Athletics|Nathalie Blomqvist has had a fairytale-like early summer.
Finland Nathalie Blomqvist, 23, ran a new Finnish record of 14:44.72 in the 5,000m European Championship final late Friday night in Rome. He was almost 28 years old by Annemari Sandelin SE’s by just under 12 seconds.
Blomqvist sensationally fought until the end for the bronze medal, but had to settle for fifth.
Best of all, Friday’s final was only the fourth five-ton race for Blomqvist in his career. He ran the first one last summer.
So it’s clear that the Vaasa runner’s potential is huge.
“I don’t want to set limits. Black feels that I can still improve quite a lot. I couldn’t have expected a run like this a couple of months ago. This is really cool. Maybe in a couple of years I’ll be a medalist”, said a very happy Blomqvist about 15 minutes after the race.
European the championship was taken by Italy Nadia Battocletti with a new race record of 14:35,29. Norwegian Karoline Bjerkeli Grövdal was another and Spain’s Marta Garcia third. Blomqvist missed the bronze by a meager 68 hundredths of a second.
The Finnish comet ran for a long time in places 6–8, reacting to every increase in speed that happened at the top. The pace was hard but steady throughout the race.
Blomqvist’s being was alert all the time, and he didn’t falter. Grövdal’s brisk initial pace suited the Finn.
“The tactics went exactly as I planned. I was involved, I was able to react and I wasn’t too far behind when we started to pick up the pace. It wasn’t quite enough, but I’m still satisfied.”
Friday’s race was Blomqvist’s first five-ton race that he did not run solo. That brought its own challenge.
“Sometimes I had to go out too much, but I tried to run as relaxed as possible and didn’t stress at all.”
Marta Garcia (right) took the bronze in front of Blomqvist’s nose.
The top two ran away from Blomqvist more than 400 meters before the finish line. However, the bronze slipped away only after the last curve.
The moments of resolution were dramatic, to say the least.
“Ride in the mind that if that medal is possible, it is possible! You have to keep that in mind. If you can’t see it yourself, you can easily give up. It was close.”
Blomqvist the outdoor track season has been like fireworks. He ran his new record of 5,000 meters in the USA in the winter, which he now improved by about 15 seconds. In the Diamond League debut in Oslo at the end of May, a new Finnish record of 3,000 meters was created.
The rise to the top has been explosive.
“I have recovered and was able to improve race after race. The racing season is planned very well. I hope that another peak in fitness can be found at the Olympics.”
Nathalie Blomqvist was overpowered at the finish line.
Blomqvist plans to celebrate the Finnish record in a low-key way. Right after the race, he was still a little embarrassed – perhaps from his run or from the intense media attention.
“Something here in Italy tomorrow, maybe to enjoy pizza. It’s late now, not so much today.”