It's not every day that the German athletics team rains down medals - but this did not detract from the wonderful atmosphere in Munich's Olympic Stadium during the evening session on Friday.

After all, every party lives from the fact that the guests like it.

And they had plenty of reason to celebrate on Friday.

Achim Dreis

sports editor.

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Eight decisions were made on the fifth day of the competition, six of them feature-length within a good 90 minutes on the track.

The first winner of the evening was the Brit Laura Muir – the Olympic silver medalist and World Championships bronze medalist won over 1500 meters in 4:01.08 minutes, as expected.

It could also be predicted that her teammate Zharnel Hughes would be the first to cross the finish line over 200 meters in 20.07 seconds, after all the Briton, who was born in Anguilla, was second over 100 meters and was even European champion in the short sprint in 2018.

The success of the Finn Topi Raitanen after 8:21.80 minutes over the 3000 meter obstacle seemed much more surprising.

The nice thing from a German point of view: local participants showed good performances in all three competitions: Hanna Klein, Karl Benedorf and Joshua Hartmann each finished fifth.

"I can count myself lucky with the placement," said middle stretcher Hanna Klein, summing up her performance in 4:05.49 minutes.

Almost two seconds were missing for a medal.

"I couldn't think of a way," said the Tübingen woman coquettishly about the problem that she was tactically clumsy in the crowd and thus blocked the way forward for her.

Karl Bebendorf described his first participation in a European Championship final as "very instructive".

The steeplechase runner from Dresden found the course of the race, which was loudly accompanied by the audience with many battles for positions and changes in speed, to be “a bit confused” – but in the end he said of the European Championships experience: “it was nice”.

Joshua Hartmann was the first German in 36 years to qualify for a European Championship final over 200 meters.

The 23-year-old from Cologne was considered the winner right from the start, even if he was 20.50 seconds faster than his personal best time (20.33), which he had set in the semifinals.

But even then he would have missed a medal by six hundredths.

Bol and Warholm outstanding

Over 400 meters hurdles it seemed clear from the start that only one could win the race: Femke Bol, already European champion over the flat 400 meters in Munich, then also dominated as expected from the first step.

The frenzied Dutchwoman won with a huge lead of a good one and a half seconds in a championship record time of 53.67 seconds.

Carolina Krafzik was also doing well up to the last hurdle, but then the gap didn't fit, she had to take tripping steps, lost the pace and finally finished in 56.02 seconds

under value as eighth to the finish.

The 27-year-old claimed that she was "happy" to have been in the final at all.

After all, she had set a personal best in the semifinals: "I didn't even think about a medal."

Alexandra Burghardt was also eighth over 200 meters (23.24 seconds).

But the sprinter from Burghausen has already won a medal this year: at the Winter Olympics, she won silver as a brakewoman in Mariama Jamanka's two-man bobsleigh.

The Swiss Mujinga Kambundji (22.32) won gold over the 200 meters in Munich.

In the men's 400 meter hurdles, Karsten Warholm once again ran everything into the ground.

The two-time world champion, Olympic champion and defending champion from Norway won in a superior manner in 47.12 seconds, which is also a championship record.

The fight for third place seemed more exciting.

Right in the middle: Joshua Abuaku from Eintracht Frankfurt, who ran the best race of his 26-year life.

Abuaku crossed the finish line in 48.79 seconds, bronze seemed possible - but the photo finish showed that Turkey's Yasmani Copello and Frenchman Ludvy Vaillant were just a fraction faster.

Abuaku missed a hundredth.

He was left with, of course, fifth place.

A family tradition was continued by Mykolas Alekna from Lithuania.

At the age of 19 he won the discus throw (69.78 meters).

His father Virgilijus was twice Olympic champion and twice world champion.

Henrik Janssen from Magdeburg was tenth (61.11).

It was extremely tight in the sand pit: Neele Eckhardt-Noack from Munich just barely missed a medal in the triple jump at her home games.

The 30-year-old jumped 14.43 meters and ended up as the best German of the evening in fourth place - a full two centimeters more would have brought her bronze.

Maryna Bech-Romantschuk secured gold with a European annual best of 15.02 meters.

The Ukrainian had finished fourth in the long jump 24 hours earlier and had cried bitterly afterwards.

Now an entire country was celebrating the first gold for war-torn Ukraine at this European Athletics Championships.