Słupek takes European sprint title in Elbląg
The European sprint-distance championships came back to Poland, and Roksana Słupek won them in front of a home crowd. The men’s race went the other way: the whole podium fitted inside seven seconds.
Elbląg, in northern Poland, hosted the event across two days: individual sprints on 31 July, mixed relays on 1 August. Around 300 athletes from more than 30 countries started, in the Elite, U23 and Junior categories. The race zone was the Old Town.
Słupek: “one of the hardest races of my life”
The women’s Elite/U23 race started 65 athletes and 62 finished. Słupek settled it on the run and crossed the line in 1:00:31.
Two French athletes came in behind her. Ambre Grasset, 1:00:46, 15 seconds back, which also took the European U23 title. Léa Houart, 1:00:47, a second behind her team-mate.
The whole piece could have ended on those times, if not for what Słupek said afterwards.
“I don’t think it was my day at all. I suffered on the swim, on the bike and on the run. On top of that I had very high expectations of myself. I don’t get many chances to race in front of a Polish crowd, so winning mattered to me.”
She added that she had told her coach she felt “the way I did before the Olympics”. Her father was waiting at the finish, watching only the second race of his daughter’s career in person.
Winning on a day she describes as not hers. That usually means the form is higher than the clock suggests.
Men: the whole podium inside seven seconds
This one stayed tight to the end. 78 started, 65 finished.
France’s Milan Larivière won in 54:20. Britain’s Michael Gar lost five seconds (54:25). Hungary’s Zalán Hóbor gave up two more (54:27).
Seven seconds between gold and bronze after a 750 m swim, 20 km on the bike and a 5 km run. That is what a sprint looks like when nobody rides away and everything comes down to the 5k.
The best of the Poles was Michał Oliwa, eighth in 54:41, 14 seconds off bronze. Given how compressed the front was, that is genuinely close.
Behind him:
- Maciej Bruździak, 21st, 55:18
- Kamil Kulik, 23rd, 55:20
- Kuba Gajda, 31st, 55:45
All four finished within 85 seconds of the winner. Over a sprint that is not a gulf.
Relays: Hungary confirm their form
The mixed relays ran on the second day, juniors at 9:00 and Elite/U23 at 12:30. Standard format: four athletes, two women and two men, each over a shortened distance.
In the Elite/U23 category Hungary won, ahead of Spain and Germany. Three weeks earlier the Hungarians had been second at the mixed relay world championships in Hamburg, so Elbląg simply confirmed where they were.
Poland’s relay finished sixth.
The European Championships in Elbląg
Elbląg handled an event of this level well, and the race zone in the Old Town did its job: spectators stood a few metres from the best of the continent.