Marino Bloudek is the first Croatian since Luciano Sušanj to run in the European Championship 800m final, while Marija Tolj has qualified for the discus throw final for the third consecutive time. Veronika Draičić has secured a spot in the 400m semifinals.
Croatian athletics enjoyed a stellar day at the European Championships in Birmingham. Marino Bloudek secured a historic place in the 800m final, the first for Croatia in nearly half a century. Marija Tolj will compete in the discus throw final for the third straight time, and young Veronika Draičić advanced to the 400m semifinals.
Bloudek finished second in his semifinal heat with a time of 1:44.96, just 23 hundredths behind the heat winner, Britain's Mavo Burgin. Third-placed Spaniard David Barroso had the same deficit, and all three advanced to the final based on their positions.
The Croatian 800m record holder thus became the first finalist in this event at the European Championships since the legendary Luciano Sušanj. The wait lasted fifty years.
"I have to be more than satisfied with this. My first major final at a European Championship. It wasn't easy to get to this competition because everyone expected me to make the outdoor final after a successful indoor season and a good showing in the final. It wasn't easy at all. But my coach, me, the club, and my small team managed to get into very good form, and we showed that today, especially in the last 150 meters of the race," Bloudek told Večernji list.
Bloudek stayed near the back for most of the race, then launched his move with 200 meters to go. He had to avoid collisions with rivals, but he paced himself perfectly for a strong finish, passing everyone except Burgin.
Running in lane nine, the outside lane, didn't bother him. "You don't have anyone in front of you to follow. I also ran the qualifying heat from the outside lane, and it's a bit tricky because you don't know who's behind you or how close they are. When I got to the straight, I saw that almost everyone was ahead of me. But that didn't cause me any problems, nor did it scare me," he explained.
He described the finish in his own unique way: "This time, as I would say, it was a 'Superman' finish. I stretched out my arm at the line. I was flying like Superman, ha-ha."
In the second semifinal, Ireland's Mark English won with a new championship record (1:43.49), and the other finalists included Britain's Ben Pattison, France's Corentin le Clezio, Spain's Mohamed Attaoui (1:43.82), and Italy's Francesco Pernici (1:43.84). Since the second heat was significantly faster than the first, it produced two finalists who qualified on time.
The defending European champion from Rome 2024, France's Gabriel Tual, caused a major upset by finishing only sixth in his heat and 14th overall, which wasn't enough for the final.
Bloudek is aware of the strength of the competition: "This is one of the strongest events at this European Championship. In the semifinals, almost everyone ran 1:43 or 1:44, which is rarely seen at these championships." The final is scheduled for Thursday at 10:28 PM Central European Time.
Marija Tolj continues her streak of success in the discus throw. In qualifying, she threw 59.85 meters on her third attempt, which was the ninth-best result and enough to advance to the final. Her first throw was 58.91 meters, her second landed in the protective netting, but the third was good enough to progress. As the competition unfolded, even her first throw would have been sufficient for the final.
"I'm not really happy with the result, but with making the final, of course I am. I thought the result wouldn't be enough, but in the end it turned out well. Now I need to rest, do some training, and prepare for the final," Tolj told Večernji list.
Only four throwers surpassed the qualifying standard of 62.50 meters: Germany's Shanice Craft (63.46m), the Netherlands' Jorinde van Klinken (62.74m), who already won silver in the shot put at this championship, Sweden's Vanessa Kamga (64.65m), and the Netherlands' Alida van Daalen (62.58m). Along with Tolj, the other finalists based on distance were Portugal's Liliana Ca (61.86m), Spain's Ines Lopez (61.45m), 47-year-old France's Melina Robert-Michon (60.89m), Germany's Kristin Prudenz (60.48m), Sweden's Caisa-Marie Lindfors (59.57m), Poland's Daria Zabawska (59.37m), and Turkey's Oezlem Becerek (58.48m). The discus final is scheduled for Friday, August 14, at 9:30 PM.
Veronika Draičić rounded off a successful day for Croatian athletics by advancing to the 400m semifinals. She finished fourth in her qualifying heat with a time of 52.07 seconds, which was the tenth-fastest overall.
"I'm really happy to have made the semifinals. This is my first outdoor European Championship, and it's also the first time I've gotten past the heats, so I can be satisfied. I know I can run faster, but tomorrow is a new day, a new race, and we hope for a better result," Draičić said.
Running in lane eight wasn't unfamiliar to her. "Last year, at the World Championships in Tokyo, I was in lane nine, and in Maribor, at the Nations Cup, I was in lane eight. It's not that big of a problem; I can run my own race, but mentally it's a bit harder because I'd like to have someone in front of me to follow," she added.
