2023-07-30 18:30:13
– Only the moment of shock leads to peak performance
Three weeks before the World Cup, a touch of world class is blowing in Bellinzona. The Kambundji sisters are on form, Simon Ehammer flies and the nicknamed man triumphs.
Published: 07/30/2023, 20:30
Stumbled in the heat, shone in the final: hurdles sprinter Ditaji Kambundji shines in the Comunale.
Photo: Alessandro Crinari (Keystone)
For some it was the dress rehearsal, for others the last chance to get a ticket for the World Cup, which begins on August 19 in Budapest. And even if not everyone reached the goal at the championships in Bellinzona – also in the literal sense – the impression in the Comunale was hardly misleading: Swiss athletics has an exciting future ahead of it.
The recovered
They were in the World Championships final last year, then won European Championship medals in Munich, and now they are back from their injuries: Mujinga Kambundji and Annik Kälin, the heptathlete. When sprint record holder Kambundji (10.89 seconds) was clocked in 11.05 on Saturday, she said foot condition was at least as important to her as time. Kambundji has been struggling with a persistent inflammation of the plantar fascia in her left foot all year round. Now she survived three runs in three and a half hours. That will also be the requirement at the World Cup. When asked what was still missing, she said: “A few training sessions and the Citius meeting in Bern on Friday.”
She is slowly approaching her World Championship form and Bern will be only her fourth competition of the season. But experience is one of the trump cards of the 31-year-old. “I knew that I still had it in me somewhere, but I didn’t know if I would put it on the track.” She succeeded. Very similar to Kalin. The all-rounder has suffered from a stress fracture – and didn’t show any signs of it anymore. At 6.64 meters, she jumped to within a few centimeters of her long jump record, and at 13.47 she was only three tenths above her hurdle record.
The World Conquerors
It is an absolute rarity to experience two world-class Swiss athletes in one race. That was the case over 110 meter hurdles, all-around fighter Simon Ehammer challenged record holder Jason Joseph – in the end one was on the ground and the other hid his anger in his T-shirt. Ehammer – on course for best performance – got stuck at the last hurdle and fell, Joseph was stopped in 13.16. Recently in Madrid he equaled his record (13.10) – “Now I just didn’t do what I should have done,” he said. At first he had talked regarding the 12th time, which he had had in the back of his mind for weeks. When asked if this blocked him, he shook his head.
In a completely different mood was Ditaji Kambundji minutes later, who in 12.72 stayed just a tenth above Lisa Urech’s Swiss record. “That’s the goal this season,” she said, but you can’t start a race with this resolution. The moment of shock in the run-up, when she touched the second hurdle, was quickly forgotten. A clean final the result. And Ehammer still had his sense of achievement: After he had decided in favor of the long jump at the World Championships last week, he won it with 8.03 meters – with four failed attempts. “It’s important for me to be relaxed, and it’s there. Again. After Götzis, I found her once more in Paris and Oslo at the Diamond League meetings. And at least two of the invalid jumps were between 8.20 and 8.40 meters.
The fast people from Zurich
You gave him the nickname “Babyface Killer” at the European association on social media. Because the 22-year-old Lionel Spitz from Adliswil, with his boyish face and his large-looking glasses, does not hide his ambitions and runs record following record over 400 meters. once more on Sunday. In 45.25 seconds he improved by two hundredths and distanced European Championship silver winner Ricky Petrucciani by more than 1.3 seconds. And that at noon. “Then I’ll sleep,” he said and laughed. He is an evening person, “if the race had taken place at five … I have the 44 time in my legs.” Of course, the killer. The national record is 44.99. By the way, he likes his nickname: “It’s better than if he were a gentleman.”
“I’m usually still asleep at this time”: 400-meter winner Lionel Spitz.
Photo: Davide Agosta (Keystone)
Spitz was just one of the people from Zurich who shone in the Comunale. On Saturday, Jonas Raess finally secured his place in the world championship, his first, in an impressive 5000 meter race. Almost alone, he finished in 13:44.00. Tom Elmer was the lucky one over 1500 meters. The man from Glarus, living in the LCZ, benefited from the selfless steeple runner Michel Curti, who set the pace for the first kilometer and then got out. Elmer thanked him with a fast last lap. In 3:36.34 he proved “that a very good international race might go one step further”. On Friday, the third fastest Swiss behind Pierre Délèze and Markus Hacksteiner will compete at the Citius meeting in Bern. Then his training colleague George Mills, who can run a 3:31 time, also starts.
The Dropout
He is the European record holder in the half marathon, has an outstanding 10,000 meter best time (27:10 minutes), and he ended the season on Saturday: Julien Wanders is hardly the shadow of his former greatness. Physically and mentally depressed, the man from Geneva decided to return to former coach Marco Jäger. This is now trying to build up a drained athlete. He briefly set the pace for Jonas Raess over 5000 meters – only to get out a little later. It was his wish to start at this championship. Now the coach has prescribed a six-week break for him. Do nothing. Recreation.
The Juggler
There is little and much to say regarding the women’s 800 meter race. Switzerland is in a comfortable position and currently has three excellent runners in Audrey Werro, Lore Hoffmann and Rachel Pellaud – with Werro as a juggler. The 19-year-old can wait and see whether the others take the initiative, if not, she runs away from the others. Simply that way. Uncatchable. She won the title in 2:01.70 – with plenty of reserve.
Prepared for everything and ready for any pace: Audrey Werro, the 19-year-old super talent over 800 meters, runs away from her competitors.
Photo: Alessandro Crinari (Keystone)
The unlucky one
Valentin Imsand landed very hard. At the end of May, the 18-year-old Valais pole jumper was the high-flyer. In Sion he jumped 5.61 meters – never before had such a young Swiss managed this. The national record is only 10 centimeters higher, jumped by Felix Böhni in 1983 (!) and Dominik Alberto in 2021. He now won the title (5.35 m), but Imsand produced three zeros for the second time since his violent jump.
Monica Schneider has been an editor in the sports department since 1995 and accompanies track and field athletes and many others on their way to the Olympic Games. She also works as a newspaper editor for the sports department.More information
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