Success Eduan held off a charging and competitive Henriette Jaeger to win 200m gold and deprive the Norwegian of a 200/400m double on home soil at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen on Saturday (19).
Bergen 2025 is being live streamed on the European Athletics website courtesy of Eurovision Sport.
Double bid foiled
Only three hours after winning the 400m title in a championship record of 49.74 - the first ever sub-50 clocking in championship history - Jaeger endeavoured to make further history by becoming the first athlete in European Athletics U23 Championships history to win a 200/400m double.
In a thrilling head-to-head in the home straight, Jaeger was making up ground on Eduan who led off the bend and it looked as though the Norwegian’s strength would prevail as the line approached with the two protagonists almost neck-and-neck in adjacent lanes.
But while Jaeger flung herself at the line in her trademark style in the last five metres, Eduan kept her form and composure all the way down the home straight and was rewarded with her first major individual gold medal in 22.74.
In her sixth race of the championships, Jaeger ran a season’s best of 22.78 and reflected on her experience of being the face of the European Athletics U23 Championships with a lot of satisfaction.
“I like to be the local face of these championships and I also quite like the pressure that comes with it. I am pleased. Of course, I wanted two gold medals, but I am very satisfied with the silver medal.
“In the 400m I was surprised by my time. I did not think that I ran that fast. In the 200m I had nothing more to give in the last 5 metres, that is why I fell,” said Jaeger, who could return to the track tomorrow for the 4x400m relay.
More relay success to come?
Similarly, Eduan has the possibility of adding to her medal tally in the 4x100m. A four-time medallist at the European Athletics U20 Championships, Eduan came to wider prominence earlier this season when she ran a storming anchor for Great Britain in the 4x100m at the World Relays in Guangzhou, taking the quartet from fourth to first.
But her 200m victory in Bergen ranks as Eduan’s biggest individual triumph to date.
“Obviously, Henriette was the favourite on home soil here but also had got the pressure. I was just like, ‘you can beat her - everybody is beatable.’ She is a really good athlete, very powerful, but I just know my own capabilities,” said Eduan.
In a high quality final, the three medallists all broke the 23 second-barrier. Sweden’s European U20 champion Nora Lindahl came away with bronze in 22.92.
Back-to-back 200m titles for Afrifah
The men's 200m final was a slightly more straightforward affair with Israel's Blessing Afrifah retaining his title in 20.64 and becoming the first athlete to win back-to-back European U23 200m titles since 2013.
Afrifah was being closed down in the home straight by Italy's Damiano Dentato who picked up the silver medal in 20.69 with Spain's Jaime Sancho taking the bronze in 20.76.
Sweden's Erik Erlandsson and Poland's Igor Bogaczynski, who were considered to be the main threats to Afrifah, finished fourth and eighth in 20.80 and 20.93 respectively.
