Strong British endurance contenders including twice European U20 cross country champion Innes FitzGerald and Italian speedsters in the sprints look likely to illuminate the women’s track events at the Tampere 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships on 7-10 August.
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.
Here’s an in-depth look at the women’s track events…
Sprints (100m-400m)
Italian Kelly Doualla could be one of the faces of the championships. The 15-year-old leads the entry lists for the 100m with a European U18 record of 11.21, which she set winning gold at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje, North Macedonia on 21 July.
She also set a new European U18 record over 60m in the indoor season with 7.19 in Ancona, Italy in February. The precocious Italian’s main opposition could come from German U20 champion Philina Marianne Schwartz who has ran 11.24 this year.
There is a possibility of an Italian sprint double with European U18 champion Elisa Valensin among the favourites in the women’s 200m. It could be one of the closest events of the championships with Czechia’s Terezie Táborská and Poland’s Wiktoria Gajosz heading the rankings on 23.07, with Valensin and Germany’s Judith Bilepo Mokobe both having clocked 23.11 this year.
In the 400m, Johanna Martin will start favourite. The 19-year-old German set a new European U20 indoor record (52.22) earlier this year and has maintained her excellent form outdoors, finishing sixth in a personal best 51.55 at the Madrid 2025 European Athletics Team Championships 1st Division behind Femke Bol.
Her chief opposition will likely come from the last two European U18 champions; Poland’s Anastazja Kuś who triumphed in Banska Bystrica last year and Britain’s Charlotte Henrich, who won in Jerusalem 2022.
Henrich has improved to 51.59 this year. Kuś has yet to show her best form this summer, but landed a silver as part of Poland’s women’s 4x400m team at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing in March.
Distance (800m-5000m, 3000m steeplechase, 10,000m race walk)
Twice European U20 cross country champion Innes FitzGerald is a hot favourite for a distance double in the women’s 3000m and 5000m. The British runner recently set a new European U20 record of 14:39.56 over 5000m at the London Diamond League.
It’s a time that puts her well over a minute ahead of her nearest rivals on this season’s times and 30 seconds ahead of the pack in the 3000m entries.
Spain’s Marta Mitjans, who was seventh at last year’s World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, is the only sub-two minute runner in the field for the 800m and will start favourite for gold over two laps.
Germany’s Jana Marie Becker, 2022 European U18 silver medallist and Britain’s Shaikira King, who also won European U18 silver last year in Banska Bystrica will be her biggest threats.
In the 1500m, Britain’s Lyla Belshaw will be seeking to add the European U20 title to the European U18 title she won last year in Banska Bystrica.
Sweden’s Carmen Cernjul, European U18 bronze medallist over 800m, is also a likely contender. Cernjul is also a talented footballer, having represented Sweden at the European U17 Championships in 2024. Carnjul is also entered for the 3000m, where she should also be in the mix for medals.
In the 3000m steeplechase, Czechia’s Karolína Jarošová is the defending champion. But the fastest entrant is Norway’s Andrea Nygård Vie with 9:51.72 clocked in Gothenburg on 26 July. She has competed at both the World U20 Championships and the European Athletics U18 Championships and will be seeking her first major medal.
In the 10,000m race walk, Sofia Santacreu will be defending the title she won two years ago in Jerusalem. The Spaniard defeated most of her principal rivals in the U20 race at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, winning in a Spanish U20 record of 43:57.
She faces a field including France's Chloe Le Roch and Italy's European U18 5000m race walk champion Serena Di Fabio who were second and third respectively behind Santacreu in Podebrady.
Hurdles (110m/400m) and relays (4x100m, 4x400m)
World U20 champion Méta Tumba will be seeking to add the European U20 title to her growing collection. She was a member of France’s victorious 4x400m team at the Jerusalem 2023 European U20 Championships and will be looking to add individual glory this time round.
Hungary’s Petra Lalik and Romania’s Alexandra Ștefania Uță, bronze medallist in this event in Jerusalem 2023, also have strong medal credentials.
In the 100m hurdles, Switzerland’s Jil Sanchez has recently clocking 13.01 over the senior barriers in Schifflange, Luxembourg, she will be seeking a gold medal to decorate a breakthrough summer. French U20 champion Laura Montauban who has ran 13.02 this year will also be eyeing the title.
Italy, with Doualla Edimo and Valensin in their ranks, are sure to contend in the 4x100m relay. France, Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland also bring strong squads. In the 4x400m, France led by Tumba, Germany by Martin and Poland by Kuś are sure to be in the hunt for podium places.
