<h2>European Athletics U23 Championships</h2>
This is a biennial outdoor athletics competition for European athletes in the age group 20-22.
It was introduced in 1997 to provide a transition between U20 - formerly junior - competition and the senior ranks but often also attracts established international competitors.
Held&nbsp; in&nbsp; July and attracting more than 1000 competitors, the&nbsp; four-day&nbsp; event&nbsp; is&nbsp; not&nbsp; confined&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; events in the stadium as it can bring the race walking events on the road into the heart of the city.
The most recent edition was held in Tallinn, Estonia in 2021 and the next European Athletics U23 Championships will be in Espoo, Finland between 13-16 July, 2023.

Go back to the autumn of 2019, when Israel Olatunde was 17 years old.&nbsp;
If you took a trip to a park in south Dublin and watched the training of Ireland&rsquo;s leading sprint group, coached by Daniel Kilgallon, Olatunde would not have been the athlete you would pick to become, in 2022, the fastest Irishman of all-time &ndash; an athlete who, in Munich last month, went where no Irish sprinter had gone before and reached a major championship 100m final.
Olatunde produced the best run of his nascent career in that race, finishing sixth in 10.17 to break the Irish record of 10.18, set by Paul Hession in 2007.
But three years ago, feats like that seemed an awfully long way away. Granted, gauging a short sprinter like Olatunde by his pace on 300-metre reps is like grading a gymnast on their ability to play tennis, but still, Olatunde was slogging, suffering, his way through those sessions, outpaced week after week by female training partners like Rhasidat Adeleke and Patience Jumbo-Gula.
&ldquo;The stories are true,&rdquo; he laughs. &ldquo;It was a bit of a shock, a different type of training, but over time I adapted to it. I&rsquo;m not that bad anymore. I have improved my endurance and you see that in the latter part of my race.&rdquo;
Olatunde began working with Kilgallon in September 2019, with Olatunde&rsquo;s previous coach in his native Dundalk, Gerry McArdle, feeling the time was right to hand over the reins of his career as the young sprinter enrolled at University College Dublin. His new coach was hesitant when he learned of Olatunde&rsquo;s plans to continue living at home, which meant three to four hours of commuting each day.
"I thought, &lsquo;That&rsquo;s a red flag, he&rsquo;ll spend half his life on his bus. How can I help him when he&rsquo;ll never be recovered?&rsquo;&rdquo; says Kilgallon. &ldquo;Gerry said to give it a go for six weeks and I said, &lsquo;no problem.&rsquo; The last thing Gerry said to me was, &lsquo;This guy&rsquo;s got something special. I don&rsquo;t know what that is, but he has something special.&rsquo;&rdquo;
In time, Olatunde would prove that.
He took up athletics in his early teens, but despite knocking on the door several times, Olatunde never won an Irish schools&rsquo; title. But in 2019, he broke the Irish U18 100m record, clocking 10.63. After linking up with Kilgallon later that year, he had a long period of adjusting to the new training methodology, but on that front the pandemic proved a blessing in disguise.
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Olatunde had been the Irish U20 100m champion in 2018 and 2019 and, in 2020, Kilgallon felt the pressure to keep him on top. But he also knew Olatunde might have to take a backwards step at first to get where he ultimately wanted to go.
&ldquo;Israel didn&rsquo;t run a PB that first (indoor) season and I could see he was concerned but when you&rsquo;re fixing technical issues you have to slow down a bit before you can go faster again,&rdquo; says Kilgallon. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re looking at the long game.&rdquo;
With the pandemic leaving scant racing opportunities outdoors in 2020, Kilgallon&rsquo;s group agreed to just train through that summer, doing a cycle of three weeks on followed by one week off. &ldquo;Israel had time to adapt to the new training philosophy and strength and condition that, if Covid didn&rsquo;t hit, he might not have adapted to as well,&rdquo; says Kilgallon.
In 2021, all that work began to bear fruit. Olatunde broke the Irish U20 60m record with 6.73 and lowered his 100m PB to 10.41, also winning the Irish senior 100m title at the age of just 19.
In 2022, he reached a new level again. During the indoor season he lowered his 60m PB to 6.62 and in the build-up to the European Athletics Championships in Munich, he broke the Irish U23 100m record three times: 10.27, 10.26 and 10.24.
But he knew he could go faster.
&ldquo;I found myself finding form and I was learning from my races,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Dan sat me down and was teaching me things. Even when I was running fast, he saw things I could improve.&rdquo;
At the World Indoor Championships in March, Olatunde made a novice mistake in the 60m heats and rushed his drive phase. &ldquo;He stood up straight away once the gun went,&rdquo; says Kilgallon. &ldquo;The race was gone (as) he&rsquo;s not getting up to his max velocity.&rdquo;
Heading to Munich, the two didn&rsquo;t speak of times or places or finals.
&ldquo;It was all about executing the things he&rsquo;d failed to execute in recent races so when he goes to European U23s (next year) he&rsquo;s in a position where he has executed them on the big stage,&rdquo; says Kilgallon.
Olatunde nailed his heat, winning in an Irish U23 record of 10.19 to advance to the semifinals, where he was drawn alongside Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs. The Italian proved a class apart in that, but Olatunde came through to grab the second automatic qualifying spot by finishing runner-up in 10.20.
He went for a massage soon after, relaxing to the sound of classical piano and jazz music before lying around, reading a biography of Muhammad Ali until it was go-time. His warm-up for the final went to plan, except for his final sprint before he entered the call room. It was during that that Olatunde felt one of the air pockets in his Nike spikes burst. It was too late to borrow a pair, so he tried to keep it out of his mind.
&ldquo;It happened before in Austria, at the start of June and I was like, &lsquo;aw crap, but I raced and got a PB and U23 record.&rsquo; But what are you going to do? There&rsquo;s no one else you can borrow spikes off.&rdquo;
He was the youngest in the eight-man European final, but despite already running the two best races of his career in Munich, Olatunde elevated to another level, finishing sixth in 10.17, just 0.04 away from a medal.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just a moment in time, it&rsquo;s a journey,&rdquo; he says of that race. &ldquo;A lot led to this point and of course we were overjoyed, but we weren&rsquo;t surprised.&rdquo;
There was a huge reaction back home, with Olatunde&rsquo;s elated expression splashed across the front pages of national newspapers the next day, and journalists showing up to his family home to interview his parents. After returning to Ireland he was invited on the nation&rsquo;s most popular talk show and the congratulations rained in from far and wide.
&ldquo;It was a bit surprising, I didn&rsquo;t expect people to react this way,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I went a bit viral and I was happy with that. Our sport might go under the radar, but we do deserve attention, and hopefully in the future it&rsquo;s constant attention.&rdquo;
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The night after his 100m final in Munich, Olatunde was back in the Olympiastadion to cheer on his close friend Rhasidat Adeleke in the women&rsquo;s 400m final. They had trained together for a couple of years in Kilgallon&rsquo;s group before Adeleke relocated to the University of Texas at the start of 2021. Olatunde was thrilled to see her finish fifth in the 400m final in an Irish record of 50.53.
&ldquo;I was screaming her on, I got too excited and I lost my voice a bit,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I love watching her race.&rdquo;
Adeleke had also watched Olatunde&rsquo;s final the night before, albeit from the hotel. &ldquo;It was amazing, he&rsquo;s one of my closest friends and to see him get the recognition he deserves and do as well as he did was so inspiring,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I was rooting for him so bad.&rdquo;
Olatunde could follow Adeleke&rsquo;s path to the NCAA next year after he completes his degree in computer science in Dublin, but for the time being he will continue to do what he&rsquo;s doing under Kilgallon&rsquo;s watchful eye.&nbsp;
Both coach and athlete know he&rsquo;s far from the finished product. They know how big the chasm is to being competitive at global championships. Part of getting him there will involve a return to those sessions he loves to hate in the months ahead.
&ldquo;There are things I saw indoors, technical pieces that need to be fixed: his blocks, the way he&rsquo;s holding himself,&rdquo; says Kilgallon.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We will address them over the winter. There&rsquo;s certain sessions Israel can&rsquo;t do because he can&rsquo;t handle them. It&rsquo;s reminiscent of the stuff you&rsquo;d read about people like Donovan Bailey. We do sessions of 120s and Israel might be cooked after two or three. Every athlete is different, but with Israel it&rsquo;s all speed, power, explosiveness and once that&rsquo;s burnt, it&rsquo;s burnt. If you keep pushing it, the session is cooked and he&rsquo;s cooked.&rdquo;
What areas does Olatunde think he can improve?
&ldquo;My transition phase,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s things I need to work on to make my transition smoother. I think I can get much stronger in the gym and literally every part of my race, there&rsquo;s things to improve. We&rsquo;re going to put in some work this winter to see where we can get.&rdquo;
Next year will be busy, with the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul in March, the European U23 Championships in Espoo in July and the World Championships in Budapest in August all in his sights.
&ldquo;He can get to 10.10 and the 10.0s are possible,&rdquo; says Kilgallon. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re aware championships like this, where he ran his three fastest times, don&rsquo;t always happen.&rdquo;
Olatunde is modest by nature, but that shouldn&rsquo;t be mistaken for a lack of confidence. When he thinks about where he came from, and where he&rsquo;s got to, he brims with self-belief about where he might be going.
&ldquo;I want more, I want medals,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;To bring that record down and to become one of the greats of the sport. I&rsquo;m never going to limit myself.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for European Athletics

