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| British sprinter Jodie Williams will be among the star attractions at the European Athletics Junior Championships to be held in Tallinn, Estonia, through 21-24 July. |
British sprints prodigy Jodie Williams, Swedish pole vault sensation Angelica Bengtsson and Latvia’s javelin world junior record holder Zigismunds Sirmais are three of the star names that stand out among the final entries announced today ahead of the Tallinn 2011 European Athletics Junior Championships.
The 17-year-old Williams is often hailed as the once in a generation talent. The prodigy made her seniors debut at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris and came within one hundredth of a second of winning a medal in the women's 60 metres.
The 100m gold medallist from the World Junior Championships in Moncton last year will be an overwhelming favourite for both the 100 and 200m in Tallinn.
Bengtsson, on the other hand has been shattering all the junior records in pole vault. In February, the 2010 Youth Olympic Games gold medallist, cleared a world junior record of 4.52m at the Swedish junior championships in Satra. A lot will be expected of her in Tallinn.
Latvia's Zigismunds Sirmais stunned everybody when he threw a world junior javelin record of 84.47m at the 11th European Cup Winter Throwing in the Bulgarian capital Sofia in April.
He improved on the previous mark of 83.87m, set by the reigning Olympic, world and European champion Andreas Thorkildsen back in 2001.
The men’s final entries for the 21 – 24 July championships in the Estonian capital are here and the women’s final entries here.
Other notable names in the list of entries for Tallinn include the Netherlands world junior heptathlon champion Dafne Schippers. The 19-year-old is the reigning European junior champion in the event that she claimed in Novi Sad in 2009.
German junior hurdler Gregor Traber made a huge impression when he ran a personal best of 13.55 to win the final at the fifth edition of Weltklasse in Biberach last month.
It was the fastest time by a European junior for nearly 13 years and moved him up to fifth on the European junior all-time list.
It also makes him the clear favourite for his event in Tallinn.