Slovakia’s European U18 leader Sebastian Karp cemented his status as the favourite for the men’s 400m title with a comfortable victory in the semifinals at the Rieti 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships on Friday (17).
He qualified fastest for Saturday’s (18) final, winning the second semifinal in 46.97.
His closest rival, Czechia’s Jakub Marek, was the next fastest, taking the third semifinal in 47.23. His compatriot Lukáš Bednarík won the opening semifinal in 47.33.
European U18 leader Eleni Iakovaki laid down a marker in the women’s 400m semifinals. The Greek athlete won the second semifinal in 53.92 to top the qualifiers for Saturday’s (18) final.
"Tomorrow I would like to achieve a new PB there and go home with the gold medal. I did exactly what my coach wanted me to do - I saved energy and did not run fast until the end," said Iakovaki.
Great Britain’s Noa Chodokufa won the first semifinal in 54.24 to qualify second fastest overall, while Poland’s Zofia Pasierbek won the third semifinal in 54.54 to progress safely.
Britis shine over 800m and 1500m
British athletes dominated the men’s middle-distance events.
European U18 leader Charlie Chambers took no chances in the men’s 800m, leading from gun to tape in the second semifinal to win in 1:50.35 and progress to Saturday’s (18) final as the fastest qualifier.
Teammate Magnus Riddell won a highly tactical first semifinal in 1:53.19. In the men’s 1500m heats, European U18 leader Freddie Rowe had plenty in hand as he won the opening heat in 3:57.19 to book his place in Sunday’s (19) final.
Bulgaria’s world and European U18 leader Viktoria Angelova led the qualifiers for the women’s triple jump with a second-round leap of 13.43m (0.1m/s), just 10 centimetres shy of her personal best. Great Britain’s Leila Newth set a national U18 record of 13.02m (1.7m/s) to qualify second for Sunday’s (19) final.
A clearance of 3.85m was enough to book a place in Sunday’s (19) women’s pole vault final. French duo Isild Drouet and Julie Bourgis, who are first and second on this year’s European U18 list, were both untroubled, clearing 3.75m and then 3.85m at the first attempt.