The Swiss athlete was criticized for celebrating the championship with his unconscious colleague
In the finale on March 5 in Istanbul, Llopis crossed the first four hurdles but tripped on the last hurdle and fell face down right in front of the finish line. The remaining seven runners completed the race, with Joseph taking the gold in 7 seconds 44, the Polish Jakub Szymanski taking the silver, and the French runner Just Kwaou-Mathey finishing third.
After that, Joseph returned to the track to celebrate his victory right next to Llopis lying unconscious and making a heart gesture in front of the camera. The Swiss athlete also shook hands and encouraged each opponent, but did not ask or pay attention to Llopis. The rest of the athletes are also not interested in their Spanish colleagues.
This caused Joseph and other athletes to receive a lot of criticism on social networks. Spanish newspaper Marca commented that Joseph "lived in another world", undeterred, but focused on celebrating despite Llopis's severe injury and unconsciousness right next to him.
Joseph later apologized with a message on Instagram. "First of all, I apologize for not checking if you were okay. At that time, I was caught up in the moment and didn't pay attention to the things around me. I hope you are okay and see you in meetings. outdoor racing," the 24-year-old wrote and posted a photo of Llopis.
According to Marca, after being cared for by doctors on the field, Llopis spent the night in the hospital to clearly check the extent of the injury. He had no serious problems and thanked fans for messages of love in a message posted on the official channels of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation.
The 2023 European Indoor Athletics Championships will be held at the Atakoy Arena in Istanbul, Turkey from March 2 to March 5. The tournament features 13 men's and 13 women's athletics events over three mornings and four afternoons, with 593 athletes from 47 European Athletics Member Federations competing.
Norway won the group with four gold medals and one silver medal. Behind are the Netherlands (three gold, three silver, one bronze), England (three gold, one silver, two bronze), Italy (two gold, four silver) and Belgium (two silvers) gold, one silver medal and three bronze medals). Host Turkey won only one gold from Tugba Danismaz in the women's three-step long jump.
Joseph, born on October 11, 1998, represented Switzerland at the 2018 world indoor track and field championships, but did not make it past the first round. Before that, he won gold at the 2017 European Under-20 Championships. His personal record is 13 seconds 12 in the 110 meters hurdles at La Chaux-de-Fonds 2021 and 7 seconds 56 in the 60 meters. hurdles at St. Gallen 2019.
