Swedish sprinter Erik Erlandsson pulled off a giant performance and finished fourth in the European Championship final over 200 metres – barely 24 hours after the chaos surrounding the final spot.
The clock stopped at 20.57 – with the 20-year-old just a tenth of a second from the bronze.
The road to the 200-metre final was at least tumultuous for Erlandsson. He and Tomas Nemejc, Czech Republic, had the same time and shared eighth place after the semi-final.
For several hours, different messages came about whether Erlandsson would get to participate in the final or not – and in the end, it was decided that he would.
The national team captain was very angry about how the competition management handled the situation with Erlandsson and called it disrespectful.
Erlandsson agrees:
In the final, he really took his chance, and despite having lane one with a tight inner curve to contend with, he managed to sprint his way to a fourth place.
He says that if he had had a better lane, maybe he could have been in the running for the bronze.
The Swiss athlete Timothé Mumenthaler won ahead of Filippo Tortu, Italy, and William Reais, Switzerland.