"I’m never going to limit myself." Olatunde dreams big after breakthrough 2022 campaign

The European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships in Tallinn were hugely successful and record-breaking championships both on and off the track with record participation numbers and live streaming figures two of the principal indicators of success.
In spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic, a record number of athletes participated in both events. A total of 1161 athletes travelled to the European Athletics U23 Championships from 8-11 July which surpassed the previous record total of 1089 athletes from Gavle 2019.
On a similar theme, 1226 athletes travelled to the European Athletics U20 Championships from 15-18 July. This eclipsed the previous record of 1151 athletes from Grosseto 2017.
European Athletics Interim President Dobromir Karamarinov said: &rdquo;First and foremost I would like to pay tribute to the Estonian Athletic Association and the Local Organising Committee for the amazing job they did in hosting two championships back-to-back. In addition to the scheduled organisation of the European Athletics U20 Championships, they also organised the U23 Championships at very short notice and delivered both competitions to the very highest of standards.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;We were able to provide the ideal stage for competition for these two age categories which are so important for the development of our sport in Europe, and in turn we witnessed some truly top class performances.&rdquo;
There was extensive streaming of both championships through the European Athletics website courtesy of European Athletics&rsquo; long-time partner EBU. 
As well as the main feed, their groundbreaking All Athletics platform also housed individual feeds dedicated to field events across the two championships which are available to watch on demand.
The live streaming figures follow the upward pattern of the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships with record figures amassed in both events. Over 235,000 unique viewers tuned in for both events, handsomely surpassing the figures for the 2019 European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships at 150,000 and 188,000 unique viewers respectively.&nbsp;
This shows the continued demand for live athletics across the continent and demonstrates that age-group championships are an attractive product to athletics fans as well as being imperative stepping stones in the development of young athletes.
European Athletics CEO Christian Milz said: &ldquo;The European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships in 2021 were not only an organisational feat by delivering two age category events back-to-back, but were also a record in terms of athlete numbers with approximately 1200 travelling athletes per competition proving a new record for both events.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Off the track the events in Tallinn, Estonia also provided new highs with 238,000 unique users and over 900,000 views for the U23 Championships, and 236,000 unique users and 872,000 views for the U20 Championships, for the live stream and video on-demand supplied via the EBU&rsquo;s All Athletics platform.&rdquo;
More than half of European Athletics&rsquo; Member Federations had medals to celebrate in both championships. A total of 27 Member Federations won medals at the European Athletics U23 Championships with that figure rising to 29 for the U20 equivalent.
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While the traditional superpowers of European Athletics dominate the medal table, there were notable firsts for some of the smaller countries in the Estonian capital. 
Andorra won its first ever European medal at the U23 Championships courtesy of bronze from Nahuel Carabana in the 3000m steeplechase and Muhamet Ramadani won Kosovo&rsquo;s first ever European title in athletics with gold in the shot put at the U20 Championships.
Also at the U20 Championships, high jumper Jonathan Kapitolnik won Israel&rsquo;s first ever gold medal at the European Athletics U20 Championships and 16-year-old long jumper Jeremy Zammit became Malta&rsquo;s first ever European U20 finalist in any event.

Record-breaking participation and streaming figures recorded for European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships

With four gold medals on the last day of the Tallinn 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships, Italy topped the medal table in the Estonian capital with six gold medals and 13 medals in total.
The Germans, who excelled in the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 4x100m on the final day of competition which was briefly delayed by a power outage in the Kadriorg Stadium, finished a close second on the medal table. They also won six gold medals but one fewer silver medal with 12 medals overall.
In terms of medals won, Spain enjoyed a hugely successful four days with 15 medals in total - including three gold medals - while France won 17 medals overall, including a gold medal in a hotly disputed men&rsquo;s 4x400m in which the initial winners, the Netherlands, were disqualified for obstruction on the third leg.
The gold rush for the Italians on the final day began in the morning session with Andrea Dallavalle producing the only 17 metre-plus jump of the triple jump final. Dallavalle sailed out to 17.05m in the third round to surpass the second round lifetime best set by France&rsquo;s Enzo Hodebar who landed at 16.99m, aided by a just about legal wind of 1.9 m/s.
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Dallavalle is one of a handful of athletes who will now turn his focus to the Tokyo Olympics and he will do so after landing his first major title having won silver or bronze medals at three age-group championships prior to Tallinn.
&ldquo;Getting a gold medal was almost a taboo, because I always get silver or bronze. It was a tough competition today, I can't deny it - the French jumpers really made me sweat,&rdquo; said Dallavalle who has extended his lifetime best to 17.35m this season.&nbsp;
The Italians added three more gold medals to their tally in three successive track finals in the evening session. Gaia Sabbatini went through the gears on the last lap of the 1500m final, producing a final lap of 59.83 to win the title in 4:13.98 while a late charge from her teammate Marta Zenoni brought her into silver medal position in 4:14.50.
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Simone Barontini followed suit in the men&rsquo;s 800m final in 1:46.20 before two-time European U20 cross country champion Nadia Battocletti turned the tables on Slovenia&rsquo;s Klara Lukan - who defeated the Italian for the European U20 5000m title two years prior in Boras - with a third gold medal in a hand-timed 15:37.4.
Germany also enjoyed a brilliant final day in Tallinn which was capped by gold medals in both 4x100m relay finals.
The German team had already set a championship record of 43.24 in the heats of the women&rsquo;s 4x100m but their quartet which was led off by individual 100m winner Lilly Kaden surpassed that time in the final, stopping the clock at 43.05 ahead of Spain (43.74) and France (44.15).
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Their male counterparts didn&rsquo;t perform brilliantly in the individual events but they showed equally slick baton passing as a collective to win the men&rsquo;s 4x100m in 38.70 to eclipse not only the championship record but also the European U23 record of 38.77 set by a British quartet at the 2013 edition of the championships. Spain came away with yet another silver medal in 39.00 with Ukraine taking the bronze in 39.45.
Two years after Niklas Kaul won the decathlon title in Gavle, his teammate Andreas Bechmann followed suit with a lifetime best score of 8142 points.
Bechmann only recorded a valid mark on his third attempt in the long jump and the German also cut it fine in the pole vault on the second day, needing all three attempts to go clear at his opening height of 4.80m.
Bechmann was also struggling with a foot injury which particularly affected his high jump but the 21-year-old was fully vindicated in his decision to see out the competition.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Despite the fact that I was thinking about quitting in some moments, I am glad I managed it until the end and that I even won it. I tried my best in every event and just continued step by step,&rdquo; he said.
Three individual lifetime bests took Bechmann to the title in a lifetime best ahead of 8142 points ahead of Sven Roosen from the Netherlands (8056 points) and Norway&rsquo;s Markus Rooth (7967 points), the bronze medallist at the European U20 Championships in 2019.
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There were also some notable performances further down the results list. An astonishing 5.60m performance in the pole vault - a height not even recorded by a decathlete at senior level at either the World Championships or European Championships - propelled France&rsquo;s Baptiste Thiery up to fifth overall with 7915 points while Fran Bonafacic finished sixth with a Croatian record of 7760 points to break the national record held by Josko Vlasic, the father of Blanka, since 1983.
In the 3000m steeplechase, the rangy Istvan Palkovits strode away for victory in an unchallenged 8:34.05 ahead of Portugal's Etson Barros in 8:38.00. There was also a historic medal for Nahuel Carabana who picked up Andorra's first ever medal in European U23 Championships history with bronze in 8:39.17.&nbsp;
"Before the race I was really, really nervous," admitted Carabana. "Of course I felt the pressure of being one of the favourites but lately we have been working on that. It's the first time I feel I am among the best in Europe and I managed to perform well during the race."
Hungary also won the women's long jump final courtesy of Petra Farkas whose fourth round effort of 6.73m bested Germany's Merle Homeier who took the initiative in the first round with a lifetime best of 6.69m.
Full results <a href="https://tallinn21-u23results.european-athletics.com/en/results/athletics/daily-schedule.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
For the 13th edition of the European Athletics U23 Championships, no less that 1161 athletes travelled Tallinn, 72 more than the previous record which was set two years in Gavle.

Italy tops the medal table in Tallinn with a final day gold rush

Ukraine&rsquo;s Yaroslava Mahuchikh amassed a faultless card to win gold in the high jump on the third day of the Tallinn 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships on Saturday (9) evening.
A first-time clearance at 1.89m would have given Mahuchikh the title on countback ahead of Sweden&rsquo;s Maja Nilsson and Slovenia&rsquo;s Lia Apostolovski but the Ukrainian went even higher, clearing 1.95m on her first attempt before soaring over a championship record of 2.00m also on the first time of asking.
At only 19, Mahuchikh becomes the first athlete to have won individual titles at all age groups. After winning European U18 and U20 titles in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019, Mahuchikh graduated to gold on her senior debut at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships and this title in Tallinn duly completes the set.
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Mahuchikh wasn&rsquo;t initially planning to compete against her U23 counterparts but the Ukrainian was fully vindicated in her decision to add this championship to her itinerary on the road to her first Olympic Games in Tokyo.
&ldquo;Tallinn is my beloved city so I really wanted to compete here. I was here for a training camp in the winter. In May, we decided not to come here at this championships because of the Olympic preparation but later on, when we realised I have only two competitions before that I really wanted to come. It was a good and nice evening at the stadium - all heights with the first attempt,&rdquo; said Mahuchikh.
And her goal at the Olympic Games? &ldquo;In Tokyo, I want to jump more than 2.05m, 2.07m,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I want to jump the world record.&rdquo;
Reigning champion Kristjan Ceh from Slovenia was another of the standout names at these championships in the discus and he successfully defended his title, extending the championship record which he broke in the qualifying round.
Ceh added more than one metre to Robert Harting&rsquo;s championship record with 65.59m in the qualifying round and the Slovenian put the mark even further out of sight of any prospective aspirants in years to come with 67.46m in the third round.
&ldquo;It was a great competition and the first throw was already 67 metres. I tried to do more but I was a little too fast and couldn't handle it. I'm happy with the championship record, happy with the results, happy with the competition,&rdquo; summed up Ceh who has also extended his European U23 record to 70.35m this year.
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Ceh, who is also headed to the Olympic Games, was operating on a different plane to the rest of his rivals. The reigning champion won by more than six metres from Belarus&rsquo; Yauheni Bahutski (61.21m) while European U18 and U20 champion Yasiel Brayan Sotero from Spain added another medal to his haul with bronze (58.07m).
Another notable result in the field events came from pole vaulter Ethan Cormont who cleared 5.80m to claim the title.&nbsp;
Cormont needed three attempts to get over 5.70m but the French champion vaulted clear of his rivals with unmatched clearances at 5.75m and 5.80m, both of which he achieved on his first attempts. &ldquo;Stopping at 5.80m - which is a new PB - was a smart choice because with the Olympics coming up, I need to be stronger,&rdquo; he said.
Greece&rsquo;s Emmanouil Karalis won his second successive silver medal with a 5.65m clearance while Norway&rsquo;s Sondre Guttormsen and arguable pre-competition favourite Ersu Sasma from Turkey took a share of the bronze medal at 5.60m.&nbsp;
Full results <a href="https://tallinn21-u23results.european-athletics.com/en/results/athletics/daily-schedule-date=2021-07-10.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Mahuchikh clears a championship record of 2.00m for high jump gold in Tallinn

As well as two championship records being set in the field events, two championship records also fell on the track on the third day of the Tallinn 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships on Saturday (10).
In the men&rsquo;s 400m, reigning world U20 champion Jonathan Sacoor looked back to his best with a smooth passage through the semifinals and while he ran his fastest time in two years in the final, the Belgian couldn&rsquo;t quite arrest the strong finish on his outside from Switzerland&rsquo;s Ricky Petrucciani.&nbsp;
A bronze medallist at U20 level two years ago, Petrucciani decimated his previous lifetime best of 45.69. He stopped the clock at 45.02 to break Frenchman Leslie Djhone&rsquo;s previous record of 45.04 and he only missed the long-standing Swiss record by 0.03 to beat Sacoor (45.17) and European U20 champion Edoardo Scotti from Italy (45.68).
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The championship record in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles also unexpectedly fell as Slovakia&rsquo;s Emma Zapletalova dominated the final from the gun, striding clear in the middle of the echelon before crossing the finish-line in 54.28. She broke Romanian Angela Morosanu&rsquo;s previous mark of 54.50 from 2007 and slashed almost one second from her Slovakian record.
&ldquo;When I was coming to the start, I felt I can do something big and that I am ready to smash my personal best,&rdquo; said Zapletalova, who is headed to the Olympic Games later this month. &ldquo;But this time is a bit shocking for me. The title is just great and I cannot believe it was going so smoothly.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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The times behind the Slovakian were excellent as Sara Gallego produced another significant Spanish performance in Tallinn with a national record of 55.20, one of 13 medals won by the Spaniards thus far. Former European U20 champion Yasmin Giger came away with a bronze medal and a Swiss U23 record of 55.25.
The precocious Alessandro Sibilio put on a masterful display over the last two barriers in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles final to win the first gold medal of the third afternoon session.&nbsp;
Sibilio was no higher than third as the final bend began to unfold but the Italian is renowned for being a strong finisher and he glided over the last two barriers to win the title in a lifetime best and national U23 record of 48.42.
His margin was such that Sibilio even gestured to some of his team members and supporters who were watching from the stands. Had he run through the line, Sibilio might have even eclipsed the championship record of 48.37 which is held by a certain Karsten Warholm from Norway.
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Sibilio will undoubtedly feature in Italy&rsquo;s excellent 4x400m team tomorrow - they won the world U20 title in Tampere, Finland in 2018 - before he will turn his focus to the Olympic Games.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Now I'm going to Tokyo and I want to enjoy it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I'm too happy for now, but the semifinal in Tokyo would be the dream or even the final with the best.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
There were excellent times in the wake of Sibilio. The top five athletes all set lifetime bests with Germany&rsquo;s Emil Agyekum breaking new ground to win silver in 48.96 while Ramsey Angela from the Netherlands set his second lifetime best of the championships to win bronze in 49.07.
There was further success on the track for both Italy and Switzerland. Dalia Kaddari glided to victory in the women&rsquo;s 200m final in 22.64 - just 0.07 shy of the championship record and 0.08 shy of the Italian record - while William Reais from Switzerland closed out the track programme with gold in the 200m in 20.47 ahead of Spaniards Jesus Gomez (20.60) and Pol Retamal (20.76).
One of the closest races of the championships was the 100m hurdles final with Poland&rsquo;s Pia Skrzyszowska defeating Cyrena Samba-Mayela off the final barrier for the title in a lifetime best of 12.77. Samba-Mayela hit some of the hurdles in the latter stages but was still rewarded with a silver medal in 12.80.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I did not have a perfect heat and did not feel it was technically good in the semifinal but I felt well prepared before the final and it all went well. But I hope I can go even faster in Tokyo,&rdquo; said Skrzyszowska, who took an unusual 100m/100m hurdles double at the European Athletics Team Championships Super League in Silesia in late May.She added: &ldquo;I also like the 100m so if the schedule is different and the flat 100m is first in the schedule, I would maybe even try for a double. Maybe at the next championships.&rdquo;
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Other notable results included Spain&rsquo;s Asier Martinez winning the 110m hurdles title in 13.34 into a strong headwind of 1.6 m/s, Lada Vondrova leading a Czech one-two in the women&rsquo;s 400m final ahead of Barbora Malikova - 51.19 to 51.23 - and Great Britain&rsquo;s Isabelle Boffey following up European U18 and U20 titles with U23 gold in the 800m in 2:01.80.
Full results <a href="https://tallinn21-u23results.european-athletics.com/en/results/athletics/daily-schedule-date=2021-07-10.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
&nbsp;

Two championship records tumble on the track in Tallinn

Ukraine&rsquo;s Mykhaylo Kokhan became the first athlete to win individual European U18, U20 and U23 titles with gold in the hammer on the second day of the Tallinn 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships on Friday (9).
And if he wishes to do so, the 20-year-old Kokhan is eligible to return in two years&rsquo; time to defend his title in Espoo, Finland where he could have another crack at the long-standing championship record of 80.88m set by France&rsquo;s Nicolas Figere which dates back to 2001.
Kokhan set a lifetime best of 80.78m only four days ago - the longest ever throw by a 20-year-old - to embellish his title prospects, although the Ukrainian downplayed his prospects of breaking the 80 metre-line for the second time in a week after the qualifying round.
And while Kokhan couldn&rsquo;t indeed produce quite the same calibre of performance in today&rsquo;s final, all four of his valid efforts would have been sufficient to win yet another major age-group title.
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Kokhan produced his best throw of 77.88m in the third round and in a repeat of the 2019 European U20 Championships in Boras where Kokhan broke the European U20 record with the six kilogram implement twice, Greece&rsquo;s Hristos Frantzeskakis won the silver medal behind Kokhan with 75.23m.
Both athletes will be making their first Olympic appearances in Tokyo in just a few weeks&rsquo; time. On his upcoming Olympic debut, Kokhan said: &ldquo;My expectations for the Olympics are to show a good result, not any less than that - I hope! I would like to reach the final and then see how far I can throw.&rdquo;
Turkish race walker Meryem Bekmez also completed the same treble with an unopposed gold medal in the 20km race walk in 1:33:08.
Like Kokhan with the heavier implement in the hammer, Bekmez has made similarly seamless progress through the distance in the race walking events. Bekmez won the 5000m race walk at the inaugural European Athletics U18 Championships in Tbilisi in 2016 before winning U20 10,000m race walk gold three years later in Boras.
Reigning champion and teammate Ayse Tekdal was a distant fifth in 1:37:43 while the expected challenge from neutral athlete Elvira Khasanova failed to materialise as the Russian was disqualified in the tenth kilometre.
Simon Ehammer and Jorinde Van Klinken also followed up their gold medals from the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Boras with titles in Tallinn, albeit in different disciplines.
The gold medallist in the decathlon two years ago, Ehammer won the individual long jump title in Tallinn with his fifth round jump of 8.10m, only five centimetres shy of his national U23 record.
&ldquo;I had an injury after Torun, so I had to take a break for a few months to physically recover. As the injury lasted longer than expected, we decided to focus on the long jump,&rdquo; said Ehammer who was on course for a heptathlon medal in Torun before no-heighting in the pole vault.
&ldquo;This means a lot more than just a gold medal. I missed a medal in Torun, then, I had some misfortunes after that, I didn't make it to Tokyo so this now feels so much more - it's really good.&rdquo;
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Van Klinken won the U20 shot put title in Boras two years ago but the Dutchwoman prevailed in her primary event, the discus, in Tallinn. Even though some of the final was held in steady rain, the world leader at 70.22m produced four throws in excess of the 60 metre-line with her winning effort of 63.02m coming in the second round.&nbsp; &nbsp;
A silver medallist two years ago at the age of 19, Tugba Danismaz came away with the gold medal in the triple jump in Tallinn.
Danismaz produced a national record of 14.09m on the occasion to win the title ahead of European U20 champion Spiridoula Karidi from Greece who led the qualifying round.
Karidi couldn&rsquo;t quite replicate her 14.06m performance yesterday with 13.95m but the 20-year-old who lives from Corfu will be eligible to compete at the next edition in 2023 by virtue of her 2001 birthdate.
Full results <a href="https://tallinn21-u23results.european-athletics.com/en/results/athletics/daily-schedule.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Kokhan and Bekmez complete the set of European age-group titles in Tallinn

