It was a night of surprises in the field at the European Athletics U18 Championships at Banska Bystrica with unexpected winners in both the men’s javelin and men’s pole vault on Sunday (20).
Williams wins historic hammer gold for Ireland
Thomas Williams became the first ever Irish male athlete to win gold at the European Athletics U18 Championships when he won the men’s hammer. He was not quite in the form to threaten his own world and European U18 lead of 77.31m but he produced a consistent series, the best being a third round 73.95m.
"I knew I was first on the paper so I had a good chance. But I just panicked. I was happy with the circle, I was happy with the conditions but I was just not used to it. I was more nervous in the qualification and today, it was much better. I just tried to focus on having fun. My dream is to go to the Olympics and to an American college one day, maybe Harvard," said the winner.
Bulgaria’s Dimo Andreev took silver with a fifth round 72.49m. Spain’s Magno Llopis enjoyed a breakthrough competition for bronze. Three times he set personal bests, the last round was also his first time over 70 metres with 72.48m.
The women’s high jump also went with the form book as Hungary’s Lilianna Bátori leapt to gold with 1.84m. She needed two attempts after flawless first-time clearances at 1.74m, 1.78m and 1.81m. But it was a height none of her rivals could match.
They did still get the very best out of themselves as Spain’s Aitana Alonso and France’s Yman Ossie Tchiengue both set personal bests of 1.81m to earn silver and bronze, Alonso being awarded second place by virtue of countback.
However, the best mark of the championships was achieved by Brit Thea Brown who cleared 1.87m in the heptathlon high jump to equal the world U18 lead.
Villa: "The best thing I have ever done in my life!"
Pietro Villa took the whole field by surprise in the javelin when he opened with a national U18 best of 76.04m, a huge improvement of 7.08 metres on his previous best.
Krukowski tried hard to respond but in still and humid conditions, the world U18 leader could never quite breach the 75 metre line with his best effort being a fourth round 74.84m. Finland’s Teemu Simoinen won bronze, with a best of 73.24m in the final round.
With gold medal also coming in the men’s and women’s 200m through Diego Nappi and Elisa Valensin, it was another Super Saturday for the Italian contingent who top the medal table with five gold medals with one day remaining.
“This is just an amazing result - I did not expect to win today,” admitted Villa. “I was full of strength and motivation as my Italian team mates motivated me and helped me to win.
“Before the last attempt, I was just hoping that other guys would not throw further than me and it just happened. My goal was to fight for any medal. This is the result I was working for all the year. The team spirit is amazing here in Banska. I wanted to do this so much just for them.
“I hope this is just a start. I did not realise my achievement yet, but it is definitely the best thing I have ever done in my life.”
Belgian produces best for gold
Mathias Urbanczyk won Belgium’s first medal of Banska Bystrica, winning gold in the men’s pole vault with a personal best 5.10m. European U18 leader Axel Rogö of Sweden opened well enough with a big first-time clearance at his opening height of 4.90m.
But when he failed twice at 5.10m and Urbanczyk sailed over at the second attempt, the pressure ratcheted up. He chose to raise the bar to 5.15m and when he failed, the title went to the Belgian.
It also meant that the Swede missed out on a medal altogether. Israel’s Nikita Mirkin and Henri Aprin shared silver after posting identical cards, their best effort being second time clearances at 5.00m. For Mirkin, it was also a personal best.
“This result means a lot of things,” said the Belgian gold medallist. “I am proud of what I just achieved, and I hope that I made my family proud too. I will never forget this competition despite the fact I have to stay focused because I have my national championships soon and I want to gain a Belgian title.
"My coach told me to stop after 5.10 because I got too excited, and he was afraid that I get injured. I learned that even if I was very nervous, in the competition I can be focused and that is a good point.”
Berntsen switches events to win gold
Astrid Cecilie Berntsen of Norway took gold in the women’s 2000m steeplechase with a personal best of 6:32.11. She took full advantage of a fall from pre-race favourite and world U18 leader Nadia Soto midway through the race. The Spaniard bravely recovered to win bronze in 6:35.04.
Ema Berkova of Czechia won silver in a personal best 6:34.63.
“I really did not expect to win this race, said Berntsen. “I was actually focusing on the 800m at these European Championships but then I ran the heat in the steeplechase and it went really nice."
In the women’s 800m semifinals Serbia’s Tara Vučković qualified fastest, winning the third semifinal in 2:07.02. Great Britain’s Shaikira King, the fastest athlete in the entries, was content to finish second in 2:07.13.
Sweden’s Carmen Cernjul and Czechia’s Adéla Holubová won the first and second semifinals in 2:07.48 and 2:09.31 respectively.
The men’s two lap competition is sure to see British and Spanish athletes in the medal mix in Sunday’s final. Great Britain’s Matthew McKenna, with his peaked baseball cap on backwards, was a relaxed winner of the third semi in 1:51.46.
His international teammate Tom Waterworth was also impressive, winning heat 2 in 1:52.73. But fastest qualifier was Spain’s Aaron Ceballos, winner of the first semifinal in 1:49.82. Fellow Spaniard Alejandro Muñoz also qualified comfortably enough, following McKenna home in 1:51.70.
Portugal's Hraber leads decathlon with Konso poised
The overnight leader in the men’s decathlon is Portugal’s Denis Hrabar. Following a successful morning, including a long jump personal best of 6.94m, he was just 1cm down on his personal best in the high jump with a solid 1.90m. Then in the 400m, he clocked 50.86 to sit at the head of the field with 3901 points
Estonia’s European U18 leader Tristan Konso maintained his medal push with 1.84m in the high jump and a 400m personal best of 48.95 for 3882 points.
France’s Kilian Trochain could also look back on a good day’s work with personal bests in the 100m (11.40), shot put (13.23m), high jump (1.99m). He finished with 50.92 in the 400m and an overnight total of 3768 to sit in third place thus far.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics