Lurdes Manuel Sprinted Too Fast Early and Missed Out on European Championship Medal in Birmingham

Czech sprinter Lurdes Manuel finished fourth in the women's 400m final at the European Championships in Birmingham, missing out on a medal by just 0.71 seconds. The athlete, who reached the podium at all four Diamond League meetings this season, admitted she went out far too fast and paid for it in the closing stages of the race.

The reason for the disappointing result was clear even during the race itself: Manuel covered the first 200 metres much faster than she had planned. "The first 200 metres shouldn't have been that quick," she admitted, eyes downcast. According to her, her split times were 11.95 seconds for the first 100 metres and 23.31 seconds at the 200-metre mark — far too fast a pace to sustain over the full distance.

A last-minute rival switch threw off her race plan

Having finished second in her semi-final, Manuel drew lane eight for the final, meaning she couldn't see the race favourites ahead of her — and she shot out of the blocks so aggressively that she was ahead of the entire field early on. The situation was complicated further by a late change in the lineup: British runner Amber Anning picked up an injury in the warm-up and was replaced at the last moment by compatriot Charlotte Henrich, which meant the pace set by the lead group over the first 200 metres was different from what Manuel had anticipated.

By the time she entered the home straight, it was already obvious that the Czech runner was tying up and losing speed faster than her rivals. "The first 200 metres was too fast, and it caught up with me in the final metres," admitted the Ostrava-born athlete, who grew up in Tábor. In the end, she was overtaken by winner Henriette Jæger of Norway, silver medallist Natalia Bukowiecka of Poland, and bronze medallist Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands — Manuel's own training partner.

First major setback after her world indoor title

For Manuel, who previously claimed the world indoor title, this marked her first significant disappointment at a major championship. "This obviously isn't the result I came here for. I wanted to fight for a medal, but sometimes that's how it goes — even the best athletes don't always come away with a medal," she said with a rueful smile.

The athlete said she doesn't believe she made any major tactical mistake, and insisted that pressure over the Czech athletics team's lack of medals in Birmingham had no effect on her performance. This season she has improved her personal best by more than a second, down to 49.37 seconds — though even that time wouldn't have been enough to win in Birmingham, where Norway's Jæger set a new national record and the world's best time of the year with 49.04 seconds.

"The level of competition has risen enormously. At the European Championships in Rome I finished fourth with a time of 50.50, and now that wouldn't even be fast enough to reach the final. The competition is fierce, so I'm glad I had the chance to race against the best in Europe," Manuel added. She noted she still has motivation for the rest of the season — namely, third place overall in the Diamond League standings and a possible appearance at the new Ultimate Championship event in Budapest.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz