14th July 2013 08:02
Sprints and hurdles
Jodie Williams completed a brilliant sprint double in Tallinn two years ago and Britain has realistic hopes of hanging on to both titles in Rieti through Sophie Papps in the 100m and Dina Asher-Smith in the longer sprint. The Britons' cause is helped by the absense of Sweden's sensational 16-year-old World Youth champion Iréne Ekelund who has clocked national junior records for both distances this year and leads the rankings with 11.35 and 22.92.
Papps will battle Stella Akakpo of France and Anna-Lena Freese of Germany for the 100m honours, while Asher-Smith starts as favourite for the 200m where she will be ably backed-up by compatriot Desiree Henry. Freese will have fellow-German Gina Lückenkemper for company in that event. Akakpo and Tessa Van Schagen of the Netherlands will also be among the main medal contenders.
Four women have broken 53 seconds for 400m so far this year, headed by Poland's Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz who clocked a national under 23 record of 52.11 on 4 July. Wyciszkiewicz picked up a relay silver in Tallinn two years ago aged 17, and will have her sights set on the top prize in the individual event this time. Bianca Razor knows what that's all about having pocketed gold aged 16 in 2011 running sub-52. The in-form Romanian is back to defend her crown after finishing sixth at the World Juniors last year. Russian pair Yekaterina Renzhina and Yana Glotova will also be in the frame.
World Junior and World Youth silver medallist Noemi Zbí¤ren is the outstanding favourite for the women's high hurdles. Zbí¤ren lowered her own Swiss junior record to 13.04 at the end of June and on top form has almost a third of a second to spare over the rest of the field. Sarah Lavin has also been re-writing the record books, three times improving the Irish junior record, most recently to 13.36 on 2 July. Germany's World Junior finallist Franziska Hofmann, Heloise Kane of France and Britain's Yasmin Miller have all dipped under 13.50 and will threaten for medals.
The one-lap hurdles looks like a tighter affair with four women below 58 seconds this year, headed by Hayley McLean who was sixth in the 2011 World Youth championships. The Briton has taken more than a second from her PB this season and defeated her closest rival Vilde Svortevik of Norway, a World Junior finallist, in Mannheim at the end of June. Denmark's Stina Troest and ‰meline Bauwe of France should challenge the two principals, while Bauwe's teammate Joan Medjid and Russia's number one Yekaterina Golovataya cannot be discounted.
Endurance
Gutsy June victories at the European Team Championships in Gateshead and the Birmingham Diamond League mean 18-year-old Jessica Judd is already one of Britain's stars of the summer. After winning World Junior silver last year, she will look for her now renowned finishing kick to carry her to a first championships title. Judd holds the only sub-two minute time in the 800m field and will start as favourite, although the astonishing 17-year-old Aníta Hinriksdóttir came close when she broke Iceland's senior record in Mannheim recently, clocking 2:00.49. Hinriksdóttir was fourth in that World Junior final last year and has just won the World Youth title in Donetsk. Ukraine's Olena Sidorska and Ireland's Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner have produced good times this year, while Christina Hering is the best of a strong group of Germans.
Judd and Hinriksdóttir have opted out of the 1500m where they would also have been medal contenders, while Sofia Ennaoui has made the opposite decision. The Pole heads the metric-mile rankings on time by almost two seconds with a best this year of 4:12.05. The absence of Britain's Georgia Peel means Ukraine's pair of Nataliyas, Pryshchepa and Soltan, are likely to be her closest rivals while Russia's Aleksandra Guliaeva and Romanian Lenuta Simiuc should be in the mix.
Ennaoui has medal hopes in the 3000m too where Jip Vastenburg will be a big favourite. The Dutch athlete has broken national junior records for 3000m and 5000m this summer and won the European Team Championships first league event in Dublin. Britain's Emelia Gorecka will be a threat at both distances after winning 5000m silver in Tallinn and World Junior bronze at 3000m last year. The same goes for Maya Rehberg if she competes – the German steeplechaser has entered for all three events. Russia has strong medal chances at 3000m, through Anna Petrova, while Alena Kudashkina will be the woman to beat at 5000m after she ran 15:31.06 to break the Russian junior record last month.
Rehberg was sixth in the 3000m steeplechase final at the World Junior championships last summer, the second European home, but she will need to be at her best to claim a medal in Rieti where three athletes start with sub-10 minute times to their credit. Sweden's Maria Larsson heads the field thanks to her national junior record of 9:56.50 while Marusa Mismas was almost as quick when she broke the Slovenian senior record with 9:58.93 in Kaunus. Finland's Oona Kettunen has also broken 10 minutes this year and should battle Rehberg for a minor medal.
