Belgium and Norway joined hosts Slovenia in being promoted from the 2nd Division of the European Athletics Team Championships on a brilliant final day of action in Maribor on Sunday (29).
The Belgians - who won an impressive nine events and finished second ten times - comfortably sealed the overall title with 451.5 points.
For the home side, it was the ultimate reward for four days of stellar competition across the 2nd and 3rd Divisions, as European discus champion Kristjan Ceh took maximum points with a best throw of 68.16m to help them seal second, 49 points behind the newly-crowned champions.
Thrana unleashes big javelin win
Norway had led the standings during the first day, but faced a nervous few moments after a fall and injury for their steeplechaser Vebjørn Hovdejord left them with zero points in the penultimate track event. That meant that there was only one point between them and fourth-placed Turkey, with just two disciplines left.
But, just when they needed a hero, Daniel Thrana took a somewhat unexpected javelin victory with a personal best of 80.24 to extend that gap to eleven. They were then blessed with the quality of European indoor 400m silver medallist Henriette Jaeger, who brought them home first in the concluding mixed relay, to confirm a promotion achieved without the likes of Karsten Warholm or Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
Twelve out of sixteen teams won at least one discipline across the two days, but Cyprus, Bulgaria and Latvia will all drop down to the 3rd Division for 2027 after finishing in the bottom three.
Despite being so consistent out front, Belgium had to wait until three-and-a-half hours into the afternoon’s programme to add to their victory tally. Imke Vervaet’s excellent speed endurance saw her cross the line to take the 200m win in 22.85s. That followed her runner-up spot in the 400m on Saturday, meaning she provided a fantastic 31 points for the team.
One of the bigger upsets came in the women’s high jump, as her compatriot Mael Maes beat European silver medallist Angelina Topic, as well as European U23 champion Elena Kulichenko.
The latter duo looked strong in making it over 1.89 at the first time of asking, only for the Cypriot to fail three times at 1.91, while Topic composed herself with a clean jump at the final attempt. The Serbian joined Maes in getting over 1.93, but the 20-year-old Belgian appeared to be in inspired form as she equalled her personal best and then narrowly missed out on breaking it outright at 1.95.
There was an element of gamesmanship in the men’s pole vault as Ben Broeders cleared 5.70, only to see Turkey’s Ersu Sasma pass up through multiple heights and then fail to clear, leaving the Belgian to celebrate victory.
But Turkey still achieved a great hat-trick of victories, as female shot putter Emel Dereli, and male steeplechaser Abdullah Tugluk took 16 points, either side of a women’s 1500m triumph for Silan Ayyildiz.
Lukan delights home fans
As the event headed into the evening, there was hardly any let up in the hot weather as home supporters delighted in seeing Klara Lukan win the women’s 5000m. She broke away early on as expected, but her pace was metronomic as she built a gap to Belgium’s Jana Van Lent to come away with a winning time of 15:09.56.
That followed an almighty battle for maximum points in the women’s hammer, with four different leaders in the second half of the competition as Denmark’s Katrine Koch Jacobsen, Ireland’s Nicola Tuthill,
Romania’s Bianca Ghelber and Norway’s Beatrice Nedberge Llano all fought. Tuthill - who won the U23 category at the European Throwing Cup to secure her nation’s first ever title at that event - overtook Koch Jacobsen by one centimetre with 70.50.
Determined not to be denied an eighth top-three finish at the European Athletics Team Championships, Ghelber achieved wonderful rotational acceleration to launch the hammer out to 70.62, moving her up two places in the final round, second only to Llano’s 71.14.
Thrilling triple jumps
But Romania would get joy through Elena Andreea Talos in the triple jump, who with a leap of 14.18, was just three centimetres above Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic. The seven-time European long jump medallist across indoors and outdoors seemed to relish a rare outing in a different event, which she has done in only five seasons during two decades of competition.
The men’s triple jump was equally entertaining as Austria’s Endiorass Kingley - supported by the team’s performance director and two-time Olympic champion Christian Taylor - broke a national record that had stood since 1988. He nearly lost his glasses in celebrating flying out to 16.85m, eclipsing Alfred Stummer’s mark of 16.57.
Another of the promoted teams from 2023, Ireland, got their first and only win of a very solid fifth-place overall finish when Sarah Lavin clinically dispatched of the competition to win in 12.82.
Israel were under real pressure at the bottom of the table, but showed great spirit amid difficult circumstances at home as Blessing Afrifah powered to 16 points in the 200m in 20.31, helping the team to narrowly avoid relegation, along with Serbia.