MUNICH (from our correspondent) – After her individual semi-final, the Czech number one Lada Vondrová was very cautious about the ambitions of the Czech quartet to fight for the final. “It will be very difficult, the others are running fast, I ran like crazy, I don’t know how our other girls are doing,” she said.
But with their partners Terezá Petržilková, Nikoleta Jíchová and Martina Hofmanová, they showed a quality performance that would have been enough for the elite European eight. So Zvela stepped into the press mixing zone after the second run, before the ominous letters DQ appeared on their result instead of the time.
“I’m not aware of anything, I don’t know about anything, I’m quite surprised. I was also careful about running,” Nikoleta Jíchová wondered in a TV interview. “First we have to find out what happened and where the mistake was. It’s sad,” lamented Vondrová.
Only then did they learn that they were disqualified due to a violation of rule 24.8, that is, in simple terms, obstructing the handover, which Jíchová was supposed to have committed. But from the repeated shots it was clear that she was in a position in front of the Polish opponent and was just trying to get to Hofmanová on the pass.
The Czech expedition therefore filed a protest against the referees’ verdict, which was dealt with for quite a long time, and was finally rejected. Although Jury recognized that Jíchová crossed her opponent’s path due to the fact that the referees placed the quarter girls incorrectly in the next section, the disqualification remained in effect due to stepping off the track.
That was already indisputable, Jíchová, who flashed in Munich in the quarter-finals of the obstacles with a semi-final advance and a personal record, actually stepped on the line several times in the corner, which is not allowed. “It hurts. But not one of us doubts that we will return to repeat this performance,” Petržilková wrote determinedly on social networks.
Even so, the Czechia will be represented in the final of the four-car relay on Saturday thanks to the male quartet of Matěj Krsek, Pavel Maslák, Michal Desenský, Patrik Šorm. It progressed superbly, as Šorm even brought the pin to the finish line in the first place of his run.
Patrik Šorm triumphantly stretches to the finish line in the 4×400 m relay.Photo: Ivana Roháčková
Exactly, he was helped by the gesture of Superman, when he stretched out his hand in front of him. Although the torso of the body is decisive, this can also help.
“It occurred to me in the last meters before the finish line that I would put my hand there, Poles do that a lot. I was looking at the scoreboard at the end, the Frenchman came a long way from me and suddenly he was there, so I overcame it a bit,” admitted Šorm, who defended the win, which will help him qualify for the final.
In it, the Czechs set an ambitious goal – the fight for a medal. “I still believe in it, but there will be about five countries on it,” estimates Šorm. “Maybe six,” added the most experienced member, Pavel Maslák.
