Seven field event athletes who triumphed at the Banska Bystrica 2024 European Athletics U18 Championships are seeking a golden double at the Tampere 2025 European U20 Championships on 7-10 August.
In addition, the women’s heptathlon champion from last summer, Enni Virjonen, also returns to the championship arena in front of her home Finnish supporters in what is expected to be one of the most eagerly watched events of the whole championships.
Tampere 2025 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.
There will be event-by-event reports, full results, live blog, daily highlights on YouTube and extensive coverage across all European Athletics social media channels Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and WhatsApp.
Jumps
Estonia’s Allika Inkeri Moser recently set a world U18 best in the pole vault, clearing 4.52m at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje on 21 July and arrives in Tampere as one of the athletes to watch.
Also likely to be in the mix for medals are Dutch duo Elise De Jong and Marijn Kieft who have cleared a Dutch U20 record of 4.50m and 4.47m, respectively this year.
In the women’s high jump, the entries are headed by European U18 champion Lilianna Bátori who cleared 1.93m in the indoor season. The 18-year-old Hungarian has not yet been able to replicate that form outdoors. The form athlete is Ona Bonet, who set a Spanish U20 record of 1.90m in July.
Sweden’s Ayla Hallberg Hossain will start as favourite in the women’s long jump. The European U18 gold medallist heads the rankings with a best of 6.57m this year.
In the women’s triple jump, World U20 bronze medallist Erika Saraceni heads the entries with a best of 14.08m this year. European U18 champion Brenda Džiliana Apsīte of Latvia is also in the line-up and is ranked third on the entries with 13.52m behind Romania’s Daria Vrînceanu (13.65m).
Throws
At the Banska Bystrica 2024 European Athletics U18 Championships, Croatia’s Vita Barbić was one of the stars of the event, winning the women’s javelin and winning bronze in the discus. She competed at the Jerusalem 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships and placed fourth in the javelin aged just 15.
She is top ranked this time round, concentrating on the javelin only. But will have to be at her best to stave off the challenge of home favourite Rebecca Nelimarkka, who was fifth at last year’s World U20 Championships in Lima, one place behind Barbić.
The women’s discus features one of the few defending champions from Jerusalem 2023, Curly Brown of Germany. The 19-year-old is also the top ranked athlete in the entries with a best of 58.99m. Denmark’s Anne Juul Jensen is her most realistic challenger, with a best and national U20 record of 56.39m this season.
Brown’s teammate Nadjela Wepiwe won the European U18 title last year, but will need a significant improvement on her season’s best of 51.54m to contend for medals.
The women’s hammer could be one of the most closely contested of the championships. Germany’s Nova Kienast won European U18 bronze last year but has improved significantly this year to a best of 68.54m.
Another athlete to watch is Sweden’s Patricia Kamga, younger sister of Vanessa, who was fifth in the Paris Olympics. She recently set a new national U20 record of 68.01m. The home challenge will be led by Finland’s Pinja Kärhä who has a best of 66.95m.
European U18 champion Clara Hegemann of Germany is another who could be harbouring medal ambitions. In the women’s shot put, Greece’s European U18 champion Maria Rafailidou heads the rankings with 16.35m.
Heptathlon
Enni Virjonen is a major prospect in her own right, but expectations of Finland multi-eventers have been highlighted by the exploits of Saga Vanninen.
Her international teammate has already won gold in the pentathlon at both the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships and 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing this year and defended her European U23 heptathlon title in Bergen last month.
Virjonen bettered Vanninen’s U18 age group best by more than 250 points when winning gold in Banska Bystrica, but Tampere will certainly present a step up.
As well as the senior implements, Virjonen will also have the formidable field to overcome, including Croatia’s Jana Koščak, the world U20 champion and Hungary’s Sarolta Kriszt, silver medallist in Banska Bystrica and European leader this year with 6225 points from the Hypomeeting in Götzis.