European U20 silver medallist Bozhidar Saraboyukov from Bulgaria delivered the standout performance of the Balkan Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade on Saturday (15) on the road to the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships from 6-9 March.
Saraboyukov, who won silver behind Mattia Furlani at the 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships, equalled his third best performance ever with a winning jump of 8.12m, demonstrating strong consistency after jumping an excellent 8.19m last month in the sixth round at the Meeting Miramas in France.
After finishing fourth at the last European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul at the age of 18, Saraboyukov looks primed to challenge for his first major senior medal in Apeldoorn in just over two weeks' time having surpassed the eight metre-line in all four of his competitions in 2025.
Teenage talent Wild sprints to 60m hurdles gold
Croatian rising star Mia Wild, who won silver in the 100m hurdles at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships, made headlines by improving her personal best over 60m hurdles from 8.12 to 8.06 for victory against the seniors, setting a world-leading U20 time for the event.
The men’s sprints saw a strong Turkish presence, and a flurry of personal bests. Ertan Özkan won the 60m in 6.63, just ahead of Mustafa Kemal Ay in 6.65. Meanwhile in the 60m hurdles, fellow Turk Mikdat Sevler clocked 7.68 for victory.
The men’s 400m was won by Ukraine's Oleksandr Pohorilko in 46.49, narrowly beating Boško Kijanović from Serbia in 46.71, the fastest of the four races. Romania’s Stella Rutto also impressed in the 3000m, clocking an indoor lifetime best of 8:59.45.
In the shot put, Romania’s Andrei Toader claimed victory with 20.89m, edging out home favourite Armin Sinančević from Serbia (20.42m), the 2022 European outdoor silver medallist.
Türkiye topped the medal table at the Balkan Indoor Championships with 18 medals in total ahead of Ukraine and Romania with seven and six medals respectively.