Luckenkemper rallies to edge Kambundji and Neita in thrilling women’s 100 final, with Perkovic becoming first athlete in meet history to win same event six times and only second competitor to earn six overall golds; Tentoglou sets long jump meet record and Ingebrigtsen repeats in 5,000

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Gina Luckenkemper leaned forward, lunged at the finish line, tumbled to the track and required medical attention on her bloody left knee and hand while sitting in a chair just moments after her race.

But she did so with the German flag draped over her shoulders, tears in her eyes, boasting a joyful but often incredulous smile while being serenaded by the cheers of her home crowd Tuesday night at the Olympic Stadium in Munich at the European Athletics Championships.

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Luckenkemper, 25, rallied with a few powerful final strides in the women’s 100-meter dash championship race, edging Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji for the gold medal by a margin of 10.984 to 10.989 seconds, with Great Britain’s Daryll Neita earning bronze in 11.00 in one of the most dramatic finishes in meet history.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe it,” Luckenkemper kept saying in reponse to her fellow competitors as they offered her congratulatory hugs. “This is incredible.” 

Luckenkemper, who secured silver in 2018 in Berlin in 10.98 behind Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith (10.85), became the first German female athlete since Verena Sailer in 2010 to capture the European 100-meter crown.

She did help Germany grab the bronze medal in the 4x100-meter relay final July 23 at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore., but Luckenkemper hadn’t produced a sub-11 performance in the 100 since winning the German national title June 25 in 10.99, and she only reached the semifinals at Hayward Field.

Asher-Smith was compromised by an apparent leg injury Tuesday less than 40 meters into the race and finished eighth in 16.03.

Kambundji, the reigning World Indoor 60-meter champion who earned bronze in the European 100 final in 2016 in Amsterdam, was looking to become the first Swiss female competitor to capture the title.

Although Luckenkemper needed assistance to stand following the race as a result of her knee, Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic added to her legacy by being the last woman standing once again in the women’s discus throw final.

Perkovic added to her record by winning a sixth consecutive European title by throwing 222 feet, 11 inches (67.95m) on her fifth attempt, denying Germany’s Kristin Pudenz her championship moment after she produced a lifetime-best 222-8 (67.87m) in the same round.

“I just won my sixth European title here at this beautiful stadium in front of this amazing crowd, so I am so happy and proud tonight and the competition was in Germany again, just like in 2018, Perkovic said. “I had to fight against the strong Germans again, just like in Berlin and I struggled a bit as they were fighting so much and improving their PBs and SBs. But I knew I was ready to do it and I think the fight was nice.”

Perkovic became the only athlete in European Championships history to win the same event six times and joined East Germany’s Marita Koch as the only competitors to win six gold medals at the meet.

“From all these medals, I think the most precious was the one in 2010 when I just came at the championships like a 19-year-old kid and won my first European major medal,” Perkovic said. “At the time, I could not imagine that in 12 years, I would be still standing here with this medal, chasing my sixth gold. Germany is really good at sports culture and they were pushing me forward.” 

Claudine Vita gave Germany a pair of medalists with a third-round mark of 213-11 (65.20m) to achieve bronze and prevent Dutch athlete Jorinde van Klinken from earning a second medal in as many days following her third-place finish Monday in the shot put.

A recent transfer to Oregon after winning three NCAA Division 1 titles at Arizona State, van Klinken finished fourth with a fifth-round performance of 211-4 (64.43m). She also placed fourth July 20 by throwing 213-2 (64.97m) for The Netherlands at the World Athletics Championships.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway repeated as men’s 5,000-meter champion by clocking 13:21.13, becoming the first back-to-back gold medalist since Great Britain’s Mo Farah won three in a row in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Ingebrigtsen, the World Championships 5,000 gold medalist, took control Tuesday at the 4-kilometer mark and never relinquished the lead, covering the final lap in 53.7 seconds to hold off Spain’s Mohamed Katir in 13:22.98 and Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa in 13:24.83.

“Everybody has the expectations and you have to learn how to deal with it,” said Ingebrigtsen, who triumphed in 2018 in 13:17.06 in Berlin.

“I believe in myself and I believe in the things I have done before. It was amazing here today, it was a great race to be a part of. Thanks to the audiences, it is incredible. It feels great to be back and win, it is special. It brings back the memories of Berlin.”

Sam Parsons of Tinman Elite, representing Germany, secured sixth in 13:30.38, Washington’s Brian Fay – competing for Ireland – finished eighth in 13:31.87, with former Lewis-Clark State College standout and British athlete Sam Atkin placing ninth in 13:32.35.

Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou, the reigning Olympic and World Indoor gold medalist who was edged in Oregon by China’s Jianan Wang and earned silver at the World Outdoor final, not only defended his long jump title, but soared to a European Championships record 27-11.50 (8.52m) in the fourth round.

Tentoglou, who won in 2018 with a leap of 27-0.75 (8.25m), eclipsed the 2010 mark of 27-9.50 (8.47m) established by Germany’s Christian Reif.

“This time, I was ready and prepared for something big. Finally, I proved that I can do it. I put everything together and it just worked well. The championships record was something I was looking for and I longed for it,” Tentoglou said. “This result is very special for me, especially it is a championships record, so it has a special taste.”

Sweden’s Thobias Montler, a former NAIA champion at Keiser University in Florida, benefited from a protest overturning a foul to ascend into silver medal position with a sixth-round effort of 26-5.50 (8.06m). Montler tied France’s Jules Pommery, who also jumped 26-5.50 in the fourth round, but had a better second mark by a 26-1 (7.95m) to 25-9.25 (7.85m) tiebreaker.

Jacob Fincham-Dukes, a former Oklahoma State standout representing Great Britain, finished fifth at 26-1.75 (7.97m).

Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 100, overcame a leg injury to triumph Tuesday in 9.95 to edge reigning European champion Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain (9.99) and capture the first title in the event for his country since Pietro Mennea in 1978.

“This was a difficult season with problems, with injury. But my leg is good not. I am not happy about how the race went technically, there were some problems,” Jacobs said. “I am over the moon with the gold medal. After Olympic gold, now I got the European gold. Got to get the World Championship gold now.”

Jeremiah Azu gave Great Britain a second 100 medal in consecutive European finals by clocking 10.13 to take third, following Reece Prescod securing silver in 2018. Prescod was seventh Tuesday in 10.18.

Germany’s Niklas Kaul rallied from a 178-point deficit entering the final event of the decathlon by running 4:10.04 to prevail with 8,545 points.

Kaul, the 2019 World Championships decathlon gold medalist, followed 2018 winner Arthur Abele to produce another European title for Germany.

Simon Ehammer, who led entering the last event before running 4:48.72 in the 1,500, still achieved a Swiss national record 8,468 points. Ehammer also became the first Swiss athlete to medal in the decathlon at the European Championships since Joseph Neumann earned bronze in 1938.

Janek Oiglane earned bronze with 8,346 points and fellow Estonian Maicel Uibo finished fifth with 8,234 points.

Spain’s Miguel Angel Lopez began the day by winning the men’s 35-kilometer racewalk final in 2:26:49, with Germany’s Christopher Linke securing silver in 2:29:40 and Italy’s Matteo Giupponi grabbing bronze in 2:30:34.

Antigoni Ntrismpioti of Greece won the women’s 35-kilometer racewalk in 2:47:00, followed by Spain’s Raquel Gonzalez in 2:49:10 and Hungary’s Viktoria Madarasz in 2:49:58 joining her on the podium.