European Athletics Championships: Gold, bronze – and trench warfare between Krause and Meyer – Sport

Matches with Gesa Krause can be incredibly grueling for her opponents, especially ones like on Thursday evening. Krause is constantly waiting, running alongside or in the slipstream, timing, waiting for the right moment. It is the cleverness and experience of a multiple European champion that carry the now 34-year-old through the rounds. At the end of the 3000 meter steeplechase in Birmingham, Krause started her sprint as usual, shortly after the treacherous water ditch, and won European Championship gold for the third time. Krause’s club colleague Olivia Gürth secured bronze, behind Frenchwoman Alice Finot.

Third German Lea Meyer, who had been in the lead for a long time but then fell into the ditch, crossed the finish line in fourth place, completely soaked. And while Krause received her three-year-old daughter Lola from her partner and enjoyed the triumph, Meyer angrily tore off her starting number, stalked towards the TV stations and, less than a minute after crossing the finish line, gave a remarkable interview on ZDF.

“How am I supposed to feel? Shit,” said Meyer and continued in this tone: “I still say I’m the best obstacle course runner in Europe with Alice. Definitely, one hundred percent. I think I deserve the medal. Nevertheless, a fall like that shouldn’t happen, it’s stupid.”

So far, so understandable. This could still be interpreted and understood as an emotional, defiant reaction to her fall; the 28-year-old had just fallen violently into the water and her nose had red scratches. But then she also took a nasty dig at the winner Krause, whose lack of leadership she criticized: “You’re aware that Gesa won’t do a single meter of anything, she’ll sit through it and then run out the back.” And further: “Today the best competitors won, but by LA at the latest I will be the German record holder. The two in front are significantly older than me and Olivia deserves it too, I don’t have anything more to say.” Incidentally, Krause has held the national record for exactly ten years.

A huge gap became clear, especially between Meyer and Krause, who obviously don’t have the closest friendship.

It’s always difficult to position yourself with all the emotions and adrenaline that are in you, immediately after such a unsuccessful end to a competition in which you had a promising lead. But there were athletes who didn’t lose their words. In any case, the tone was set, and Krause simply continued her interview in the style in which she had handled every second of her race: extremely professional, thoughtful, considered.

“First of all, I’m incredibly sorry that she fell, I’ve been in the same situation myself and you wouldn’t wish that on anyone, it’s just shit,” said Krause: “And whoever does the leadership work – you decide for yourself. I’m just not that much of a front runner. I wouldn’t say that it’s my fault now.” It was the perfect counterattack, the perfect tactic even beyond the obstacles.

Meyer rowed back that night. She apologized in a lengthy statement on her Instagram page, calling her choice of words “inappropriate, unprofessional and unsportsmanlike” and calling Krause an “inspiration for me and others to believe that times closer to nine minutes are even possible.” The longer she ran through the mixed zone, the more Meyer calmed down and took all the blame for the fatal fall. All the more bitter: Meyer had already fallen into the moat at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, and Krause fell at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.

But Meyer’s accusation, her interview, all of that still overshadowed a lot of that evening, and Krause probably resented that too: that this golden Thursday was still seriously flawed by a few sentences of anger that, in retrospect, Meyer would probably have better saved for the exchange with family, friends and her coach.

Not only did Krause deliver a fantastic race in every respect, the European Championship title also showed her that after the birth of her daughter, she continues to be one of the best in Europe as a mother. “I’m toying with the World Cup next year, with the Olympic Games in two years, you can’t get me off the track that quickly,” she said: “But today is a golden day and I want to celebrate and enjoy it properly.”

Meanwhile, Meyer was sitting on her Instagram post that night. It must not have been a very pleasant few hours for her, but she was thinking about the right words. And perhaps she will also learn some racing tactical and technical lessons from this fascinating race, in which massive trenches opened up on and off the track, before the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.