Vuković and Drljačić Stopped in Semifinals of European Championship
Croatian female athletes failed to secure a spot in the finals of the European Championship, while Marciuš and Belčić also missed out in the qualifying rounds.
Croatian female athletes failed to secure a spot in the finals of the European Championship, while Marciuš and Belčić also missed out in the qualifying rounds.
According to HRT's report, Nina Vuković and Veronika Drljačić, Croatian female athletes, failed to secure a place in the final at the European Championship in Birmingham. Vuković competed in the semifinal of the 800-meter race, while Drljačić ran the semifinal of the 400 meters.
Vuković (24) finished seventh in her semifinal heat with a time of 1:59.10 minutes, which was 72 hundredths of a second slower than her qualifying time two days earlier. Prigorski reports that the Croatian representative held a position just behind the two leading competitors for over 600 meters, but could not accelerate in the final stretch and finished seventh.
Her heat was dominated by Olympic champion and home favorite Keely Hodgkinson and Dutchwoman Femke Broeders-Bol, who switched from the 400-meter hurdles to the 800 meters this season. Hodgkinson won with a time of 1:57.38, which was also the best time of the semifinals, while Broeders-Bol crossed the line second in 1:57.46. Eloisa Coiro, the third Italian, also advanced directly to the final with a time of 1:57.74.
Since this heat was significantly faster than the other semifinal, the fastest non-automatic qualifiers were Swiss Valentina Rosamilia with 1:58.16 and Frenchwoman Clara Liberman with 1:58.19.
The first semifinal brought much more controversy. In the final bend, big favorite Audrey Werro fell, remaining on the ground for about half a minute before getting up and crossing the line last. After review, it was determined that the fall was caused by an accidental collision with Frenchwoman Anais Bourgoin, and as a result, Werro was also included in the final.
Bourgoin was not penalized and will compete in the final as she finished second in her heat. A total of 10 runners will compete in the final because Lithuanian Gabija Galvydyte also fell in the aforementioned incident and was subsequently added to the final.
Drljačić (24) finished seventh in her semifinal heat with a season's best time of 51.61 seconds. This improved her entry time by 29 hundredths, although she is still 39 hundredths slower than her personal best. This earned her 19th place in Europe, while the minimum time for the final was 50.33. The fastest in the semifinals was Natalia Bukowiecka of Poland with a time of 49.57.
On Thursday, two Croatian male runners also competed in the qualifying rounds. Karlo Marciuš (26) ran 21.24 seconds in the 200 meters, which was 17 hundredths slower than his season's best and 67 hundredths slower than his personal record. He finished 21st out of 24 competitors, with the top 13 advancing to the semifinals. Marciuš was 22 hundredths behind Turkey's Deniz Kaan Kartal, who was the last to qualify.
Bruno Belčić (25) competed in the 3000-meter steeplechase. He arrived in Birmingham with a reported time of 8:34.33 minutes, but ran 9:00.90 at the European Championship, which was enough for last place, 16th in his heat and 32nd overall. Prigorski writes that Belčić stayed with the pack for the first two kilometers but then lost contact with the leaders early.
