruń played a big role, where he lacked the strength for a medal but learned a lot. "I left nothing to chance; I watched replays of the qualifying and semifinal races and analyzed the split times of all competitors."
During the warm-up, he sensed that his rivals were nervous and spent, and he also noticed that Max Burgin wasn't there. As they walked onto the track, he joked to his coach Mladen Kršek and fiancée Natalija Švenda: "I can beat this one, and this one, and this one..."-only pausing as he passed English. He also held onto his coach's advice before the semifinal: "We'll sell our skin dearly."
Bloudek was the European junior champion nine years ago, and now he holds the title of European senior vice-champion. "It's still unbelievable; I look around when someone calls me that," he said. "This title is the pinnacle of my career and stays with me for the next two years, when I hope to surpass it or at least repeat it."
Although the silver is the highlight of his career, Bloudek is already looking ahead. In Lausanne at the Diamond League, he faces a race against the world's best middle-distance runners who run 1:41 and 1:42. "A fast and fierce race is expected, with a sub-50-second first lap, and I hope I can bite through and hold on," he said. His goal is to dip below 1:44, which would cap off a fantastic year in which he already broke the Croatian record after more than 50 years.
Bloudek especially thanked his coach, fiancée, families, the Croatian Olympic Committee, the Croatian Athletics Federation, the government that congratulated him, and his new sponsor Go2Digital. He was particularly touched by the support from Irish fans who reached out because of the way he congratulated champion English. "After the final, quite a few Irish fans contacted me because of how I congratulated him, even though for me it's the most natural thing-to congratulate the better man," he said. The most emotional moment, however, was right after the race. "The moment I leaped into the arms of my fiancée and coach, I'll remember forever; it was a wonderful feeling, filled me with emotion, and tears of joy came," he concluded.
