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| British hurdler David Greene is among the best hurdlers over one lap of the track in the world today. |
The 18th edition of the European Athletics Junior Championships took place in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 2005 and European Athletics looks back on how some of the Class of 2005 have fared since.
The results prove that the European Athletics Junior Championships definitely provides a glimpse into athletics' crystal ball with many medal winners going on to achieve further feats in the next six years.
Sprints and hurdles
The 100m winner, Great Britain’s Craig Pickering, was part of the quartet that collected the 4x100m relay bronze medals at the 2007 World Championships while silver medallist Simeon Williamson went on to set a championship record of 10.10 at the 2007 European Athletics Championships as well as follow in Pickering’s footsteps with a 2009 World Championships 4x100m relay bronze medal in Berlin.
Another British athlete, Martyn Rooney, claimed a silver medallist over one lap of the track in Kaunas and subsequently took a 400m bronze at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona last summer.
France’s Darian Garfield, the 110m hurdles winner from Kaunas, has returned to form in the last 12 months after several years of illness and injury with two silver medals at senior continental championships, firstly in Barcelona last year and then at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships in the 60m hurdles on home territory in Paris back in March.
The silver medallist in the 400m hurdles, Great Britain’s Dai Greene, is currently the leading European exponent in his event and likely to be among the medal contenders in his event at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, later this summer.
Last year, he coasted to a European Athletics Championships gold medal before winning at the IAAF Continental Cup in a lifetime best of 47.88 and then adding a Commonwealth Games victory to his ever-expanding portfolio.
Endurance
Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski ran a far-from-inspiring 1500m final and finished seventh but the Pole was quick to realise that his forte was over a shorter distance.
He switched to running predominantly over two laps of the track and reaped dividends of his judiciousness by firstly taking a silver medal at the 2007 European Athletics U23 Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, and then returned to Kaunas to bag a gold medal two years.
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| Russia's high jump star came to international attention with a win at the 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships in Kaunas. |
He was then to show he could hold his own in the senior ranks and, like Greene, claimed a gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona last summer.
Field events
Russia’s Ivan Ukhov is one of the most gifted high jumpers of his generation and he first came to international attention with a win in Kaunas.
Ukhov has subsequently had two victories at the European Athletics Indoor Championships and a world indoor title, cleared a national record of 2.40m in Athens two years ago and also got a silver medal at the 2010 European Athletics Championships.
Great Britain’s Greg Rutherford won the long jump battle in Kaunas and a year later he was also standing on the podium at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Göteburg with a silver medal around his neck. He set a national record of 8.30m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
Germany’s Sebastian Bayer, who won silver in Kaunas, has also made his mark in the senior ranks and shocked everyone when he leapt out to a European indoor record of 8.71m at the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torino.
Finnish javelin thrower Ari Mannio took a bronze medal six years ago and then followed it up in 2006 with a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in Beijing.
Three years later, he returned to Kaunas for the European Athletics U23 Championships in 2009 he finally claimed a gold medal and he is now a regular sight at the big meetings on the international circuit.
Decathlon
Decathlon gold medallist Andrei Krauchanka, of Belarus, made a rapid progress after Kaunas and added another title at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Debrecen two years later.
He then got the 2008 Olympic Games silver medal for the demanding 10-event discipline in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium to add to his World Indoor Championships heptathlon silver medal from earlier that same year.
Earlier this year, he added to his medal collection when he went to the Palais Omnisports Bercy and collected a European Indoor Athletics Championships heptathlon gold medal.
Walks
Italy’s Giorgio Rubino, a 10km walk bronze medallist in Kaunas, has consistently been among the top five men’s in 20km walk finishing fifth and fourth at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships in Osaka and Berlin respectively.