Oskars Grava reaches European Championship 200m final
Latvian sprinter Oskars Grava advanced to the 200-metre final at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Thursday. He finished second in his semifinal and will compete for a medal on Friday.
Latvian sprinter Oskars Grava advanced to the final of the 200-metre sprint at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Thursday. He finished second in his semifinal with a time of 20.27 seconds, behind only Italy’s Ezeozas Fostines Desalu, who clocked 20.08.
The final is scheduled for Friday. A place in the final was reserved for the top two finishers in each semifinal plus the two fastest remaining athletes overall. Grava’s semifinal time ranked sixth among all semifinalists.
Earlier in the heats, Grava took second place in his race in 20.69 seconds, trailing Italy’s Filipo Decam, who was 0.09 seconds quicker. A total of 24 sprinters took part in the heats, with 13 advancing. Grava had the third-fastest overall time in the preliminaries, while the 12 fastest sprinters of the season had already secured their spot in the semifinal round.
Grava is currently 13th in the European rankings and set a personal best of 20.49 seconds this season.
Latvia is represented at the championships by seven athletes in four disciplines: javelin throwers Anete Sietiņa, Patriks Gailums and Krišjānis Suntažs, pole vaulter Valters Kreišs, sprinter Grava, and race walkers Raivo Saulgriezis and Modra Liepiņa. The delegation also includes coaches and a physiotherapist. The championships conclude on Sunday.