Field events
With Bohdan Bondarenko beating all-comers across the globe, it has already been a great year for Ukrainian high jumping, and Iryna Herashchenko and Kateryna Tabashnyk will hope to keep it that way in Rieti. Herashchenko was seventh at the World Juniors last year and is the top European junior this season with 1.91, 2cm higher than her compatriot. Russia's Irina Ilieva could be also be in the hunt, while both Leontia Kallenou of Cyprus and Latvian Undine Dindune have been flying high with national junior records of 1.87 and 1.86.
If the high jump belongs to Ukraine, the pole vault is shaping up to be an Italian job. The hosts' Roberta Bruni picked up World Junior bronze behind Swedish superstar Angelica Bengtsson in Barcelona last year, and set a new Italian under 23 mark at 4.40 early this summer, only to be eclipsed by Sonia Malavisi who went a centimetre higher in Rieti. Those two will be well supported in the Raul Guidobaldi Stadium where Britain's Lucy Bryan could emerge as the main threat to an Italian one-two. Bryan has also cleared 4.40 this year, breaking Katie Byres's UK junior record. Kristina Bondarenko carries Russian hopes while Femke Pluim of the Netherlands and Germany's Desiree Singh could also be contenders.
Ukraine has strong medal chances in the horizontal jumps too, not least through Maryna Bekh, whose 6.78 leads the long jump standings from Germany's Malaika Mihambo and Florentina Marincu of Romania. Bekh was a World Junior finallist last year and is joined here by compatriot Bohdana Melnyk who has leapt 6.41 in 2013. Mihambo reached 6.80 wind assisted so she'll be hard to beat, while the claims of Britain's Jazmin Sawyers cannot be ignored. The World Junior bronze medallist exceeds 6.60-plus at her best, and improved her SB from 6.30 to 6.50 at the UK championships this weekend.
Vasylyna Bovanko and Hanna Krasutska carry Ukraine's hopes in the triple jump, but the form book suggests a head-to-head tussle between Italy's new junior record holder Ottavio Cestonaro and the Romanian Marincu who comes fast-footing from her triumph at the World Youth championships in Donetsk where she jumped 13.75. The hosts also have medal hopes in Francesca Lanciano while Sweden's Lynn Johnson should also be in the mix.
The shot is set to be a two-way tussle between Türkiye's 17-year-old Emel Dereli and Britain's World Junior finallist Sophie McKinna. Both have breached 17 metres this year, while no one else has yet been beyond 15.75m. Belén Toimil of Spain and Sweden's Fanny Roos could fight for bronze.
Ukraine's Tetyana Yuryeva is a clear favourite for the discus, her season's best of 57.08 more than a metre and a half further than her nearest challenger, Natalya Shirobokova of Russia. Julia Hartwig will hope to keep Germany on the podium following Shanice Craft's victory over Anna Rüh last time, while two Poles, Karolina Makul and Monika Nowak, also have serious medal hopes.
Three junior women have thrown the hammer beyond 66 metres in 2013 and all three are ready to do battle in Rieti. Hanna Zinchuk of Belarus is the best so far with 66.16 but Poland's Malwina Kopron and Alyona Shamotina of Ukraine are close behind. Other contenders come from Hungary, through Réka Gyurátz, and Greece, via Iliána Korosídou, while Poland's Katarzyna Furmanek will hope to join Kopron on the podium.
World Junior champion Sofi Flinck is the outstanding entrant in the javelin. The Swede dominated proceedings in Barcelona when she was still a Youth, breaking her national senior record with an effort of 61.40. She's been close to her best already this season with 60.96, almost 2.5 metres further than anyone else in the field. Russia's Yekaterina Starygina and Tetyana Fetiskina of Ukraine should be fighting for the minor medals against Germany's Christin Hussong and two women who have set national under 23 records – Eva Vivod of Slovenia and Croatia's Sara Kolak.
Combined events
Dafne Schippers was one of the stars of the 2011 championships and Nafissatou Thiam will be favourite to follow the multi-talented Dutchwoman as European junior heptathlon champion. The Belgian broke the world junior pentathlon record indoors this year, and squeezed over 6000 points for the first time in April when she broke her own national junior heptathlon record. Sweden's Sofia Linde will be Thiam's main rival after finishing fourth at the World Juniors last year, while Slovakian Lucia Mokrásová and Nadine Visser of the Netherlands are among the other medal contenders. Thiam's teammate, Marjolein Lindemans, will also have podium hopes.
Walks
Yelena Lashmanova got the Tallinn championships off with a bang two years ago when she smashed the world junior record leading a Russian clean sweep of the womens' 10,000m walk on the first morning. With seven leading the European standings, Russian walkers are sure to dominate again in Rieti led by Oksana Golyatkina and Nadezhda Leontyeva who won the junior road races in Dudince and Lugano respectively earlier this year. Golyatkina also won the Russian junior championships by a minute in June and will no doubt target Lashmanova's record of 42:59.48 in Rieti. Of the rest, the Belarus pair of Viktoryia Rashchupkina and Anastasiya Rodzkina, plus Italy's Anna Clemente, appear best placed to follow the Russian train.