The performance of the opening session of the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships came from Switzerland’s sometime multi-eventer Simon Ehammer, who set a world lead of 8.41m in qualifying for tomorrow’s men’s long jump final.
It was another demonstration of adaptability from a 24-year-old who is world bronze medallist in the long jump and earned decathlon silver at the Munich 2022 European Athletics Championships.
Greece’s current Olympic, world, European, world indoor and European indoor champion Miltiadis Tentoglou - while very capable of doing so - did not reach that level of performance but moved through efficiently with a single effort of 8.14m.
Italy’s rising talent Mattia Furlani, who set a world U20 record of 8.36m this year - a mark that equals Tentoglou’s season’s best – also progressed in style with an effort of 8.17m, with Britain’s Jacob Fincham-Dukes bettering that mark by a centimetre with 8.18m.
Comfortable passage for reigning champion Alekna
Lithuania’s world record-holder and defending champion Mykolas Alekna was the top qualifier for tonight’s men’s discus final with a first-time effort of 67.50m – the only throw to better the automatic mark of 66.00m.
The other big beasts of this event - Slovenia’s 2022 world champion Kristjan Ceh and Sweden’s reigning world and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl - progressed with throws of 65.64m and 63.29m respectively.
There was a similarly imperious progression in the women’s discus, where Croatia’s Sandra Elkasevic, who won a record six successive European titles under her maiden name of Perkovic, is seeking to extend that record.
After a misfiring opening effort of 56.11m she found her range next time round to go through with 65.62m, comfortably exceeding the automatic qualifying mark of 62.50m, offering spectators a grave bow before making her exit.
Jorinde Van Klinken of the Netherlands, who has stated her ambition of winning medals in both the shot put and discus in Rome, duly reached the next stage of both events.
First the 24-year-old earned a place in tonight’s final of the shot put - the event in which she took bronze in Munich 2022 - qualifying seventh best with 18.13m as compatriot Jessica Schilder, the defending champion, produced the fourth best effort of 18.32m in a qualifying session topped by the 18.70m thrown by Sweden’s Fanny Roos.
And Van Klinken then joined Elkasevic in tomorrow’s women’s discus final with season’s best of 65.12m.
Aleksandra Nacheva of Bulgaria topped qualifying for Sunday’s women’s triple jump final with a personal best of 14.29m, ahead of Türkiye’s Tugba Danismaz on 14.27 and Spain’s Ana Peleteiro-Compaore on 14.21.
Fast times en masse in the men's 800m heats
The men’s 800m opening rounds were spectacularly competitive, with the championship record for a heat being broken by two of the races.
That distinction was first earned by France’s Gabriel Tual in the opening heat as he finished in 1:45.69 ahead of fast-finishing home runner Francesco Pernici, who clocked 1:45.87, with Alvaro De Arriba of Spain taking the third automatic qualifying spot in 1:46.03.
But that time was eclipsed by the fourth and final heat, which was won in a personal best of 1:44.73 by France’s Paul Anselmini from Czechia’s Jakob Dudycha, who clocked 1:44.89 as 24-year-old home runner Catalin Tecuceanu, who tops the entry-list through his personal best of 1:44.01, lost his lead in the closing 20 metres but secured third place in 1:44.93.
Among those who failed to advance were Belgium’s world indoor bronze medallist Eliott Crestan, 19-year-old Dutch phenomenon Niels Laros - who was competing outdoors for the first time this year - and Ireland’s European bronze medallist of 2014 and 2022, Mark English.
Britain’s world 800m indoor silver medallist Jemma Reekie was fastest in qualifying for Sunday’s women’s 1500m final with 4:06.68, with second place going to home athlete Ludovica Cavalli on 4:06.76 and Ireland’s Ciara Mageean on 4:06.81.
Alice Finot of France headed the women’s 3.000m steeplechase qualifiers with a season’s best of 9:29.28. Poland’s Alicja Konieczek was second fastest on 9:29.76 followed by Stella Rutto of Romania on 9:30.00.
Reigning champion Luiza Gega from Albania used all of her experience to qualify as well, easing home in eighth place in heat heat in 9:35.77.
Poland’s Jakub Szymanski was the fastest qualifier for the 110m hurdles semifinals in 13.53, ahead of Austria’s European U20 champion Enzo Diesel on 13.56 and Belgium’s Elie Bacari on 13.61.
But the greatest emotions were generated by Spain’s Cuban-born Orlando Ortega, the Rio 2016 silver medallist and world bronze medallist in 2019, who – after years of injury problems - wept tears of joy upon hearing he had progressed with his time of 13.79.
Finland’s Lotta Harala headed the first round results in the 100m hurdles with 12.91, followed by Poland’s Klaudia Siciarz on 12.94 and Lovise Andresen of Norway with a personal best of 12.96.
Mike Rowbottom for European Athletics