As the summer season draws to a close, there's no mood of "waving goodbye" in view of the top meeting Weltklasse Zürich. Nevertheless, not all the Swiss aces are in top form.
05.09.2024, 22:27
05.09.2024, 22:43
SDA
Let's start with the two tireless athletes: Simon Ehammer, who started the summer as a decathlete but only focused on the long jump after Götzis in mid-May, is still going strong. With 7.98 m and 3rd place, he achieved his eighth podium finish in the Diamond League. "It's cool that I finally made it onto the podium in Zurich. But my heel hurts more than I had hoped," admits the man from Appenzell.
The 400 m runner Lionel Spitz has already launched countless attacks on Mathias Rusterholz's Swiss record from 1996. But it doesn't work. At the Swiss Championships, his time of 45.01 seconds was just two hundredths off the mark. At Weltklasse Zürich, he now won the preliminary program in rainy weather in a strong 45.30. "That's good for my self-confidence. This time in the rain is very valuable," emphasized the man from Adliswil.
He had already resigned himself to the fact that he would not break the record until 2025. "But now I'm getting another chance in Bellinzona." He does not yet know what tactics he will use on Monday. "Of the six runs in which I went extra fast this year, it blew me away five times. Only not in the 45.01." It would be important to have a bit of a tailwind on the home straight.
Brussels is canceled
As for the tired: Mujinga Kambundji is halfway out of steam, partly because she had already traveled to China for two Diamond League meetings in April. She also exceeded expectations by winning gold at the European Championships in the 200 m and the Olympic final in the 100 m, plus she has managed to get her foot problems under control. The results are still half right: "8th place is okay. I'm still among the best in the field. Sometimes a little further forward, sometimes a little further back." But his head is tired. "I'm skipping the Diamond League final in Brussels," she noted.
Her sister Ditaji hasn't really been getting back into shape for over two months. The European Championships in Rome with silver and a Swiss record (12.40) were the highlight. After that, the problems began with a slight injury to her thigh, and this week her stomach rebelled. After a controversial false start, she ran the 100 m hurdles in 13 seconds under protest. It was not her night.
Far from the record
Jason Joseph ran a Swiss record in the Letzigrund a year ago (13.08), only to lower it to 13.07 in Basel. He was a long way from such a performance throughout the season, but at least he can console himself with European Championship bronze. He also let his time slip in Zurich after a mediocre performance at the end - 13.60.
Of the 800 m trio Rachel Pellaud, Audrey Werro and Valentina Rosamilia, none of the three Olympic participants were able to keep up in a race that would have been an ideal pace for a Swiss record. Selina Rutz-Büchel (1:57.95 2015) will remain at the top of the statistics. Audrey Werro from Fribourg, who is considered to have the greatest potential, even had to pull out. She never really overcame the thigh injury she suffered in pre-season this year.
Timothé Mumenthaler remains an enigma. Anything between a Swiss record of 19.98 seconds (which belongs to Alex Wilson) and 21 seconds is always possible. After the gold medal coup in Rome, the Geneva native was slightly ailing and only returned to action in Paris with moderate success. On the other hand, he recently proved with a season's best time over 100 m (10.26) that the basic speed is there. In Zurich, however, he did not realize this optimally in 20.72.
Julien Bovin and Yasmin Giger managed to qualify for the Olympics in the 400 m hurdles. The man from Valais and the woman from Thurgau were unable to match the times they ran at the SM in Letzigrund at the beginning of July and missed their personal best by around one and a half seconds in 50.04 and 56.19 respectively.
