Some 22 years after Tampere last staged the event, the European Athletics U20 Championships return to Finland’s second biggest city in one week today from 7-10 August.
The European Athletics U20 Championships will be streamed live in its entirety on the European Athletics website courtesy of Eurovision Sport and will be accompanied by expert English-language commentary.
And the entry-lists are replete with champions including 30 individual gold medallists from the 2024 European Athletics U18 Championships and three gold medallists from the World Athletics U20 Championships, all of whom will be looking to add their names to the roll-of-honour in Tampere.
One new feature of the European Athletics U20 Championships will be the Athlete Zone where athletes can connect, unwind, and explore key issues that matter both inside and outside the stadium.
And ahead of the European Athletics U20 Championships, we pick out 10 names to keep a watchful eye on across the four days of competition in Tampere.
Innes FitzGerald (Great Britain)
Innes FitzGerald has dismantled the fields at the last two editions of the U20 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships and the 19-year-old has broken through significantly on the track this year.
In her last race, FitzGerald shattered Zola Budd’s legendary 40-year-old European U20 record of 14:48.07 with 14:39.56 in the London Diamond League. This time also moved her to fifth on the British all-time list, one place ahead of her coach Jo Pavey.
Given FitzGerald’s propensity to run hard and unrelentingly from the front, the record books could be rewritten in Tampere. The championship records for the 3000m and 5000m currently stand at 8:50.97 and 15:03.85 respectively but for how much longer?
Michal Rada (Czechia)
“It’s like watching a man against boys,” was how one of the commentators described Michal Rada’s performance at the European Athletics U18 Championships last year when he stormed to the European U18 400m hurdles title in 49.42, smashing the European U18 best by almost an entire second.
Rada has since graduated to the senior height barriers and the 18-year-old, who remains eligible for U20 competitions in 2026, is taking them in his stride. He has improved to 49.08 to climb to fourth on the European U20 all-time list and is closing in on the European U20 record of 48.74 which has stood since 1984.
Kelly Doualla (Italy)
With a birthdate of November 2009, Kelly Doualla is one of the youngest athletes competing in Tampere but the 15-year-old is an athlete with a vastly growing profile.
In her most recent competition, Doualla broke the European U18 100m best at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje with 11.21, a time which puts her top of the European U20 list against athletes up to four years her senior.
And at 15, Doualla is also eligible to compete on home soil at next year’s European Athletics U18 Championships which take place in Rieti.
Allika Inkeri Moser (Estonia)
The first record of the European Youth Olympic Festival came in the very first final as Estonia’s Allika Inkeri Moser won pole vault gold by a Duplantis-esque margin of 47 centimetres with a world U18 best of 4.52m.
The 17-year-old, who is coached by 2000 Olympic decathlon champion Erki Nool, also sits atop the European U20 list with Tampere 2025 one week away.
Anastazja Kus (Poland)
The newest Polish one-lap prospect is Anastazja Kus who stormed to 400m gold at the European Athletics U18 Championships last year in a championship record and Polish U18 record of 51.89.
Kus, who was part of Poland’s silver medal-winning team in the 4x400m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, is rounding into title-contending form having recently won the Polish U20 title in 52.01, the second fastest time of her career.
Pedro Afonso (Portugal)
Only 18, Pedro Afonso is one of the rising prospects of Portuguese athletics after winning the 200m and 400m titles in 20.66 and 45.78 respectively at the Portuguese U20 Championships.
Both times would rank him top of the entry-list but Afonso has opted to focus solely on the 200m individually although expect to see him in Portugal’s 4x100m relay team as well.
Håkon Moe Berg (Norway)
For all of Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s exploits, the Norwegian superstar never won the European U20 1500m title, his bid for gold in 2017 scuppered by a heavy fall in a tactical race on the last lap.
But 19-year-old Håkon Moe Berg, who deputised for Ingebrigtsen at the European Athletics Team Championships 2nd Division in Maribor where he finished second, looks like the athlete to beat in the 1500m in Tampere.
He has reduced his lifetime best to 3:35.41 and leads the entry-list by over three seconds. He is also due to race in the 3000m.
Remi Mourie (France)
Still only 17, Mourie is putting together a glittering CV in major age-group events. The Frenchman recently won the European Youth Olympic Festival long jump title to accompany his gold medal from last year’s European Athletics U18 Championships.
And Mourie begins as the favourite for the long jump title in Tampere. One of the youngest athletes in the field, Mourie is the only athlete to have broken the eight metre-barrier with a European U20 leading mark of 8.05m.
Jana Koscak (Croatia)
Injury forced Jana Koscak to pull out of the heptathlon mid-competition two years ago but the precocious 19-year-old, who holds the world U18 best with 6293 points, has another chance of winning European U20 heptathlon gold in Tampere.
The Croatian won the world U20 title in Lima last year but even that competition was fraught with difficulties with Koscak confined to hospital post-competition with a bacterial infection.
But seemingly fit and healthy again, Koscak scored 6190 points in her most recent heptathlon in Talence. She will be hoping for a less eventful competition in her last significant heptathlon in this age-group.
Aatu Kangasniemi (Finland)
One of Finland’s main medal hopes in Tampere, Aatu Kangasniemi has the unusual - and quite possibly unique - status of being ranked second on the European list in both the shot put (20.51m) and hammer (76.32m) in his age-group.
Can the 19-year-old come away with medals in both events? A potential obstacle for this uniquely gifted athlete is the fact that both finals are scheduled less than four hours apart next Friday (8) which would make the accomplishment all the more impressive.
