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Green flies high to grab last gasp Swedish medal

Swedish high-jumper Emma Green showed that there is life in Swedish athletics by beating her personal best to clinch a silver medal at the European Championships in Barcelona on Sunday.

Published: 2 August 2010 08:06 CEST

Green flies high to grab last gasp Swedish medal

Green, long understudy to former world champion Kajsa Bergqvist, first leapt to prominence when she claimed a world bronze in Helsinki five years ago, but her development since then has been inconsistent.

On Sunday in the high summer heat of of the Catalonian capital it finally all came together for the 25-year-old from Gothenburg who sailed over two metres for the first time to claim Sweden’s only medal of a largely disappointing championships.

“I have been feeling that I could jump really high. Nice that it worked now – in the end,” Green said after her silver medal had been confirmed.

Green broke her personal best twice in the tournament, clearing 1.99 at the last attempt to stay in touch with hot favourite Blanka Vlasic of Croatia and Germany’s Ariane Friedrich.

When the Swede squeezed over 2.01 at the second attempt she left Friedrich needing to clear 2.03 to shift her into the bronze medal position, a step which proved too much for the German.

Vlasic once again established her dominance of the event with a clearance at the second attempt at 2.03.

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Why has the expansion of Barcelona airport prompted mass protests?

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of the Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

Several ecological and agricultural organisations, have demanded that the expansion be stopped due to the fact nearby wetlands and farms would have to be destroyed.

The demonstration took place on Calle Tarragona in the Catalan capital between Plaça d’Espanya and Plaça dels Països Catalans.

The protests still took place, even though last week, Spain suspended the €1.7 billion airport expansion project, citing differences with the Catalan government, after president Pere Aragonès said he wanted to avoid destroying La Ricarda lagoon, a natural reserve next to the airport.

Environmentalists decided not to call off the march, in case plans for the airport expansion still went ahead.

READ ALSO: Six things you need to know about Barcelona airport’s €1.7 billion planned expansion

Political representatives from ERC, En Comú Podem and the CUP also attended, as well as the leader of Más País, Íñigo Errejón; the Deputy Mayor for Ecology of the Barcelona City Council, Janet Sanz, and the Mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Lluís Mijoler.

People from neighbourhoods across the city marched towards Calle Tarragona and could be seen holding placards that read “Nature yes, airport no and shouting slogans such as “More courgettes and fewer planes” and “Fighting for the climate, health, and life”.

One of the largest groups of people were those from El Prat de Llobregat, the municipality which is home to the airport, who were led by tractors.

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP

In addition to protesting against the expansion of the El Prat airport, people were also demonstrating against the Winter Olympic Games in the Pyrenees and extensions to airports in Mallorca and Madrid.

A representative of Zeroport, Sara Mingorría said “We are here to defend not only La Ricarda, but the entire Delta”.

The philosopher Marina Garcés also argued that the expansion of the airport would mean “more borders, more mass tourism, more control and more precarious jobs.”

The leader of the commons in the Catalan parliament, Jéssica Albiach, who also attended the protest, asked the PSOE for “coherence”: “You cannot be passing a law against climate change and, at the same time, defend the interests of Aena [the airport operations company]”, she said.

She also urged the leader of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to “definitely say no”.

If the airport expansion in Barcelona goes ahead, environmentalists say that CO2 emissions would rise by a minimum of 33 percent. These levels would surpass the limits set by the Catalan government’s climate targets.

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