Fell heavily, got up and gave everything: laura lindemann missed a medal at the triathlon european championships in glasgow despite a great fighting performance.
On the blue carpet in strathclyde country park, the 22-year-old nevertheless crossed the finish line in fourth place with a slight smile after a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike ride and 10-kilometer swim to the respectful applause of the spectators.
"It was an extremely tough race," said lindemann on ZDF. "After the swim it wasn’t that hopeless, after the fall it was up and down. I did everything I could on the run," she said of her spirited performance at the start of the triathlon competitions at the european championships in scotland.
She was 45 seconds off third place and the medal she had hoped for and longed for after the feat of strength on the bike and run course. Record european champion and london olympic winner nicola spirig from switzerland secured the victory with her sixth title ahead of last year’s winner jessica learmonth from great britain and frenchwoman cassandre beaugrand. Bianca bogen finished 24th., nina eim 28., lena meibner and annabel knoll did not reach the finish line.
It happened shortly after the changeover to the bike course. On the narrow and hugeligen course lindemann was involved in a crash of several competitors. The 2017 european sprint champion fell over her bike, but was able to catch herself with her hands on the asphalt. "I was underneath others and had to fight my way free," she described. Lindemann got up and got back on the bike.
In hamburg at the sprint world cup in the middle of july she had a great catch-up race and made it to the second place after she had problems putting on her running shoe. This time she showed again rough morals, partly lindemann led the 23-headed chasing field on the bike again.
In the end, the decision was made early in the race. Spirig picked up the pace in the first few meters of the run, and learmonth kept within sight of the swiss, but she couldn’t get any closer. The question was whether french beaugrand could keep her third place after the exhausting bike course or whether lindemann would still get ahead. Here, too, the german triathlon hopeful for the olympics in two years’ time often led the chasing pack. But the gap was too big.
In the finish lindemann still no aftereffects from the crash. "Everything is fine so far," she said. On saturday in the mixed relay she was allowed to lead the german team. Before that, the manner start this friday, but without the german champion justus nieschlag, who had to abstain because of achilles tendon problems.