The Rieti 2026 European Athletics U18 Championships are underway, with the first morning session including qualifying for the men's and women's hammer, men's high jump, women's shot put, and women's 2000m steeplechase.
It was Slovenia’s Oriana Lovrec who was the first athlete to open their championships in Rieti as she threw 62.45m in the women’s hammer before improving to beyond the automatic qualifying mark with 64.31m in the second round.
Though several athletes needed just the one throw to qualify for the final, including Milaniia Kokhan, Hanna Siirila, Clara Teixeira and gold medal favourite Alena Matouskova.
Ukraine’s Kokhan, also sister of Olympic and European bronze medallist Mykhaylo Kokhan, threw a near-two metre PB of 68.05m to close the gap between her and Matouskova who threw 69.88m in May.
Great Britain’s Sophie Robertson also threw a PB of 64.51m to qualify for the final in third, though her feat came after two no-throws in the opening rounds.
Finland, Italy and France all have two athletes each in the final which takes place on 17 July at 5:30 pm local time.
The women’s 2000m steeplechase kickstarted the events on the track for these championships on Thursday (16), with Belgium’s Leonie Henderieckx qualifying with the fastest time of 6:50.41.
It was the first race that saw the faster times, with the top six all qualifying faster than heat two race winner Lucie Jilkova of Czechia, who ran 6:51.33.
The final will see two Czech, two German, and two Irish athletes on the start line but it is Italy’s Yasmine Lazouzi who is the favourite for gold as she boasts the fastest PB of the finalists.
Great Britain's Evelyn Wildman had been a strong favourite for gold coming into the championships. However, the fastest athlete on the entry-list suffered a heavy fall on the back straight in the mid-stages of the race and required medical attention. Thankfully she was later announced to be healthy and well.
The final will take place on 18 July at 9:45am (CEST).
While in the men’s high jump, no athletes secured the automatic qualifying mark of 2.08m, with 2.05m being enough to guarantee a spot in the final.
There will be two British, two Czech and two Greek jumpers in the final on 18 July at 10:48 am (CEST).
But Poland’s Dawid Baranski, who needed two attempts at 2.01m and 2.05m, comfortably holds the highest season's best of 2.14m – five centimetres further than the next competitor.
While Ukraine’s Yurii Maistrenko, GB’s Samuel James, France’s Yannis Dombele, and Czechia’s Denis Gult, who all safely qualified for the final, hold PB’s of 2.09m as another five athletes in the final have bests of 2.08m.
The women’s shot put saw just Germany’s Pauline Schubert automatically qualify for the final with just one throw, as she opened her competition with 16.30m.
The Netherlands’ Emma le Blansch and Portugal’s Adarlene Binta were the only other two athletes to hit the auto qualification mark of 16.20m, with 16.76m and 16.42m respectively.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mejrema Barucija completed the top 12 that will progress to the final with her throw of 14.76m.
The European U18 leader, Kinga Jackowska, however needed threw her only valid throw in the first round with 16.12m, a considerable distance off her PB of 18.67m.
There was a near very big upset in the men’s hammer as European U18 leader, Janne Verho, had two no-throws in the opening rounds and risked not progressing into the final.
Though with the pressure on for him to qualify for the final with just one throw left, he managed to launch the hammer to 72.82m to win his group, much to the visible relief of the Finnish athlete.
However, he was bumped into second overall after Greece’s Petros Kassavitas threw 72.96m in the second qualification group to head into the final as the top qualifier.
Czechia’s Josef Pazdera, Greece’s Andreas Apostolakos, Ukraine’s Kosgiantyn Lysak and Cyprus’ Anastasios Maratheftis all also surpassed the auto qualifying mark of 70.00m.
Lysak and Finland’s Volmari Paananen both threw a new PB, with the Ukrainian throwing 71.06m and the Finn throwing 69.11m.
Greece, Ukraine, and Hungary, all big hammer throwing nations, have both of their athletes in the final with Greece looking most likely for a double podium in the final on 17 July at 7:17 pm (CEST).
*Geoblocking restrictions apply in territories where Rieti 2026 is being covered by a national broadcaster