Emma Zapletalová wins gold in 400m hurdles at European Championships

Slovak athlete Emma Zapletalová won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. Entering the final as the heavy favorite, the 26-year-old finished with a time of 52.91 seconds.

Zapletalová secured the victory with a 0.42-second lead over Great Britain's Emily Newnham (53.33s), who took silver, and Portugal's Fatoumata Bintou Diallo (53.55s), who earned bronze. This marks the second gold medal for Slovakia in the history of independent European Athletics Championships, following Libor Charfreitag's hammer throw win in 2010.

Despite the victory, Zapletalová noted that she was not entirely satisfied with her performance as she had aimed for a personal best. She admitted to making a technical error at the ninth hurdle, which forced her to take sixteen steps instead of her preferred fourteen or fifteen. Her coach, Bram Peters, emphasized the importance of the mental and physical preparation required to handle the pressure of being a favorite.