The Gavle 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships were highlighted by five championship records across the four days of competition at the Gunder Hagg Stadium.
One of the outstanding performances came from German decathlete Niklas Kaul who set an outright European lead of 8572 points to break the championship record. Kaul, 21, now has major honours at U18, U20 and U23 level to his credit and few would bet against the German being a very significant factor at major senior championships over the next decade.
Kaul put himself into a virtually unassailable position after setting a championship best of 77.36m - one of the best ever javelins recorded in any combined events competition - to leapfrog the long-time leader Johannes Erm from Estonia.
Kaul set his best ever day one score of 4208 points to put himself in a strong position to challenge for the title and he put together a remarkable second day, topping the standings individually in the last three events - pole vault (4.80m), javelin (77.36m) and 1500m (4:17.63) - to demonstrate his exceptional all-round ability.
While Kaul is making seamless progression through the age-group ranks, Belarusian Elvira Herman added the European U23 title to an already impressive list of senior accolades. Herman made the most of the good conditions to conclude her age-group career with a championship record of 12.70 in the 100m hurdles, eclipsing Noemi Zbaren’s record by 0.01.
Herman was one of three European senior champions from Berlin 2018 in action. Miltiadis Tentoglou won his fourth major title with a European lead and outdoor lifetime best of 8.32m in the long jump - one of four jumps in excess of the 8.20m mark. Unfortunately Jonathan Sacoor, who was part of Belgium’s gold medal-winning team in the 4x400m relay, didn’t even get to run after the Belgian quartet dropped the baton in heavy traffic on the second leg of the final.
The Poles enjoyed another stellar championships with six gold medals to finish second on the medal table. Konrad Bukowiecki and Ewa Swoboda successfully defended their titles as anticipated and Cyprian Mrzyglod added to their tally with a championship record of 84.97m to move from silver to gold in the sixth round of the javelin.
The Germans topped the medal table with nine gold medals, including six on the final day of competition. Their medal haul included gold from Alina Reh who won the 10,000m gun-to-gape in 31:39.34 to eclipse the championship record but her front running exploits came up just short in the 5000m against a rival who had also won a gold medal in a championship record earlier in the week.
Twenty four hours after winning the 3000m steeplechase title for the second time in a championship record of 9:27.31, Moller tracked Reh all the way in the 5000m, launching an impeccable sprint finish to win her second gold medal of the championships - this time in a national record of 15:07.70.
Double gold was a theme throughout the championships. Jemma Reekie came away with a 800/1500m double while Jimmy Gressier won gold medals in both the 5000m and 10,000m, adding to his title haul which includes four gold medals - two individual and two team titles - at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships.
Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek also made an important contribution to the Polish title haul, winning gold in the 400m in a 52.34 PB before running down the British team in the 4x400m relay to win her second gold medal of the championships in 3:32.56.
In total, 30 countries won medals across the four days and 41 participating nations had at least one athlete place inside the top eight in a final.
If you missed anything, you can watch on-demand highlights and interviews from the four days of competition courtesy of EBU here.
Championship records
Elvira Herman (BLR) 12.70 - 100m hurdles
Alina Reh (GER) 31:39.34 - 10,000m
Anna Emilie Moller (DEN) 9:27.31 - 3000m steeplechase
Cyprian Mrzyglod (POL) 84.97m - Javelin
Niklas Kaul (GER) 8572 points - Decathlon
European senior leads
Elvira Herman (BLR) 12.70 - 100m hurdles
Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE) 8.32m - Long jump
Niklas Kaul (GER) 8572 points - Decathlon
European U23 leads
Fabrisio Saidy (FRA) 45.79 - 400m
Wilfried Happio (FRA) 49.03 - 400m hurdles
German 4x400m relay team (GER) - 3:03.92
Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE) 8.32m - Long jump
Necati Er (TUR) 17.37m - Triple jump
Kristjan Ceh (SLO) 63.82m - Discus
Niklas Kaul (GER) 8572 points - Decathlon
Vasiliy Mizinov (ANA) 1:21:29 - 20km race walk
Elvira Herman (BLR) 12.70 - 100m hurdles
German 4x100m relay team (GER) - 43.45
Polish 4x400m relay team (POL) - 3:32.56
Angelica Moser (SUI) 4.56m - Pole vault
Marija Tolj (CRO) 62.76m - Discus