Torrential rain caused a slight postponement to the programme at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo on Friday (14). But when the action finally did get underway, it was the athletes that whipped up a storm of their own.
Finland’s Silja Kosonen and Saga Vanninen both gave thunderous performances as they won the home nation’s first gold medals of the championships. And there was some lightning sprinting on a memorable night of track and field.
Double gold for heavy Finnish favourites
Kosonen was a heavy favourite in the women’s hammer, but the expectation had seemingly no effect on the impressive Finn. She opened with a championship record of 73.71m to all but guarantee gold. She then proceeded to give an exhibition of quality hammer throwing, landing four further throws in excess of 70 metres, without ever quite improving her first round throw.
Silver went to Great Britain’s Charlotte Payne with a fifth round 69.22m and bronze to Germany’s Aileen Kuhn with a second round 68.30m.
In the heptathlon, Saga Vanninen was finally able to shrug off the resolute challenge from the Netherlands’ Sofie Dokter to win gold. It was a fascinating battle with the lead changing hands four times over two days. But Vanninen finally grabbed some breathing space in the javelin, the penultimate event.
She sent the spear skywards to a season’s best of 46.55m, it was 91 points better than Dokter’s 41.82m. It gave her a 100 point lead going into the 800m and though Dokter made a bold bid to create the seven second gap she needed, Vanninen kept her well within range.
Dokter won the third heat of the 800m in 2:15.84, her third personal best of the competition, with Vanninen fourth in 2:18.16. With a total of 6317, it meant Vanninen clinched another gold to go with her World U20 titles from both 2021 and 2022. Dokter finished on 6256 with Estonia’s Pippi Lotta Enok winning bronze with 6002.
“When I crossed the finish line, I was so happy,” said Vanninen afterwards. “The gold medal was my goal as it was of course for many other girls, so now I am so relieved. Sofie (Dokter) is in very good condition as well, so I knew she could run the 800 m pretty fast. So, I was a bit nervous. The gold medal is important as such, but it is even more important for me as these are home competitions.”
John pips Jaeger in a 400m thriller
The highly anticipated women’s 400m lived up to the hype as one of the most exciting events of the championships. Norway’s Henriette Jaeger took it out from the gun and quickly made up the stagger on World U20 champion Yemi Mary John immediately outside her in lane seven.
Jaegar still led into the home straight, but John gradually eroded her lead stride by stride, just edging ahead in the last 20 metres to win in a personal best of 51.04. The brave Jaegar dived over the line, skidded along the track in sodden conditions and was rewarded with silver and a national record of 51.06.
European 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson’s speed endurance came to the fore in the closing stages and she came through the pack to win bronze in 51.76, yet another personal best.
Afterwards, Hodgkinson, the Olympic and world silver medallist over two laps said: "The girls were so quick. I was trying to get a new PB and to enjoy the competition. I have learned to be patient with every round and just to trust myself and stay confident. I think my 800m got quicker also thanks to this event. It had been a lot of fun running the 400m."
In the men’s 400,, Norway’s Håvard Bentdal Ingvaldsen maintained his sparking summer form by winning gold in 45.13. Attila Molnar of Hungary went out strongest, but Ingvaldsen’s more measured approach paid off and he took over in the home straight through to the finish. Switzerland’s Lionel Spitz took silver in a personal best of 45.27 as Molnar faded to bronze in 45.36.
Jeremiah Azu retained the men’s 100m in confident style for the third British gold of the day to go with John’s 400m gold and Charlie Hicks’ 5000m victory in the morning session. Azu exploded from the blocks, immediately cranking up the pressure on Dutch rival Raphael Bouju. He maintained his form beautifully to win in a wind assisted 10.05 (+2.1m/s). Bouju hung on for silver in 10.17 with France’s Pablo Mateo third in 10.18.
Afterwards, a delighted Azu said: “I wanted to come over to win and to defend my title I won at the championships two years ago to make a history. Coach told me to just do everything like I did yesterday. I think I had a quick reaction from the blocks and the start is my strong part of the race because running in such high level, it is all about those details.”
In the women’s 100m, the Dutch contingent got the golden moment they craved, as N'Ketia Seedo sped away from the field to win in 11.22 (+0.6m/s) adding European U23 gold to the World U20 bronze she won last year. The silver and bronze went to Hungary’s Boglarka Takacs and Switzerland’s Melissa Gutschmidt who finished in 11.30 and 11.33 respectively.
Vicente completes the set of age-group titles with triple jump gold
Spain’s multi-talented María Vicente returned to the top of a championship podium for the first time in four years, winning the women’s triple with 14.21m (+1.0m/s). It equalled her personal best and completed the first half of her bid for double gold with the long jump also in her sights this week.
The Spaniard won the triple jump at the 2018 European Athletics U18 Championships as well as her more familiar successes in multi-events, where she has also won gold at the 2018 European U18s, 2017 World U18 Championships and 2019 European U20 Championships. But injury has hampered her progress in recent years, so she was delighted to get back to gold medal-winning ways.
“Last year was very difficult for me so coming here and taking the victory is a special moment for me,” said Vicente. “I am very proud about how I managed it, proud of my coach and my team as it was very difficult to come back.”
Sweden’s European U20 champion Maja Askag took silver with 13.76m (-0.3m/s) and Jessica Kähärä was yet another Finnish success story, grabbing bronze with a fifth round effort of 13.59 (+0.3m/s).
In the absence of Hodgkinson from the women’s 800m, opportunity beckoned for some of the continent’s other talents to shine on the big stage. And it was Spain’s Daniela Garcia, 5th two years ago, who seized the moment. With 250m to go, she took over from Germany’s Lucia Sturm and eased away to win in 2.02.96.
Finland’s Veera Mattila had the home crowd on their feet again as she chased her home for silver in a personal best of 2:03.14. Georgia-Maria Despollari of Greece finished strongly for bronze in 2:04.14.
Henrik Flatnes was the second Norwegian gold medal of the night. He won the men’s long jump with a personal best of 7.96m (+1.3m/s), a welcome upgrade on the silver he won at the same event two years ago in Tallinn. Silver went to Germany’s Simon Batz with a best of 7.72m (+0.5m/s) and bronze to Hungary’s Matyas Nemeth with 7.71m (+1.5m/s).
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics