Czechia’s Sebastian Andrejev took the decathlon European U18 title by just 16 points after two brutal days totalling 7523 points, in a crescendo that also saw Czechia win the men’s relay, women’s relay, and the women’s 400m hurdles on the final day.
Andrejev didn’t quite manage a PB in the 1500m, but he did set PBs in the 400m, 100m, long jump, pole vault, and 110m hurdles on his way to gold.
In silver was Estonia’s Aleksander Metsmaker with 7507 after a PB in the 1500m wasn’t quite enough to grab gold, and in third was Great Britain’s Oliver Downs with 7341 points.
“This decathlon was the best of my three decathlons I have ever completed," Andrejev said. “The first day, I felt like it was a bit cooler outside, and I came very fresh and motivated.
“But then, after that 400m, it became very painful. The most challenging event is of course the 1500m and you could see it in my face. It is unusual, but I quite like the 400m, but the 1500 is not my taste.
“I started well with PBs at 100m and 400m but the circle here was too slippery for me, so it did not go so well in the throws. I could have thrown more in discus because I trained for it so much. Pole vault was great with a PB and then I just pushed until the end. On the podium, I will sing the national anthem and will enjoy the moment.”
After day one France’s Andrea Jolevot held a small lead, but in the first event of the final day, he only managed 14.77 in the 110m hurdles a little down on his PB of 14.44.
While Metsmaker, who was in fourth after day one set a new PB of 13.84 to win the event, while Andrejev also clocked a PB of 13.86, and GB’s Douglas Knox ran a PB of 13.91.
Then in the discus, four of the top five in the event threw a PB to boost their points total with Finland’s Markus Waithaka taking the win with 47.45m after two no throws.
It was a similar story for Downs who also had two no throws before throwing 46.54m, while the Netherlands’ Rens Klinkhamer, Austria’s Lucas Gschier, and France’s Louka Tesson all threw a PB to finish in the discus top five.
However Metsmaker threw 40.19m n and Andrejev threw 36.55m, falling behind Downs who took the lead with 5633 points with just three events to go.
But after the pole vault things had changed yet again, with Metsmaker back on top with 6268 points after jumping an equal PB of 4.30m.
Andrejev also moved into second place after jumping a PB of 4.10m, while Downs fell to seventh overall with 6014 points after only managing to clear 3.10m.
Then in the javelin, Germany’s Magnus Vieth threw a lifetime best by 10 metres for 60.27m after two PB’s earlier in the event too.
Downs threw 59.40m to get a big points haul back, but Andrejev wasn’t far behind with 59.29m, just two points difference in the decathlon.
Metsmaker was down a little on his main competitors but still threw a PB of 53.23m to narrowly hold on to the lead with 6905 points, while Andrejev sat on 6891points and Downs on 6743 points.
Veith’s mammoth PB also brought him closer to medal contention as he moved to 6655 points and fourth position after the javelin.
It all came down to the 1500m, and Metsmaker had tried to stick on Andrejev’s shoulder but within a lap he had already started to slow and on the final lap was trailing 80m behind the Czech, before a sprint down the home straight brought them closer again.
Knox, also from GB, had a great closing 50m in the final event setting a PB in an attempt to get himself on the podium, but it wasn’t quite enough as he finished with 7255 points, 86 points behind his teammate Downs in bronze.
“I am feeling extra happy because I got the silver medal and the decathlon is now over,” Metsmaker said. “Oh, those were the two hardest days of my life.
“Especially pole vault was hard. I did so many jumps, so many second and third jumps at heights. And I equalled my PB of 4.30m.
“It was a rollercoaster of emotions, especially at the discus. My first two throws were horrible. But luckily the third was 10m more. That was scary.
“My parents were here and my dad was mad at me at discus. I have the same coach as Tristan Konso who won the decathlon at the European U18 championship two years ago.
“For me, a little bit of pressure helps. I believe that pain and suffering bring out great things. While you suffer and feel pain you want it to end, but when it is over it is awesome.
“Today I lost against the Czech Andrejev, this is a big motivation for me to get better and better.”