Adrianna Sulek took the lead in the heptathlon after the high jump and the Pole went on to capture the title with 6305 points, the third highest score in the heptathlon at the European Athletics U23 Championships.
After struggling to hit the take-off board, Sulek was limited to a 6.03m performance in the long jump which blew her off championship record pace but the world U20 bronze medallist and overnight leader closed out her campaign with two strong performances in the afternoon to take her score in excess of the 6300 point-mark.
Sulek set a season&rsquo;s best of 40.89m in the javelin before an extravagant final flourish in the 800m took her to the individual victory in 2:12.79 and more importantly the gold medal.
Her score of 6305 points has only been surpassed at this event by championship record-holder Aiga Grabuste from Latvia who scored 6396 points in 2009 and by Switzerland&rsquo;s Caroline Agnou who won this title in 2017 with 6330 points.
&ldquo;Only two weeks ago, I ended the cooperation with my coach and I came here alone with the help of some other Polish coaches. It was like a big test before Tokyo here. I do not know what is going to happen there but now I am confident I can do well," said Sulek.
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Behind Sulek, Spain&rsquo;s Claudia Conte overhauled Great Britain&rsquo;s Holly Mills for the silver medal on the second day. A renowned second day performer, Conte pulled out a throw of 47.04m in the javelin to Mills&rsquo; 37.38m to leapfrog the Brit and that is how the medal positions stayed in the last event.
In a high quality competition, the top six finishers all broke the 6000 points-barrier despite the varying conditions across the two days and the seven events.
Tomorrow morning sees the decathletes take to the track with the 100m to begin proceedings at 10.00am local time.
The 100m titles were also decided at the conclusion of the second day of competition in the Estonian capital.
Jeremiah Azu pulled up injured and crumpled to the track when he was on course for 100m gold at the European U20 Championships in Boras two years ago but the Brit richly made amends with a confident piece of sprinting.
Azu dominated the final out of the blocks and he could even afford to gesture at the clock and showboat across the finish-line, winning in 10.25 ahead of reigning champion Henrik Larsson from Sweden in 10.36 on a damp track in the Kadriorg Stadium.
[TWITTER ID="http://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1413555554451132421"]
&ldquo;I can't find the proper words. It has been so hard. It is a very emotional moment for me. It was so difficult to get back after the injury. I feel absolutely stunned,&rdquo; said Azu after winning Great Britain&rsquo;s first gold medal of the championships.
Germany&rsquo;s Lilly Kaden set a lifetime best of 11.28 in the 100m semifinal and she produced a performance which was intrinsically even better in the final. Kaden was particularly strong in the last quarter of the race and she came away with the title in 11.36 into a 1.3 m/s headwind ahead of fellow semifinal winners Rani Rosius from Belgium (11.43) and Brit Kristal Awuah (11.44).&nbsp;
&ldquo;It is like my dream came true,&rdquo; said Kaden. &ldquo;Everything went well today and I am so excited to win. The time is not important to me, the gold medal is the main thing. I think I deserve a nice small celebration today with some good dinner, cake, and then I will get ready for the relay.&rdquo;
Full results <a href="https://tallinn21-u23results.european-athletics.com/en/results/athletics/daily-schedule.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Sulek captures European U23 heptathlon title with 6305 points

