The European Athletics U23 Championships is a biennial event including some of the continent’s rising stars, this year's event takes place in Bergen on 17-20 July.
Bergen 2025 will be the fifteenth staging of the event which was first held in Turku, Finland in 1997 as an opportunity to support the development of performance athletes emerging from the U20 age group.
This will be the first time the event has been held in Norway, but the sixth occasion it has been held in a Nordic country, following on from Turku 1997, Gothenburg 1999, Tampere 2013, Gävle 2019 and Espoo 2023.
The best athletes en route to the top
The European Athletics U23 Championships are a proven stepping stone for some of the world’s greatest athletes.
The last edition in Espoo 2023 witness Norway’s Markus Rooth winning the men’s decathlon before going on to win Olympic gold a year later in Paris, Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson take women’s 400m bronze before winning Olympic 800m gold and Finland’s Saga Vanninen triumph in the heptathlon before becoming world and European indoor heptathlon champion this year.
Previous winners include world record holders and Olympic gold medallists Karsten Warholm of Norway (400m hurdles, Bydgoszcz 2017) and Yaroslava Mahuchikh (women’s high jump, Tallinn 2021).
What is the format?
Athletes competing must be aged between 20 and 22 years old as of 31 December of the year of the competition. Therefore, no athletes can compete at the European Athletics U20 Championships - which will take place in Tampere, Finland on 7-10 August – and the European Athletics U23 Championships in the same year.
The disciplines are the same as the Olympic track and field programme across sprints, distance, hurdles, jumps and throws (including senior sizes for the implements). The are male and female 4x100m and 4x400m relays, but no mixed 4x400m. The race walk events will be 10,000m on the track in Bergen 2025 rather than 20km on the road, as they have been at every previous edition.
Who to look out for
There are nine defending champions from the Espoo 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships seeking back-to-back doubles at Bergen 2025:
- Blessing Afrifah (ISR) - men’s 200m
- Stefan Nillessen (NED) – men’s 1500m
- Ismail Nezir (TUR) – men’s 400m hurdles
- Ali Eren Unlu (TUR) – men’s high jump
- Juho Alasaari (FIN) – men’s pole vault
- Tizian Lauria (GER) – men’s shot put
- Artur Felfner (UKR) – men’s javelin
- Yemi Mary John (GBR) – women’s 400m
- Saga Vanninen (FIN) – women’s heptathlon
There are 10 medallists from the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships competing in Bergen 2025.
- Maksymilian Szwed (POL) – men’s 400m, silver
- Matteo Sioli (ITA) – men’s high jump, bronze
- Bozhidar Saraboyukov (BUL) – men’s long jump, gold
- Henriette Jæger (NOR) – women’s 400m, silver
- Angelina Topić (SRB) – women’s high jump, silver
- Engla Nilsson (SWE) – women’s high jump, bronze
- Saga Vanninen (FIN) – women’s pentathlon, gold
- Isaya Klein Ikkink (NED) – men’s 4x400m, gold
- Markel Fernandez (ESP) – men’s 4x400m, silver
- Emily Newnham (GBR) – women’s 4x400m, silver; mixed 4x400m, bronze
Also worth watching:
- Niels Laros (NED) – prodigiously talented Dutch athlete, who is a twice European U18 and European U20 gold medallist, he is targeting another double, this time an audacious quest for 800m and 5000m titles, was the male rising star at last year’s European Athletics Golden Tracks awards
- Adriana Vilagos (SRB) – still only 20, she is twice world U20 gold medallist and twice European Athletics Championships silver medallist (Munich 2022, Roma 2024) was the female rising star at last year’s European Athletics Golden Tracks awards. With 67.22m, she is ranked second in the world this year
- Audrey Werro (SUI) – twice European U20 champion at 800m (Tallinn 2021 and Jerusalem 2023), she is emerging as a real force at senior level, she arrives in Bergen 2025 as the world no3 with a best of 1:57.25 this year
How to watch
There will be extensive live streaming and television coverage. Bergen 2025 will be streamed in its entirety through the European Athletics website courtesy of Eurovision Sport, where additional live streams will be available, and will be accompanied by expert English-language commentary provided by Ellen Ellard and Alex Seftel. It will also be televised in the following territories:
Full event reports, live results and a live blog will also be available on the European Athletics website (registration sign-up required). There will also be regular postings on the European Athletics social media channels, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X and daily highlights on the European Athletics YouTube channel.
Useful links
- Final entries
- Women’s track preview
- Men’s track preview
- Women’s field preview
- Men’s field preview
- 2023 results
- Timetable