Both Norway and Great Britain celebrated distance running doubles on a dramatic evening at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere on Saturday (9).
Tampere 2025 is being live streamed on the European Athletics website courtesy of Eurovision Sport.
Bruising 800m leads to revised result
The men’s 800m was a highly eventful race.
William Rabjohns crossed the line as the winner in what was seemingly a British medal clean sweep ahead of Rafferty Mirfin and Tom Waterworth. but was later disqualified for stepping inside the track on the back straight on the last lap.
It was a bruising affair almost from the start with the field bumping elbows on the break from lanes with Waterworth going to the front.
At the bell, he was joined by Mirfin and Rabjohns, with Spanish duo Aaron Ceballos and Ryan Barcala also in close attendance.
As the pace quickened on the back straight and athletes jostled for position, Rabjohns tried to force his way through on the inside and temporarily took to the infield to keep his balance. As he came back on the track there was a domino effect that saw Ceballos and Barcala come together, leaving Barcala down and out of contention.
Rabjohns bustled his way to the front to cross the line in 1:47.88. But it was all in vain, he was disqualified for the lane infringement and Mirfin was upgraded to gold in 1:48.09. It meant Waterworth was the silver medallist in 1:48.20 and Ceballos the bronze medallist in 1:48.74.
Belshaw adds another gold to her collection
There was another British distance victory in the women’s 1500m albeit in much more conventional fashion. Lyla Belshaw added the U20 title to the European U18 gold she won last year in a perfectly executed race to take gold.
Spain’s Mara Rolli took up the running and led the pack with little over a lap to go with teammate Claudia Gutierrez, Sweden’s Carmen Cernjul, Belshaw and her British teammate Eleanor Stevens also prominent.
Rolli paid for her front-running and began to fade, in contrast, Cernjul looked fresh and took over at the bell, tracked by Belshaw and Stevens. With 200 metres to go, it came down to Cernjul and Belshaw, but as they came off the final turn the British athlete found a little extra and pulled away to win gold in 4:14.59.
Cernjul, who won European U18 bronze last year, added another medal to her collection with a well-earned silver in 4:15:00. Britain’s Isobelle Jones ran down the tiring Spanish duo and Stevens to take well-judged bronze in a personal best of 4:16.18.
Nygård Vie surges to steeplechase gold
Norway’s Andrea Nygård Vie took her first ever international title in winning the women’s 3000m steeplechase, just getting the better of Germany’s Jule Lindner in a last lap tear up between the two.
Nygård Vie, Lindner and defending champion Karolína Jarošová of Czechia broke clear of the pack in the opening kilometre and the medals looked set to be distributed between the three. But with just less than 1k to go, Jarošová faltered at the water jump and pulled out shortly afterwards.
It left the Norwegian and German alone up front. Nygård Vie wound up the pace and with 200 metres to go had opened a 10 metre gap that Lindner could not breach.
She ran to victory in 9:57.59, 1:18 clear of Lindner. Bronze went to Czechia’s Ema Berková, who won silver in the 2000m steeplechase at last year’s European Athletics U18 Championships in Banska Bystrica, in a personal best of 10:09.71.
Moe Berg wins tactical 3000m and sets sights on double
There was a pedestrian pace set in the men’s 3000m with Latvia’s Kristers Kudlis leading the jog round. The pack reached 2k in 6:18.2. European U18 3000m champion Aldin Catovic sat at the back of the pack with 5000m silver medallist Karl Ottfalk also content to keep a watching brief.
But with a kilometre left, a greater sense of urgency took hold with the lead swapping hands on multiple occasions. Sweden’s Erik Nederheim and Spain’s Alejandro Ibañez moved to the front, then with two laps remaining, Kudlis regained the lead.
Catovic too made a move with 600 metres remaining and at the bell, Finland’s Aleksi Ahlfors got the crowd excited by taking the lead. But with 300 metres to go, Norway’s Håkon Moe Berg who had sat anonymously in the pack, suddenly found an extra gear.
Sixth over 1500m in the World U20 Championships last year, he showed a rare turn of pace and pulled a 20 metre gap on the field. He still looked to have plenty left in the tank as he ran clear on the home straight to win in 8:43.20, clocking a 52.5 final lap. He will now look towards Sunday’s 1500m final and an individual double.
Kudlis followed as best he could and was rewarded with silver in 8:45.56, whilst Ottfalk took his second medal of the championships, winning bronze in 8:46.43.