Great Britain's Ethan Heggarty scorched to a championship record in the men's 200m heats at the Rieti 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships on Friday (17).
The 17-year-old surged around the bend in heat two to establish a comfortable lead into the home straight. He had time to glance across at the opposition as he cruised to the finish in 20.77 (0.9m/s), shaving 0.04 seconds off the previous championship record set by Italy's Diego Nappi in Banská Bystrica two years ago.
The next-fastest qualifier was Czechia's Štepán Vardžák, who won heat four in a Czech U18 record of 21.13 (0.5m/s).
"It feels amazing. I knew I had it in my legs, but maybe not in the heats," said Heggarty afterwards. "It is a bit of an accident, but there is a lot more to come in the final, definitely in the semi-finals.
"I am hoping for the European record of 20.37 [set by Thomas Somers at the 2014 World U20 Championships] which is also the British record. I will see what I can get out of my legs. It was a good experience.
"It was exactly how I planned it – hard off the bend, carrying that momentum through, and it was just smooth all the way to the finish."
In the women's 200m heats, Heggarty's British teammate Shaiya Kenion topped the qualifiers, winning heat two in 23.73 (0.9m/s).
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