Olympic champ Pichardo wins Euro triple jump, Bol keeps double bid on track

MUNICH: World and Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo added European triple jump gold to his accolades in Munich on Wednesday while Dutchwoman Femke Bol kept her bid for an audacious track double on course.

Cuban-born Pichardo, who has competed for Portugal since 2019, dominated the field with a best of 17.50 meters, Italy’s Andrea Dallavalle claiming silver with 17.04m and France’s Jean-Marc Pontvianne bronze (16.94).

Bol, 22, was also in dominant shape in the women’s 400m, winning in 49.44 seconds ahead of Polish pair Natalia Kaczmarek and Anna Kielbasinska.

A world silver medalist and Olympic bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles, Bol now re-focuses on that race.

But there is no respite for the Dutch runner, with her 400m hurdles semifinal scheduled for 1011 GMT on Thursday and the final a day later at 2000.

She then faces a quick turnaround for the 4x400m relay at 1945 GMT on Saturday for a realistic tilt at triple gold.

In a good night for one-lap favorites, world bronze medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith of Britain retained his title in the men’s 400m in 44.53sec.

Switzerland’s Ricky Petrucciani claimed silver in 45.03sec, with another Briton, Alex Haydock-Wilson, rounding out the podium (45.17).

But there was not such good news for two other defending champions, France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde and Greece’s Aikaterina Stefanidi.

Martinot-Lagarde was denied gold by the slimmest of margins in the 110m hurdles as Spain’s Asier Martinez was handed victory in a photo-finish by just a thousandth of a second, in 13.14sec.

Another Frenchman, Just Kwaou-Mathey, took bronze in 13.33ec, with fancied teammate Sasha Zhoya clipping the final hurdle to hit the track and eventually finish last.

Stefanidi, meanwhile, was denied