Norway’s Henriette Jaeger booked a safe passage into the semifinals of the 200m on the second morning session of the European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen on Friday (18) morning.
Jaeger, who returns to the Fana Stadium later this afternoon for the semifinals of the 400m, defied a strong headwind of 2.0 m/s to clock 23.35 in the first heat, winning by a comfortable margin ahead of Great Britain’s Alyson Bell - who won gold two years ago in the 4x100m relay - in 23.61.
However, the fastest qualifier for the semifinals was Bell’s teammate Success Eduan. A four-time European U20 medallist, Eduan came to wider note when she ran a blazing anchor leg for Great Britain in the 4x100m at the World Relays in Guangzhou earlier this season but her first priority in Bergen will be individual success in the 200m.
Making the most of a slightly less aggressive headwind of 1.6 m/s, Eduan cruised to a heat victory in 23.12 ahead of Switzerland's Iris Caliguiri in 23.30.
Decathlon tantalisingly poised after seven events
Croatia’s Roko Farkas remains in the lead after seven events in the decathlon but only 93 points separate the top five in the standings heading into the pole vault.
Farkas isn’t renowned for his exploits in the discus but the world U20 long jump champion limited the damage with a throw of 36.24m, only one metre shy of his lifetime best of 37.47m, to bring his overall tally to 5864 points.
But the gap between Farkas and the rest has closed up significantly. Great Britain’s Sammy Ball and Jeff Tesselaar from the Netherlands are second and third respectively with 5847 and 5831 points with Switzerland’s Andrin Huber also in title contention with 5803 points.
The fight for medals is expected to remain alive by the time we reach the men’s 1500m, an event in which Tesselaar truly excels with a lifetime best of 4:08.31 to his name.
There was a big shock in pole vault qualifying with Great Britain’s Gemma Tutton, who led the entry-list with a recently set 4.45m clearance, only clearing 4.00m and not making it through to the final.
Among those to progress at 4.15m were former world U20 silver medallist Elise Russis who will be looking to keep the title in French hands two years after Marie-Julie Bonnin struck gold in Espoo.