Swiss Championships
Athletics SM: William Reais can cheer twice, convincing the Kambundjis
At the Swiss Athletics Championships, the top athletes are in good shape for the upcoming World Championships in Budapest, which are scheduled for the end of August.
Already won over 100 meters on Saturday: William Reais.
Davide Agosta / KEYSTONE/TI-PRESS
He was crowned Swiss champion twice at the weekend in Bellinzona: After William Reais triumphed over 100 meters on Saturday just ahead of Silvan Wicki and Timothé Mumenthaler, the 24-year-old clearly won over 200 meters on Sunday and presented himself in stable form for the coming ones World Championships in Budapest at the end of August.
Jason Joseph had a bit of a dizziness in the lead over 110 meters hurdles. The man from Basel hit the wrong foot at the first hurdle and fell back. But because he found his usual rhythm in time, he still made it into the final round. There he started without any problems and put up a strong race with Simon Ehammer, who fell at the last hurdle. In the end, Joseph clearly outperformed his competition in 13.16 seconds.
Not surprisingly, Ditaji Kambundji won the women’s 100-meter hurdles, the 21-year-old finished in 12.72 seconds. She was just a tenth of a second behind the Swiss record (12.62) set by Lisa Urech in 2011.
On Saturday, her big sister Mujinga Kambundji was also in the spotlight in Bellinzona: the Bern native, who did not start the season as desired due to an injury, won the title as Swiss champion over 100 meters in 11.05 seconds.
Ehammer wins in parade discipline, Spitz runs away from everyone
Decathlete Simon Ehammer, who announced last week that he would only compete in the long jump at the World Championships, won the gold medal in his prime discipline, as expected. Although he stayed well below his national record of 8.45 meters at 8.03 meters, he was quite satisfied with his form.
In the men’s 400 meters, it was clear after Saturday’s heats at the latest that Ricky Petrucciani and Lionel Spitz would fight for the gold medal. In the end, it was Spitz who clearly overshadowed his opponent: In the last 50 meters, the 22-year-old was aiming for a time under 45 seconds and a new Swiss record, but then lost a bit of substance and crossed the finish line after 45 .25 seconds. Chaser Petrucciani had to settle for second place, more than a second behind.