One year after winning at the IAAF World U18 Championships title in Nairobi, Barbora Malikova looks poised to add to her medal haul at the European Athletics U18 Championships in Gyor from 5-8 July. The main question is: which event will she choose to contest in Gyor?
Making the most of the benign conditions on offer for the sprinters in the Kenyan capital, Malikova decimated her lifetime best to win the 400m title in 52.74, which stayed as the fastest time by a Czech athlete over the distance in 2017 ahead of long-time internationals Zuzana Hejnova (53.00) and Denisa Rosolova (53.67).
Malikova could be forgiven for not showing her very best form at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Gyor less than a fortnight later when she won silver in the 400m behind Spain’s Andrea Jimenez but the Czech will be looking to upgrade that medal when the European U18 Championships begin next Thursday.
Malikova is ranked second on the European U18 400m lists with 53.64 behind Germany’s Marie Scheppan (53.37) but the 16-year-old could choose to step up a distance and contest the 800m in Gyor after a sensational performance at the Czech U18 Championships in Prague over the weekend.
Starting the day with a lifetime best of 2:06.81 set earlier in the season, Malikova slashed more than three seconds off that record - as well as two seconds off the long-standing Czech U18 record - with a solo 2:03.51 clocking which catapulted her to the top of the European U18 lists.
With heats and semifinals on the schedule for both the 400m and 800m, Malikova won’t be able to double up in Gyor but the Czech will be a title threat regardless of which event she enters.