Grava finishes fifth in 200m final, briefly hoped for a higher placing
Latvian sprinter Oskars Grava placed fifth in the 200 metres, after the race briefly hoping officials might upgrade his result. He says a Swiss and an Italian runner turned out to be just slightly stronger.
Latvian athlete Oskars Grava finished fifth in the 200 metres, and for a moment after the race he thought his result might actually be better.
Officials spent a long time reviewing the photo finish, and Grava initially believed he might have taken third place. He says that in the final metres he felt himself closing in on the runners ahead, which he describes as unusual for him. In the end, a Swiss and an Italian competitor proved to be marginally stronger.
Close to the Olympic champion
Grava noted that at the 205-metre mark he would have overtaken Olympic 4x100m relay champion Eseosa Desalu. However, doing so within the 200-metre distance itself would have required him to believe in himself even more. Before the start, the leading group of four runners seemed almost unbeatable, but according to Grava, some of them appeared tired from the previous day's efforts.
The sprinter emphasized that his strength lies in enduring multiple races in a row, and that ability paid off this time. In his own assessment, fifth place is ultimately not a bad outcome.
Hoping for a change
After the official results were announced, Grava remained at the stadium for a long time. He admitted he was hoping officials might swap the placings, noting that similar reversals had happened before. This time, however, no change was made, and fifth place stood as final.
Information from LTV1's program "Sporta studija".
