Rising Czech prospect Filip Toul completed the first part of a potential distance running double, winning the men’s 1500m with a tactically astute run at the European Athletics U18 Championships in Banska Bystrica on Saturday (20) morning.
Poised on the shoulders of the early leaders Alois Abraham from France and Italy's Luca Cavazzuti, Toul kept a watching brief throughout.
And when Serbia’s Aldin Catovic surged to the front with 600 metres to go, Toul tracked his every move. On the last lap, the pair fought for supremacy on the back straight and it was a battle the Czech won.
Catovic bravely tried to regain the lead in the finishing straight, but Toul was too strong. He clocked a 53.22 last lap to win in 3:54.77. Catovic was rewarded with silver in 3:55.14 and bronze went to Abraham in 3:56.55. Toul, still only 16, is also entered for Sunday’s 3000m.
“I could go quicker but considering that I have another discipline tomorrow - 3000m - I am satisfied,” he said. “I feel comfortable, I saved as much energy as I needed for tomorrow’s finals.
“It would mean everything to win two gold medals at the European Championships. I wear Kenya's bracelet because I like what it represents - hard work and dedication. If you do that, you can become the best.”
Still only 16, Toul has already achieved a lifetime best of 3:40.98 which has only been bettered by Niels Laros (3:39.46) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:39.92) among European U18 athletes.
Pye wins 3000m thriller
There was a thrilling finish in the women’s 3000m where Katie Pye just got the better of Germany’s Julia Ehrle in the race to the line. Bronze went to Pye’s British team-mate and long-time leader Olivia Forrest.
Forrest took on the pace from the start and the field began to stretch out at the halfway point. With two laps to go, the medal contenders were whittled down to five, including Norway’s Venus Teffera and Hungary’s Fanni Szalai alongside Pye, Forrest and Ehrle.
The German began a bold run from home with 600m to go. It looked to be a decisive break at the bell as she led by 20 metres. But Ehrle began to falter on the back straight and it gave the chasing British athletes all the encouragement they needed.
As they entered the final straight, the British duo had closed the gap and looked set fight it out for gold. But the British pair bumped elbows and Ehrle, seemingly beaten, managed to dredge a sprint finish from an ever-emptying well. Pye gradually edged ahead to win in 9:20:25, Ehrle clocked a new personal best of 9:20:31 for silver with Forrest winning bronze in 9:21.66.
“I wanted this medal, but it was so hard,” said Pye. “My legs hurt so much but I kept sprinting towards the line and got it just in the finish. It was a close race. What I learned today is that you need to believe until the last 100 metres. It all came down to the home straight.”
Romania wins first gold of championships
Ștefan Alexandru Ciobanu won Romania’s first gold medal of the championships, winning the men’s shot put with a sixth round 19.99m. First place was already secured by the European U18 leader with a second round 19.58m before his final flourish.
Sweden’s Ludvig Ellgren, fifth in Friday’s men’s discus, got onto the podium this time, a fifth-round personal best of 19.19m earning him silver.
Jan Ferina of Croatia took bronze with a final round 19.04m. It was the same mark as Moldova’s Denis Cutcoveţchi’s fifth round throw but Ferina’s second best mark of 19.00m in the second round meant he snatched bronze.
Barbic's double bid cranks up
Croatia’s Vita Barbic put in a double shift to progress through the women’s discus and women’s javelin qualifiers. Her opening throw of 47.23m was good enough to come through the discus.
Later in the session, as world U18 leader, progress in the javelin was always likely to be even more routine for the talented Croatian. And so it proved, as she led the qualifiers with a first round 55.13m.
"I woke up around 5.00am and went to breakfast really early. I think I was here the first one on the stadium and I started warming up so I could be prepared for both events," said Barbic on her busy morning.
"Some people think that doing one of these events make the other one weaker. But it does not work this way for me. I always wanted to do both and they both go well. I think it is very unique to combine these two."
The women’s discus qualifiers were headed by Germany’s Nadjela Wepiwe, who added 3.19 metres to her previous best for a European U18 lead of 53.13m.
The women’s discus final will take place in the first session on Sunday (21) and the javelin final on Sunday’s evening session.
Czechs head 400m hurdles qualifiers
Czechia is set for a strong medal assault in the 400m hurdles events after Czech athletes topped the qualifiers in both the men’s and women’s semifinals.
In the men’s competition, Czech athletes Michal Rada and Marek Váňa headed the qualifiers for Sunday’s final. Rada won the second semifinal in a European U18 lead of 50.97 while Vana also impressed, winning the third semifinal in a personal best of 51.93.
The women’s final qualifiers are led by Michal's twin sister Nina Radová, winner of the second semifinal in 58.99.
Hrabar leads decathlon standings after three events
In the decathlon, Portugal’s Denis Hrabar leads the field after the opening salvos. Bolstered by a long jump personal best of 6.94m (-0.9m/s), he threw the furthest shot of the competition with 16.04m. And along with a 11.47 (0.0m/s) clocking in the 100m, it added up to 2412 points with seven events still to come.
Poised on his shoulder are Estonian athletes Tristan Konso and Ron Puiestee. European U18 lead Konso started strongly with 10.90 (0.0m/s) in the 100m. He was below his best in the long jump with 6.74m (+0.2m/s), but he rallied in the shot put with a personal best of 13.88m for a cumulative score of 2357 points.
Puiestee opened with a personal best 11.19 (0.0m/s) in the 100m, consolidated with a 7.05m (0.0m/s) long jump and landed a 12.91m in the shot put to occupy third place with 2307 points. There was bitter disappointment for Germany’s Paul Gunther, ranked second ahead of the competition, after he failed to register a valid mark in the long jump.
European U18 leader Bori Rózsahegyi of Hungary needed a final round effort of 6.06m (-1.3m/s) to make it through to Sunday’s women’s long jump. But it was good enough to top the qualifiers overall.
The men’s triple jump qualifiers were led by France’s Emmanuel Idinna with a personal best of 15.25m (-0.6m/s). European U18 leader Stanislav Havryliuk of Ukraine wasn’t as fluent as he might have hoped, but his third round 14.91m (-0.6m/s) was enough to see him through.
In the medley relays, Poland were fastest qualifiers from the women’s event with a world U20 lead of 2:08:49 and the Italian quartet were the most impressive qualifiers from the men’s heats, clocking a European U18 lead of 1:53.91.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics