Day 7 Review: Triple Gold For Garnbret

Day 7 of the European Championships Munich 2022 had plenty of highlights in store, including sport climbing superstar Janja Garnbret claiming a third gold medal to take home to Slovenia. Elsewhere, favourites advanced and teenage sensations surprised, while the Swiss dominated the time trial with precision and perfection that would make any watchmaker in their home country proud.

ON TOP OF EUROPE

Janja Garnbret (SLO) began life at the European Championships Munich 2022 with no European golds to her name, but after a dominant performance over the sport climbing competition she is leaving with three.

On Wednesday the Slovenian added boulder & lead to the two golds she won in lead and then boulder. It was the first time medals were handed out in the new combined format, securing Garnbret another spot in the history books after she claimed the sport’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.

“Being three-times European champion sounds good, but it feels even better,” Garnbret said. “I’m leaving with really good feelings and can’t wait to come back."

Mia Krampl ensured that there was a second Slovenian athlete on the podium after an impressive boulder performance set her up for the silver medal, her first at a European championships.

The bronze went to Jessica Pilz (AUT), who now has two medals to pack in her luggage after claiming silver in lead.

Read the full review here.

PERFECT TIMING

With two gold medals and one silver, Switzerland had a perfect day on the 24-kilometre time trial course in Fürstenfeldbruck on Wednesday. Marlen Reusser kept Dutch rival Ellen van Dijk six seconds behind to take the women’s gold, with Riejanne Markus (NED) coming third at 28 seconds from the winner.

In the men’s race Stefan Bissegger and Stefan Küng dominated the field. Bisseger set the fastest time early on and watched how Küng came just 0.3 seconds short to push him into silver. World Champion Filippo Ganna had to settle for bronze at 9 seconds.

Bissegger explained the Swiss time trial secret: “They call us the Swiss watches, because we’re always on time and time is everything in the time trial. That’s really our specialty.”

Check out the full review and further reactions here.

BOL ON TRACK FOR DOUBLE

Femke Bol (NED) pulled out the performance of her life to land the European 400m gold at Olympiastadion on Wednesday and keep alive her dream of winning a one-lap double at the European Athletics Championships.

The flying Dutchwoman, who’s chasing an unprecedent pair of titles at 400m and 400m hurdles, completed the first half of her quest in style, as she powered away from a pair of Polish opponents down the home straight and crossed the line half a second clear in 49.44, a personal best and the fastest by any European this year.

So fast, in fact, that even she didn’t realise how far ahead she was until she saw the clock.

“After the race I realised it wasn't so close. I won by half a second and with a big personal best,” she said. “I am very happy as this is my first gold medal at an outdoor championships.

“I felt very confident today, as well as very strong. I got a great lane as my strongest competitors were running in the outside lanes.”

The fast-starting Natalia Kaczmarek (POL) had no answer when Bol poured past her off the bend, but she clung on for silver with her teammate Anna Kiełbasińska finished third.

Read the full review here, including a flying Finn and 110m hurdles drama.

TEENAGE SENSATION

Brothers Félix and Alexis Lebrun (FRA), aged 15 and 18 respectively, secured a medal in their first European Table Tennis Championships, beating Miłosz Redzimski (POL) and Vladislav Ursu (MDA) 3-1 in the men’s doubles quarterfinals.

The win guaranteed the teenaged prodigies a top-four spot and at least a bronze medal.

”I feel amazing. It is amazing for us to get a medal. It’s unbelievable,” Félix Lebrun said.

Alexis Lebrun said they had come into the tournament with a good feeling.

”We expected a good result because we have played good all year but it is our first European championships so it’s always hard to get medals,” he said.

”We are so happy to win this match and to have this medal.”

Find out what else Wednesday’s action had in store in our full table tennis review.

CHAMPIONS’ GALLERY

WIN OR LOSE

Wednesday’s beach volleyball action at Königsplatz determined the teams advancing to the knock-out stages of the competition, with the teams finishing first in the pool standings qualifying straight to the round of 16, while the second-placed and third-placed teams will have a chance to join them via the round of 24.

Second seeds Katja Stam and Raïsa Schoon (NED) were among the eight women’s teams to top their pool and progress serenely into the round of 16.

The Dutch pair beat Switzerland’s Esmée Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré 2:0 (21-17, 21-17) to return to the form that helped them win silver at the 2021 CEV EuroBeachVolley in Vienna.

“We are close to that,” Stam said. “We had a really great season so far and we won against some of the best European sides, and some of the best world teams and we can do the same over here. It is in our control that we can win or lose to anybody here.”

Read the full review here.

Eleven days of festival of sports and festival – follow our live blog and don’t miss a beat of Munich 2022.