Day 1 Preview: First Medal up for Grabs
Following a spectacular opening on Wednesday night which saw 55,000 people flock to Olympiapark to celebrate the start of the European Championships Munich 2022, the first sports venues open their doors on Thursday. Fans are in for a treat, with the first set of medals to be awarded in women’s artistic gymnastics. Follow all action in our live blog.
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TWO IN ONE
The gymnastics action in Olympiahalle kicks off with the senior women taking the stage in the qualifications which will also serve as individual all-around final, determining the first champion to be crowned at Munich 2022. The top eight teams advance to Saturday’s team final, while the best eight ranked gymnasts on each apparatus (maximum of two per country) qualify to Sunday’s apparatus finals
The German hopes will lie with 2020 Olympians Elisabeth Seitz, Pauline Schäfer, Sarah Voss, Kim Bui alongside Emma Malewski. For 33-year old Bui, the European Championships at home will mark her last competition after a remarkable career including three Olympic Games. “I’m quite excited and also super emotional,” Bui said. “It’s hard to put it into words. It’s my last event and I just want to enjoy it and hope to get as far as possible.”
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TAKING TO THE WATERS
The quality of the athletes competing at the Olympic Regatta Centre in Munich is emphasised by the very first event of any sport at the European Championships Munich 2022. Reigning world, European and Paralympic champion Birgit Skarstein (NOR) is the favourite for the PR1 women’s single sculls, which begins the European Rowing Championships with a race for lanes.
Skarstein will compete against European and Paralympic silver medallist Moran Samuel (ISR), European bronze medallist Anna Sheremet (UKR) and relative newcomer Manuela Diening (GER). “Rowing in Europe is very, very strong. And many big teams arrive – able-body and para. Germany is known for good rowers – women and men. Most of my leading competitors are Europeans,” Samuel said in an interview last month.
As the first major championships since the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Munich will test crews at the start of the lead-in to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. Rowing is one of two Munich 2022 sports to include para events, with the other being canoe sprint.
Read the full preview here.
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TRACK OR PARK?
Cycling fans will be spoiled for choice, as the beloved sport is featuring four disciplines in the Bavarian state capital. BMX freestyle park is the youngest discipline in the long tradition of competitive cycling. It’s not about speed or getting to the line first, but about s bike-handling, kill, guts, style and grace. In the third European Championships, the riders will show their spectacular tricks with splendid views of Munich’s grandeur and the Alps as a scenic backdrop. Competition will be held from 11-13 August, with qualification heats for both genders on the first day, followed by the women’s finals on 12 August and the men’s finals on 13 August.
The home crowd will have something to look out for, as track cycling gets underway with the team event qualification races on the first of seven exciting competition days at Messe München. The German ladies are reigning world champions in both the team pursuit and team sprint events. At the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 the German ladies Franziska Brauße, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kröger broke the world record in all three races on their way to gold.
Germany will face tough competition from Great Britain, who also broke the world record and held it briefly during the Tokyo competition. World champions Italy are also in the mix for a medal.
Read up on the full day 1 action in BMX freestyle park and track cycling.
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GOLD MEDAL CHASERS
Janja Garnbret (SLO) is set to be the star of sport climbing at the European Championships Munich 2022, with the Olympic champion among a stellar field of 200 climbers from 26 nations that will compete for eight sets of medals at Königsplatz in the centre of the host city.
The Slovenian ace won gold in the women’s Olympic combined at Tokyo 2020 to become the first woman to win Olympic gold in the sport, but she is chasing a first European Championships medal having won silvers in 2015 and 2017. The 23-year-old has been in good form on the World Cup circuit with four wins from four lead competitions
Thursday will see the women’s lead qualification, while boulder qualification is on the men’s agenda. Check out the full preview here.