Måkestad fourth, Bingisser eighth in Izmir...
The former University of Washington standout and Norwegian record holder in the event ran 2:02.64, as Yeliz Kurt of the host nation took home the victory in 2:01.95.
On her Twitter page, Måkestad said that she used the race in preparation for running the heats in this summer's world championships in Daegu, utilizing a front-running strategy.
"Worked well in 750m ;) Still pretty happy w my race 2.02.64 in the wind!," she tweeted afterwards.
Another former Husky, Martin Bingisser, representing Switzerland, finished eighth with a mark of 211-11 (64.59m), as Hungary's Krisztian Pars took the victory with a toss of 262-11 (80.14m).
On his blog, he writes, "I felt very good in warm ups and was ready to go today. My first attempt was strong, but my hammer clipped the net and it landed at just 61.75m. My second attempt was better. I had plenty of speed, but then I pulled the release and barely stayed in the ring. It measured 64.59m and that was enough to move me ahead of my closest competitors."
You can see a video clip of his throws here:
You can read his thoughts on Saturday's competition here.
Måkestad returns to competition Sunday, running the 1500 meters in this team competition pitting one runner from twelve countries--Greece, Turkey, Norway, Belgium, Romania, the Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, Finland, Ireland, Slovenia, and Croatia against each other, with the top three teams earning places in the top division, which includes traditional European powerhouses Germany, Russia, and Great Britain.
After 21 of 40 events contested, Greece leads with 178 points, followed by Turkey at 173.5, and Norway at 150.5.
Bingisser's Swiss squad is in eighth at 129 points.
The recap of the meet is available here, while day 1 results are available here.
Below are video clips from the first day of competition, courtesy of European Athletics:
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