Spain’s Mariona Armero took her country’s second gold medal of these championships with a national U18 best over 200m of 23.57 on Saturday (18) in Rieti.
But there was heartbreak for Great Britain’s Shaiya Kenion who looked set for a medal, and potentially gold, as she fell just metres from the finish line after leading the race from the moment they burst out of the blocks.
15-year-old Romanian Carolina-Andreea Punga took silver in 23.58 for a big PB, while Czechia’s Aneta Onderkova took her country's first medal on the track with bronze in 23.87.
“I am really happy because I did not expect a medal,” Armero said. “In a final anything can happen.
“For me it is an honour to better the time of Jael Bestue [senior Spanish 200m record holder and Madrid 2025 European Athletics Team Championships champion] when she was my age. She is an inspiration for me and I look up to her.
“I will celebrate this gold medal with my coaches, my teammates and my friends. Tomorrow I will watch the football match of Spain against Argentina and I hope they will follow my example and also win gold.
“I guess I won because I trust in myself knowing all the work is done. Plus I have the support of my coach, my family and my friends.
“On the track I was focused and ran until the finish line - that is the recipe for my success.”
The Spaniard, out in lane seven, had Kenion on her shoulder within the first 40 metres and from there she just followed the Briton round, staying just within reach.
But as they turned the bend it seemed Kenion was set for gold, with a gap starting to appear between her and the rest of the field.
That is until the last 40 metres where Armero found a final surge and passed the rest of the field and started closing in on the British athlete, who then seemed to catch her spike on the track and tumbled to the ground.
Punga used the almost slipstream like speed of Armero, who was in the lane next to her, to clock her PB and win silver as the youngest in the final.
*Geoblocking restrictions apply in territories where Rieti 2026 is being covered by a national broadcaster