The announced attacks of the world’s athletic stars did not work out, she resisted the absolute maximum at the Golden Stirrup in Ostrava. Obstacle Karsten Warholm was disappointed by the view of the final time, the bowler Ryan Crouser was satisfied at least with the record of the meeting.
During the current constellations in world athletics, Karsten Warholm and Ryan Crouser were the brightest stars of the 59th edition of Ostrava’s Golden Stilts.
The Norwegian athlete ran in Stockholm in August the second best time in the history of Thursday with obstacles (46.87 seconds), the American bowler again regularly attacks the magical limit of 23 meters. They were to attack again in Ostrava.
Warholm was lured by the organizers at the last minute, precisely because of his fantastic run at the Diamond League in Sweden. Following the example of Usain Bolt’s trips to Ostrava, they sent a jet for him and eventually postponed the start of his race to an earlier time, so that the conditions were more favorable.
Thus, the 24-year-old Norwegian did not come until the end of the time schedule, but twenty minutes before seven o’clock, when the sun’s rays were still falling on the track of the Vítkovice stadium.
He came to the eighth track extremely motivated, punched himself in the chest, shouted at the camera and greeted the enthusiastic fans in a storm. The start of the four hundred came out for the second time and Warholm masterfully escaped from the beginning. As planned, he didn’t even see any of his opponents from the eighth track for the whole race.
“Restarting wasn’t a big deal, this is just part of our sport and something I’m used to. Although of course it won’t add up before the race,” Warholm said at the finish.
What? It wasn’t that slow
Unlike the race in Sweden, the track ran cleanly, avoiding stumbling on the last hurdle and the spectators in the finish line hypnotized the timekeeper. Everyone wanted to break Kevin Young’s world record from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics by 46.78 seconds.
Instead, the time was 47.64 (later officially two hundredths faster). And the pale, red-faced Nora threw up his hands angrily. “It was quite emotional for me because I didn’t expect that much time. I felt like I was running faster,” explained the reigning world champion from Doha.
“I peeked at the board and thought, ‘What? It’s always nice to win, but time has quite disappointed me,” he said honestly. He left the second Frenchman Ludvy Vaillant behind by more than a second and a half, recorded the 12th victory in a row on the obstacle course and the 22nd victory in a row in conjunction with a smooth Thursday. The last time he did not win in Ostrava was exactly two years ago in the Continental Cup, when he ran a time of 48.56.
None of the ten obstacles fell this time, yet Warholm hesitated in the last turn. “I took the wrong step and had to cross my legs in front of the penultimate barrier. I grinded and it disturbed my rhythm. It was nothing dramatic, but it cost me a better time,” he admitted.
“I was here for the second time and I really like it in Ostrava. The organizers did a good job, I was satisfied with the postponement of the start. If I have a chance, I’ll be happy to come back here sometime,” promised a man the end is looking and needs so much.
The cowboys caught up with the time shift
The same is true for the American Crouser, who, like the Norwegian obstacle course, broke the meeting record in Ostrava. The Portland bowler sent his equipment a total of four times in 22 meters, with the most valuable performance being 22.43 from the fourth series. He was almost half a meter behind his personal maximum.
In July, Crouser showed the third best shot put in history, 22.91 meters long. He also sent a ball beyond 22.5 meters at three other meetings, including Sunday’s in Chorzów, Poland. “But I’m a little tired here,” he regretted the two-meter giant in Vítkovice.
“I was caught up in the jet lag after moving from America. It was great in Poland, but now I raced two days later and maybe I underestimated it a bit,” admitted the reigning Olympic champion from Rio. “I warmed up for a long time, I couldn’t warm up properly. It’s a shame,” he said.
The record of the Golden Shoe still threw 17 centimeters and left far behind the famous four rivals with Michal Haratyk or David Storl. “Sure, 22.43 is a nice performance. I’ll be in Europe for two weeks, I’ll get together and next time I’ll attack 23 meters again,” he hoped.
Outside the sector, he walked around the stadium with a large cowboy hat and gave smiles. “I was thrilled with the atmosphere, it turned out that even with those limitations you can create a pretty loud backdrop. It was a meeting with everything, with music and the presentation of the competitors,” Crouser liked.
Spectators could go to the stadium in eight separate sectors of five hundred people and loudly supported the ballers even without a Czech representative in the race. “It helps me a lot when throwing, it motivates me. My head would like it, but this time I couldn’t persuade my legs, I lacked energy,” remarked the 27-year-old American, who slept ten hours before the Golden Treadmill.
The performances of his compatriot Randy Barnes from 1990 (23.12) and the German Ulf Timmermann from 1988 (23.06) have not yet been surpassed.
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