CHORZOW, Poland, June 23 – Poland’s Ewa Swoboda and Italy’s Samuele Ceccarelli clinched gold in the women’s and men’s 100m finals, respectively, on an entertaining opening day of competition on the European Athletics Championships 2023 First Division schedule on Friday (23).
Swoboda, running on home soil, set a new championship record with a time of 11.09 seconds, edging out Belgium’s Rani Rosius, who finished in 11.20 seconds. The Netherlands’ N’Ketia Seedo took the bronze with a time of 11.24 seconds.
READ MORE: First Division Results: 2023 European Athletics Team Championships Day 1
“I’m very happy about my race. I’ve fulfilled my plan in 100%, maybe 95%. I’ve given all my best,” said an ecstatic Swoboda after her victory.
In the men’s event, Italy’s Samuele Ceccarelli equaled his personal best with a time of 10.13 seconds, narrowly defeating Raphael Bouju of the Netherlands, who clocked in at 10.14 seconds. Britain’s Jeremiah Azu rounded off the podium with a time of 10.16 seconds.
“After my last team competitions, I was a little bit nervous. I was afraid about my bad luck. This time it went awesome,” said Ceccarelli, reflecting on his performance.
Ceccarelli also added, “The main difference between this year and previous ones is that I have been fighting with many injuries and could return to my usual training and into my real shape last winter only.
READ MORE: Samuele Ceccarelli upsets Lamont Jacobs to win Italian 60m title
“If even I was able to repeat my Personal Best of 10.13 in Chorzow, that was not a main goal for this championship. It was important to win and to grab as many points for my team as possible. Now I am satisfied. The best competitor I like to compete against is myself.”
The results helped to shake up the team standings, with Italy now leading with 141 points at the close of schedule, closely followed by Great Britain and Northern Ireland with 131.50 points. Poland, the host nation, is currently in third place with 127 points, just ahead of the Netherlands with 125 points.
The championships continue over the weekend with more track and field events, including the highly anticipated relay races.