After a no-throw on his first attempt, Slovenia&rsquo;s Kristjan Ceh made no such mistake with his second throw in discus qualifying on the second session of the first day of the Tallinn 2021 European Athletics U23 Championships.
Sporting his trademark glasses and baseball cap, Ceh launched the discus not only in excess of the automatic qualifying line of 59.00m but also further than Robert Harting&rsquo;s long-standing championship record of 64.50m with 65.59m.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I am always a bit nervous before each competition. It is stressful. I was in a bit of a hurry and the first attempt did not go technically well. I had to get relaxed before the second throw and it went well. I feel 100 percent ready,&rdquo; said Ceh.
[TWITTER ID="http://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1413139074769035265"]
Other automatic qualifiers were Belarus&rsquo; Yauheni Bahutski (62.77m) and reigning European U18 and U20 champion Yasiel Brayan Sotero from Spain (59.86m) while Martynas Alekna from Lithuania qualified on distance with 57.16m.
Martynas is the son of the legendary discus thrower Virgilijus and his younger brother Mykolas is the big favourite for the gold medal at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tallinn which begin next Thursday.
Poland&rsquo;s Adrianna Sulek amassed a brilliant first day in the heptathlon and she is on course to challenge the championship record of 6396 points held by Latvia&rsquo;s Aiga Grabuste.
After beginning her campaign with 13.43 in the 100m hurdles and then 1.84m in the high jump to top the standings, the 2018 world U20 bronze medallist produced a season&rsquo;s best of 13.16m in the shot put before winning her second event of the day in the 200m with 23.69.
Those efforts take her overall score up to 3838 points ahead of Great Britain&rsquo;s Holly Mills who atoned for an underpar high jump with 13.62m in the shot and then 24.06 in the 200m to bring her tally up to 3688 points.
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Gold medals for Menacho and Karpuk on day one in Tallinn
Eduardo Menacho was only ranked eighth on paper based on lifetime bests for the men&rsquo;s 10,000m final but the Spaniard overturned the formbook to win the gold medal with an unmatched last kilometre of 2:41.27.
Menacho caught the long-time leader and arguable pre-competition favourite Pierre Bordeau from France - whose lifetime best was almost one minute faster at 28:36.32 to 29:20.82 - with three laps to go to win by a clear margin in 29:14.92.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still in disbelief; this is all I ever wanted from the start of the season,&rdquo; said the emotional Spaniard who celebrated with his teammates who lined the circumference of the Kadriorg Stadium.
He added: &ldquo;Some people told me it was a crazy thought, that it wouldn&rsquo;t be possible but I think I managed to do it as a result of really hard work throughout the year. Little by little I was showing signs of some progress which really paid off here today.&rdquo;&nbsp;
While Bordeau was swallowed up by the pack and eventually drifted back to finish eighth in 29:38.39, the French still came away with a brace of medals. Florian Le Pallec and Valentin Gondouin broke away from the chasers to win silver and bronze respectively in 29:23.82 and 29:24.40.
[TWITTER ID="http://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1413174259967578115"]
In the first field event final of the programme, Belarus&rsquo; Dzmitry Karpuk dominated the men&rsquo;s shot put final. He was the only thrower to surpass the 20 metre-line, a feat he achieved with four of his six throws.
His winning effort came in the first round with 20.33m although he wasn&rsquo;t completely satisfied with his performance. &ldquo;My feelings are mixed because I really wanted to achieve a personal best. But on the other hand, I won and this is my first big European medal. The result should have been better but this is life,&rdquo; he said philosophically.
In the triple jump, European U20 triple jump champion Spiridoula Karidi led the two pools of qualifying. The ebullient Greek bounded out to 14.04m on her second attempt to record the only 14 metre-plus jump of the competition.
Fellow European U20 champion Simon Ehammer also impressed in the long jump qualifying with a season&rsquo;s best of 7.95m but the Swiss decathlete was narrowly eclipsed by Spain&rsquo;s Jaime Guerra who led the two pools with 7.96m.
On the track, Great Britain&rsquo;s Jeremiah Azu qualified fastest for the men&rsquo;s 100m final with a lifetime best of 10.19 while Belgium&rsquo;s Rani Rosius was propelled to a 11.16 clocking in the women&rsquo;s 100m final thanks in part to a 3.0 m/s tailwind.
[TWITTER ID="http://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1413193951583080453"]
Full results can be found <a href="https://tallinn21-u23results.european-athletics.com/en/results/athletics/daily-schedule.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Ceh surpasses Harting’s championship record in discus qualifying in Tallinn

European Athletics U23 Championships

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SPAR has been the principal sponsor of European Athletics since 1996, becoming synonymous with the sport during this period. Athletics is a sport where personal endeavour is combined with team participation to achieve success, and SPAR identifies with this principle through its national partners by ensuring that consumers enjoy shopping at SPAR. SPAR retailers continue to develop the brand through sponsorship awareness and through the critical link with individual athletes who are also customers of independent retailers. SPAR is proud to be involved with European Athletics, an organisation which strives to bring passion and enthusiasm for their sport to viewers, spectators and participants.

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European Athletics U23 Championships

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Malikova's incredible anchor leg | Tallinn 2021

Mahuchikh soars over 2.00m | Tallinn 2021

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European Athletics U23 Championships

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