Shaunae Miller-Uibo is the Olympic 400m champion from Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. A runner from Bahamas is the queen of this distance and she won the gold in Belgrade very confidently. She had a time of 50.31 seconds. Behind her, with a score of 50.57, Femke Bol came on the finish line (she had 400 m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics), and Jamaica Stephenie Ann McPherson, the fourth runner on the 400 mz.
she lost quite a lot to this excellent three. Her time is 51.40 seconds. Justyna would have to crush her this year’s Polish indoor record – 51.04 – to win a medal. And it was unable to do so.
“Everyone has an appetite”
– I know that everyone has an appetite, that everyone hoped there would be a medal. I believed too. It certainly was possible. But I know this distance a bit and I know the rivals Justyna had – she says in an interview with Sport.pl.
Our Olympic vice-champion from the 4×400 m relay race from Tokyo is the fastest Polish woman out of all the 400 m runners (she was 50.38 s at the stadium) and historically the second after the great Irena Szewinska. Kie³basiñska is too modest when she says that she knows a little about this distance.
– I had a feeling that Justyna would be difficult and that there would be a scuffle with Lieke Klaver. Unfortunately, it breaks the rhythm – says the great absentee M¦ in Belgrade.
Saint-Ersetic caught up many times. But not this time
¦wiêty-Ersetic and the Dutch girl Klaver almost collided with each other at the moment of leaving the track after 200 meters. Even then, the three medalists had a clear advantage over the rest. Justyna tried to chase, but – although many times in her career she decided the runs with great finishes – this time she was not able to get close to Miller-Uibo, Bol and McPherson.
– All three medalists are a very similar type of runner to Justyna. They are also a diesel type, they also accelerate. But at the start they have a bit more speed than Justyna. That is why it was so difficult for Justyna, Kie³basiñska tells us.
The former 200 meters specialist praises her friend for her progress. – Justyna has worked a lot on it and I think that this season she surprised many by showing how quickly she can open the race. But, unfortunately, the three medal winners are faster, she explains. – The track was also decisive, and that there was a short circuit with Lieke. All this made the situation for Justyna much more difficult, adds Kie³basiñska.
“I was only sleeping or my eyes were closed”
In the ongoing indoor season she competed strongly with wiêty-Ersetic and even at one point she was the record holder of the country with the result of 51.10. Unfortunately, the full-blown covid excluded her from starting.
– The decision not to go was not dictated by a random test. I was lying for several days. I just slept or my eyes were closed because I couldn’t function. It is impossible to make such a gap in training and pretend that nothing has happened. I don’t want to go to the championship anymore, if only to do it, I want to achieve something. I had to think about the summer season as well, I had to make a sensible, rational decision – explains Kie³basiñska.
– Of course I’m pissed now! I can train now and during each training session I tell myself that it will not happen again, that there is no such option – she laughs. – I have to accept that. I hope that thanks to this I will have immunity for the rest of the season – he adds.
Mom asked. Now we are asking. About gold
Kie³basiñska would certainly have a chance of a good result at the M¦ in Belgrade individually and would also be a very important figure in the Polish 4×400 m relay race.
– Even my mother asked me today how I would see myself if I were in Belgrade. It is difficult for me to answer, because I have never been in such a situation in my life, that I run 400 meters in a row several times in a row, that I do it in a tournament rhythm. It is different to take part in a meeting once, and another in a tournament, in a championship. However, taking into account my experience and the fact that for two years I have been training on the same training as Femke and Lieke, I hope that I will be able to cope as well. Additionally, I am driven by great hunger. Because I already have 18 years of career behind me, and I have no individual successes at the senior level. Finally, I felt that I could have them – says our runner.
Kie³basiñska believes that even without her, Polish women will win a medal on Sunday (at 11.10am the qualifying rounds at 7.40pm in the final). We all dream of gold. This goal is all the more real that the players led by are strong, and at the same time the fastest American women did not come to Serbia.
– I know that everyone wants to hear, that it will be gold, that girls are fighters, etc. Of course it’s true. For sure girls who haven’t started yet are hungry for running. Natalia Kaczmarek is probably dissatisfied after being eliminated in the semi-finals, Justyna is dissatisfied that she does not have a medal. But predicting the results in the hall, where there is a lot of randomness, is an abstraction. There is nothing worse than changing your pace at 400 meters. This is twice as tiring as normal, and breakouts in the hall are common. However, if the run will be like a string, it is clear that we have a chance for gold. In such a scenario, the girls should fight against very strong Dutch women, sums up Kie³basiñska.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
