Czechia’s Viktorie Ondrova won a dramatic pole vault contest on the final morning session of the European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen on Sunday (20), breaking her lifetime best three times to win the title.
Bergen 2025 is being live streamed on the European Athletics website courtesy of Eurovision Sport.
A trio of lifetime bests for Ondrova
Ondrova looked destined for an early exit after recording two failures at 4.30m but the 20-year-old kept herself in contention with an excellent clutch clearance at her only attempt at 4.35m - her first lifetime best of the morning - to take the lead on countback.
Ondrova was joined at this height by Lithuania’s Rugile Miklyciute - whose clearance at 4.35m was a lifetime best as well as a senior national record - with Germany’s Chiara Sistermann also keeping herself in the medal hunt with a second-time clearance at 4.35m to equal her lifetime best.
But Ondrova, who entered the competition with a lifetime best of 4.32m, was in a rich vein of form and she put the title out of reach of her competitors by clearing 4.40m on her first attempt and then 4.45m on her second attempt.
“It is unbelievable to me. I was just jumping my own jumps and I did not even know what the height was. I went from one jump to another and suddenly I found myself so high. I have to retrieve my thoughts to understand what just happened. I am very glad that we peaked in time just for this event,” said the ecstatic winner.
Neither Miklyciute nor Sistermann could improve on their 4.35m clearances and came away with a joint silver medal by virtue of identical cards. Both vaulters faced the prospects of premature exits from the competition with both vaulters needing all three attempts at 4.20m before vaulting their way up the rankings and into medal contention.
In the triple jump, gold went to Spain’s Pablo Delgado who set a lifetime best of 16.55m in the fourth round to overhaul Bulgaria’s Lachezar Valchev who jumped 16.48m, also a lifetime best, in the third round.
This marked a sizeable lifetime best for the Bulgarian who came into the competition with a lifetime best of 16.17m but the 20-year-old was visibly disappointed not to regain the lead, producing three no-jumps on his last three attempts which looked close to the 17 metre-line.
Italy’s Federico Bruno won bronze with 16.47m.
Vanninen in full command in the heptathlon
Barring mishap or disaster, the 800m will be a two-lap victory procession for Finland’s Saga Vanninen who looks set to cap her illustrious age-group career by retaining her European U23 heptathlon title in Bergen.
The overnight leader has taken her score up to 5613 points after recording a 6.49m long jump and 43.74m in the javelin. Great Britain's Abigail Pawlett is second with 5462 points with Greece's Anastasia Ntragkomirova moving into third after a 48.82m javelin with 5371 points ahead of Germany's Serina Riedel (5345 points).
However, Riedel has a much faster lifetime best than Ntragkomirova in the 800m, 2:15.76 to 2:30.50, and is expected to move back into medals.
Vanninen, who won European and world indoor pentathlon titles within the space of a fortnight in March, has a trio of records in her grasp: her lifetime best of 6391 points, the championship record of 6396 points and the Finnish record of 6404 which has stood since 1991.
The Finn only needs to run 2:22.97 for a championship record which should be a reasonable ask for Vanninen who boasts a lifetime best of 2:11.70.
