A fourth Swedish protest at the European Championship in athletics has yielded a result. 1,500-metre runner Samuel Pihlström, who was involved in a fall during the trials, gets to run in the final.
However, the news is that the Swede will miss the final, having broken his wrist in the fall.
After two rejected and one approved protest, national team captain Kajsa Bergqvist's persistent efforts in the jury room in Rome yielded a positive result for the second time.
Samuel Pihlström, who was involved in a fall, gets a ticket to the 1,500-metre final on Wednesday.
However, there will be no competition for the Swede. The federation announces that Pihlström broke his wrist after his fall during the trials. He now has a plaster cast on his right arm, which is fixed, and he will not be able to run in the European Championship final.
"No, but this sucks, of course. I had hoped to run in the final, but hopefully there will be more championships this summer and it won't be long before I can run again," says Pihlström to the federation.
The 23-year-old came to the European Championship with high hopes of a final spot. He set a personal record of 3:34.51 at the Diamond League gala in Stockholm just over a week ago. A time of 3:44 in the trials would have been enough to reach the European Championship final in Rome.
The hope is that Pihlström will be able to get going and run again soon.
"On Friday, the two-kilo bandage I'm wearing now will be replaced by a light plastic splint, and it doesn't hurt much right now. So I hope to be up and running again soon, maybe I can even run a little on Friday and eventually I'll be able to compete with the plastic splint on. I don't run with my arm, after all," he says.
National team captain Bergqvist has been a frequent visitor to the jury room during the European Championship. First, it was about a protest against the silver medallist in the 100-metre final, whom Sweden claimed had a false start in the final and should have been disqualified. Had the protest been approved, Henrik Larsson would have got the bronze. But that didn't happen.
Then there was discus thrower Vanessa Kamga, who had a throw mis-measured and had her personal record erased.
And then there were several hours of chaotic messages that changed several times regarding Erik Erlandsson's place in the 200-metre final, which ultimately resulted in him getting to run in the final as the ninth runner.
