Vainio and Petros claim European marathon titles with competition records
Finland's Alisa Vainio and Germany's Amanal Petros won the marathon at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Sunday, both setting new competition records. No Latvian athletes competed that day.
The marathon winners at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham were decided on Sunday. In the women's race, Finland's Alisa Vainio triumphed with a time of two hours, 22 minutes and 26 seconds, setting a new championship record.
Second place went to Hungary's Lili Vindics-Tota, who ran a personal best of two hours, 27 minutes and 21 seconds. Home athlete Abbie Donnelly finished third in two hours, 27 minutes and 33 seconds.
In the men's race, Germany's Amanal Petros, who was born in Eritrea and previously won a world championship silver medal, took the win in two hours, nine minutes and 11 seconds, setting a new competition record. Italy's Pietro Riva finished second in two hours, nine minutes and 18 seconds, while Israel's Getahun Ayale placed third with a time of two hours, nine minutes and 21 seconds.
Latvian athletes
No Latvian athletes competed on Sunday. Earlier in the championships, however, Latvia recorded notable results — Patriks Gailums took bronze in the javelin throw on Saturday, while sprinter Oskars Grava placed fifth in the 200 metres on Friday.
Latvia was represented at the championships by seven athletes: Anete Sietiņa, Patriks Gailums and Krišjānis Suntažs in the javelin throw, Valters Kreišs in pole vault, Oskars Grava in the 200 metres, and Raivo Saulgriezis and Modra Liepiņa in the marathon and half-marathon race walk events, respectively. The Latvian delegation also included several coaches and a physiotherapist.
The European Athletics Championships in Birmingham concluded on Sunday.
