Beatrice Llano wins European hammer throw bronze in Birmingham

Beatrice Llano won bronze in the hammer throw at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham after opening the final with a personal-best throw of 72.88 metres, NRK reported.

The result was Llano’s first medal at a European Championships and her best performance ever. Finland’s Silja Kosonen won gold ahead of Italy’s Sara Fantini.

“It’s so wonderful. It’s absolutely fantastic. It doesn’t feel completely real,” Llano said after securing the medal.

Her first throw immediately put her in contention. “We shouldn’t anticipate anything, but this could be a medal-winning result,” NRK expert Vebjørn Rodal said during the competition.

A long road back

Llano, 28, said her path to the bronze medal had been difficult, with several years of setbacks.

“It has been hard. Really hard. You start to believe that you’re not capable of more, but you have to keep believing in yourself and work through the difficult days,” she said.

She has made several changes in recent years, including adjustments to her training, working with a nutritionist and adopting a new technique.

“I’ve changed a lot over the past few years, and now the results are finally starting to come from that,” Llano said.

She said she had tried to learn from disappointing performances by asking herself what she could take from them and what needed to change.

Llano also credited her family, coaches and support team, particularly her mother, Ragnfrid Nedberge Llano.

“I feel like the world outside had given up on me a little, but they have always been in my corner, together with my coaches. It means everything,” she said.

‘We could not have dreamed of this’

Llano’s mother watched from the stands as her daughter produced her decisive opening throw and later secured the bronze medal.

“It’s incredible. It’s something we didn’t even dare to dream about. It’s just fantastic that she managed it,” Ragnfrid Nedberge Llano said through tears.

She described the road to the medal as difficult, with many highs but “an awful lot of lows”. She said the family had fought alongside Beatrice for many years and that the result was thoroughly deserved.

Ragnfrid said her daughter moved away from home at 18 and had travelled around the world in pursuit of her goals. She added that Llano had put in substantial work after an injury and the move away from home.

Learning to handle championship nerves

Although Llano had performed well in training over the years, she had struggled mentally at championships, making it difficult to produce her best.

She said she had previously tried to convince herself that she was not nervous, but that the nerves eventually took over. She now works on accepting them and using the adrenaline positively.

“Nerves are energy, regardless of whether they feel uncomfortable or not,” Llano said.