Frederik Ruppert runs to European Championship gold in the 3000 meter obstacle

Frederik Ruppert has been crowned European champion in the 3000 meter steeplechase. The 29-year-old ran to his first major title of his career in Birmingham after 8:25.33 minutes. Ruppert beat Luxembourg's Ruben Querinjean (8:25.61) in the Alexander Stadium, while bronze went to Karl Bebendorf (8:26.65), like two years ago. The duo won medals 19 and 20 for the German team in these title fights. Niklas Buchholz came ninth (8:31.08).

Gesa Felicitas Krause won the women's title over this distance.

Favorite status thanks to a European record

Ruppert was the first European to break the eight-minute mark in May with his time of 7:57.80 minutes, and it was clear by then that the sports soldier would be one of the closest favorites for European Championship gold. »I have the clear goal of winning a medal here. And of course I always said it should be gold. That's my goal too," Ruppert said before the final: But I've never won a medal, so that would be great."

During the race, Ruppert left no doubt about his ambitions. Isabelle Baumann's protégé behaved extremely cleverly tactically and struck at the right moment. And in the end he was the first German runner to celebrate gold at the European Championships since Damian Kallabis, who won the title in Budapest in 1998.

»I knew the conditions here were most like my conditions. So it was an opportunity that I had to take advantage of. I'm just happy that it turned out this way," said Ruppert afterwards - and explained the thumb-sucking gesture with which he ran across the finish line: "I'm going to be a dad in January. That gave me a lot of strength and power this year.«