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The beginner's guide to the Tampere 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships

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The beginner's guide to the Tampere 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships

3rd August 2025 20:29

The European Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial event which is a proven stepping stone for some of the biggest stars in the sport.

This year’s event takes place in Tampere 7-10 August. It is the 28th edition and will be the second occasion the Finnish city has hosted the event, following the 2003 staging.

The European U20 Athletics Championships is a key landmark event for emerging talent, gathering the most promising teenage talent in the continent. It is also a much cherished championships in its own right, stretching back to its predecessor, the European Junior Games in Warsaw 1964.

Olympic champions-to-be...

The European Athletics U20 Championships has a rich heritage of athletes who have gone on to be among the sport’s greats.

These include four-times Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah (5000m, Grosseto 2001), twice Olympic champion and seven-time European champion Sandra Elkasevic (discus, Novi Sad 2009), twice Olympic champion and world record holder Armand Duplantis (pole vault, Grosseto 2017), Olympic champion and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh (high jump, Borås 2019), twice Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen (5000m/3000m steeplechase, Grosseto 2017) and Olympic relay gold medallist Femke Bol (400m hurdles, Borås 2019).

The format

There are a total of 44 events (22 men’s, 22 women’s) across the championships with gold, silver and bronze awarded for top three placings.

The disciplines are similar to the Olympic track and field programme with some exceptions. There are a few U20 specifications compared to senior disciplines:

men’s 110m hurdles - 99.1cm (senior men, 106.7cm)
men’s shot put – 6kg (senior men, 7.26kg)
men’s discus – 1.75kg (senior men, 2kg)
men’s hammer – 6kg (senior men, 7.26kg)

There are no 10,000m track races, but a men’s and women’s 3000m races are part of the programme. There are also no road events, with the race walks taking place over 10,000m on the track.

There are 1295 athletes entered from 48 nations, each of whom have achieved the qualifying standard and been selected by their Member Federation, who will also consider performance at their nation’s respective U20 championships.

Each nation can have a maximum of three competitors in each individual event and one team in the relay events. Only athletes aged at least 16 (sixteen) and not more than 19 (nineteen) years on 31 December of the year of the competition may participate in the European Athletics U20 Championships.

What to look out for

There are three individual gold medallists from the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima set to compete in Tampere 2025:

Jarno Van Daalen (NED) – men’s shot put and discus
Meta Tumba (FRA) – women’s 400m and 4x400m
Jana Koscak (CRO) – women’s heptathlon

There are 30 individual gold medallists from the Banska Bystrica 2025 European Athletics U18 Championships entered for Tampere 2025:

Jakob Kemminer (GER) – men’s 100m
Diego Nappi (ITA) – men’s 200 m
Filip Toul (CZE) – men’s 1500 m
Aldin Ćatović (SRB) – men’s 3000m
Bakr El Asri (ESP) – men’s 3000m steeplechase
Michal Rada (CZE) – men’s 400 m hurdles
Svante Svensson (SWE) – men’s high jump
Remi Mourie (FRA) – men’s long jump
Emmanuel Idinna (FRA) – men’s triple jump
Ștefan Alexandru Ciobanu (ROU) – men’s shot put
Jakub Rodziak (POL) – men’s discus throw
Pietro Villa (ITA) – men’s javelin throw
Tristan Konso (EST) – men’s decathlon
Alessio Coppola (ITA) – men’s 10,000 m walk (U18 5000m)
Radina Velichkova (BUL) – women’s 100 m
Elisa Valensin (ITA) – women’s 200 m
Anastazja Kuś (POL) – women’s 400 m
Lyla Belshaw (GBR) – women’s 1500 m
Katie Pye (GBR) – women’s 5000m (U18, 3000 m)
Laura Frličková (SVK) – women’s 100 m hurdles
Nina Radová (CZE) – women’s 400 m hurdles
Lilianna Bátori (HUN) – women’s high jump
Anastasia Boumpoulidi (GRE) – women’s pole vault
Brenda Džiliana Apsīte (LAT) – women’s triple jump
Maria Rafailidou (GRE) – women’s shot put
Nadjela Wepiwe (GER) - women’s discus throw
Clara Hegemann (GER) – women’s hammer throw
Vita Barbić (CRO) – women’s javelin throw
Enni Virjonen (FIN) – women’s heptathlon
Serena di Fabio (ITA) – women’s 10,000 m walk (U18, 5000m)

Also look out for:

Innes FitzGerald (GBR) – twice European U20 cross country champion, new European U20 record-holder over 5000m, mentored by European 10,000m champion Jo Pavey and a European Athletics website columnist. Favourite for gold in the women’s 3000m and 5000m.
Kelly Doualla (ITA) – 15-year-old sprinter who set a new European U18 best of 11.21 in the women’s 100m at the recent European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje
Allika Inkeri Moser (EST) – set a new world U18 best of 4.52m in the women’s pole vault when winning gold at the recent European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje
The javelin competitions – Finland has a long-standing love affair with the event and excitement will be heightened around the men’s and women’s competitions in Tampere where Juho Soikkeli, Topi Parviainen (both men’s) and Rebecca Nelimarkka (women’s) will shoulder their nation’s hopes

How to watch

Tampere 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 commentary in English, French, German (AI translated) and Dutch (AI-translated).

Plus, the European Athletics U20 Championships will be televised in twelve territories. Throughout Tampere 2025, you will be able to access event reports, live results and live blog on the European Athletics website. Or download the European Athletics App on the App Store or PlayStore to follow Tampere 2025.

There will also be regular postings on the European Athletics social media channels, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, WhatsApp and daily highlights on the European Athletics YouTube channel to keep you fully to speed on all the action from Tampere 2025.