In only her fifth-ever triple jump competition, Bulgaria’s Viktoria Angelova took gold with a world U18 lead and championship record at the Rieti 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships on Sunday (19).
She made a modest start to the competition, opening with a foul before recording 12.87m (0.5m/s) in the second round.
Angelova then took charge, moving into the lead with jumps of 13.53m (0.6m/s) and 13.67m (0.7m/s), before producing a superb fifth-round effort of 13.98m (1.6m/s) to eclipse María Vicente’s championship record from 2018 by 3cm.
Türkiye’s Eylül Dönmez took silver with a national U18 record of 13.45m (0.7m/s), achieved in the fifth round.
Spain’s Gift Okunrobo, who had won bronze in the women’s long jump a day earlier, added another bronze medal in Rieti with a best of 13.23m (1.2m/s), achieved in the final round.
Training with Tentoglou
"I still cannot believe what just happened right now," said Angelova. "I expected to jump more than my PB, but not that much - like 40cm that is crazy.
"I am just super happy and grateful for my coach - I love him. I train in Greece with Mr. Pomaski with (Olympic long jump champion) Miltiadis Tentoglou and I am super motivated by him. It is really nice to have this chance to train with them and it is a pleasure.
"He is the chilliest guy ever and he always makes jokes, so it is super fun. He came for the final to Rieti. My target is to stay healthy and to enjoy everything and to do the same good job like we have done so far. I am travelling to Eugene next week and I will try to show some nice performance there again."