European athletes enjoyed a successful campaign at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, winning 11 gold medals in total.
And while some will graduate into the U23 ranks next year, many have at least one season left in the junior ranks and are expected to star at next year’s European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland from 7-10 August.
Some of the stars from the last edition of the European Athletics U20 Championships who have gone on to senior stardom include Mattia Furlani and Angelina Topic - both silver medallists at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships - and Niels Laros who has already made world and Olympic 1500m finals as a teenager.
Meta Tumba
France’s Meta Tumba was one of the breakthrough performers in Lima, breaking the 56 second-barrier for the first time in her career with 55.59 in the 400m hurdles to win gold by over one second.
That time puts Tumba fifth on the European all-time U20 list and was the fastest time by a European U20 since a certain Femke Bol ran 55.32 - the ratified European U20 record - in the heats of the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
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Tumba still has one more season left in the U20 ranks and the 18-year-old will be looking to add the individual European U20 400m hurdles title to her gold medal from the 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships when she was part of the French 4x400m team which won gold in a dramatic final.
Jana Koscak
The precocious Jana Koscak won U20 heptathlon gold in Lima with a total of 5807 points in cool conditions across the two days.
Still only 18, Koscak holds the European U18 best with an eye-popping score of 6293 points from the 2023 Gotzis Hypo-Meeting and the multi-talented Croatian - who is also a 1.92m high jumper, a mark that would have won gold in Lima - still has one full year left in the U20 ranks.
Injury forced Koscak to abandon her bid for heptathlon glory at the 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships but she will have another opportunity to add the European U20 heptathlon title to her list of achievements in Tampere next August.
Michal Rada
Michal Rada was one of the stars of the European Athletics U18 Championships when he demolished the European U18 best in the 400m hurdles final, clocking 49.42 to shave almost a full second off the previous mark over the 84.0cm barriers.
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Still only 17 and the youngest athlete in the final, Rada almost emulated this feat over the senior regulation barriers in Lima, ultimately winning silver with a lifetime best of 49.30 - just 0.04 off the title.
His time in the Peruvian capital - better than his European U18 best over the 84.0cm barriers, as was his semi-final time of 49.36 - was also a European U18 best over the senior-height hurdles and the second best ever performance by any athlete in this age-category.
If he continues at this rate of progression, Rada will not only fancy his chances of winning gold in the 400m hurdles in Tampere but the championships record of 49.23 could be due for some significant revision as well.
Jarno Van Daalen
Following in the footsteps of her older sister Alida, Jarno Van Daalen demonstrated his adaptability across the heavy throws, coming away from Lima with two medals for posterity.
One of the youngest athletes in both finals, Van Daalen won Europe’s first gold medal of the championships with shot put gold with a lifetime best of 20.76m before adding discus silver to his collection with another lifetime best of 62.20m.
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His next stop will be the European U20 Championships in Tampere where he will be hoping to emulate Alida who won three medals at this age-group in total, including discus gold in Boras 2019.
Tom Tersek
Tom Tersek won gold in the sixth round of the javelin final in Lima, showing his mettle under pressure with a throw of 76.81m to improve from bronze to gold.
Still only 17, the Slovenian has already broached the 80 metre-line with 80.87m and his attention will now shift to the prospect of adding European U20 gold in front of a javelin-loving crowd in Tampere next August.
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Jake Odey-Jordan
Jake Odey-Jordan put his widely-publicised mishap in the 200m heats at the European Athletics U18 Championships squarely behind him with a pair of medals in Lima.
The second youngest athlete in the final, Odey-Jordan won bronze in the 200m before the 16-year-old ran the first leg of Great Britain’s silver medal-winning team in the 4x100m relay who were just pipped by the Jamaicans by 0.02.
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All four members of the British 4x100m team are eligible for next year’s European Athletics U20 Championships and Odey-Jordan is also eligible for the 2026 World U20 Championships in Eugene.