Czechia dominated the 1000m sprint medley relays at the Rieti 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships on Sunday (19), winning both the men’s and women’s titles with world U18 leads, championship records and national U18 records.
Their strength over the final lap proved decisive in both races.
In the women’s race, 100m finalist Klára Kaderová led off before handing over to 200m bronze medallist Aneta Onderková, who kept Czechia firmly in contention.
Barely an hour after winning the 400m hurdles in a championship record, Linda Botková returned to run the third leg over 300m and put Czechia in command.
Anna Cerovská brought the baton home in 2:05.65.
Poland took silver in 2:06.99, with 400m bronze medallist Zofia Pasierbek running the third leg, while Italy claimed bronze in 2:07.43 with 100m champion Kelly Doualla on the 200m leg.
In the men’s race, Spain, Italy and Germany were all in contention with Czechia going into the third leg.
However, with 400m bronze medallist Lukáš Bednarík running the 300m leg and 400m silver medallist Jakub Marek anchoring the team, the Czechs moved into a commanding position.
France’s 100m and 200m finalist Dylan Telo made an audacious move on the final lap, surging into the lead.
But he began to tire in the home straight and Marek swept past to give Czechia a second relay gold in 1:51.44.
Spain were guided to silver by Tristan Luño, who had won bronze in the 400m hurdles less than two hours earlier. The Spaniards clocked a national U18 record of 1:51.81, while Telo held on to secure bronze for France in 1:52.85.