European Athletics President Dobromir Karamarinov is hopeful of the “best ever” European Athletics U18 Championships taking place 18-21 July. The fourth edition of the championships take place in Banska Bystrica, the 2017 European City of Sport and hosts of the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival.
There are a record 1133 athletes entered from 48 countries and will be live streamed with expert English-language commentary on the European Athletics website.
Karamarinov: "These championships are extremely important"
“For us at European Athletics, these U18 championships are extremely important,” said Karamarinov, speaking at the official press conference one day ahead of the event. “Seven years ago, World Athletics stopped this (age group of) championships. But we decided we have to upgrade and improve these championships and we do it.
“The record number of athletes also show how important these championships are for the Member Federations.
“These championships are really in the right place in Banska Bystrica in Slovakia. Banska Bystrica was European city of sport in 2017, you delivered European Youth Olympic Festival two years ago and also the Slovakian federation has really improved."
Addressing the Local Organising Committee (LOC), he said: “You have already organised the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, European Throwing Cup, but for the first time, Slovak Athletic Federation and Banska Bystrica will organise a European Championships on the track, and I really wish you the biggest occasion.
“I am sure it will be the best ever European Athletics U18 Championships and last but not least, I wish good luck to all the athletes. Not just for the next few days, because these are just the first steps for you, good luck for the future. You are our future. What we are doing is for you.”
@: Sona Maleterova
Peter Korcok, the President of the Slovak Athletic Federation spoke of the opportunity hosting the European Athletics U18 Championships gave to the nation’s athletics community.
“In the view of Slovak Athletic Federation, we are very happy to have our best judges our best and technical officials, so they can improve at this event and mainly to our you athletes, our young talents that they will be motivated to stay in the sport after these championships.” he said.
Inspiring home hope in 5000m race walk
One such talent is home town race walker Lukas Rosenbaum, an inspiring individual who recovered from a medulloblastoma brain tumour, aged two, through neurosurgery and chemotherapy to grow up to become an international athlete.
“I want to be in the top six. That’s my goal,” he said. “I want to break my personal best, that’s a goal. But I also want to be technically okay and not to have any difficulty with judges concerning the walking technique.
“And of course, I am from Banska Bystrica. So, we will have a lot of friends here, a lot of family. Not only from Banska Bystrica, but also from other corners of the country.”
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Teammate Ema Bendova is competing in the women’s long jump and is also feeling optimistic ahead of the event.
“I hope to achieve the best possible result, I feel great, I feel in good shape,” she said. “We had a hard preparation. We went training abroad in South Africa, Spain for this event, this was our main goal. So, I hope I will be able to deliver.”
Valensin: "The track was like a friend"
The local contenders were joined by at the press conference by Italian U18 200m record-holder and top ranked European Elisa Valensin, who identified the track laid by European Athletics’ preferred supplier CONICA as a positive factor.
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“I could do a really good time” she said. “I really hope so, I want to really improve myself. I ran there this morning and I really like the track.
"I hope I go under my PB (23.15). I like a hard track. My feet work better on the tracks that are harder. The track was like a friend. The track is really beautiful. I really like it and I can’t wait to run on it.”
Barbic going for unusual double
Meanwhile, Croatian Vita Barbic is attempting a rare double in the women’s javelin and discus. A world leader with the javelin (500g) with 57.81m, her progress in the discus has also accelerated this year and she sits fifth in the entry lists (48.34m).
“It’s not very common to combine discus and javelin,” she admitted. “I always did that. When one of them went worse, then the other went well. So, each time I was injured or something went wrong, I always have another option.
@: Sona Maleterova
“I would love to continue to doing both so I always have the other option, so I am not always relying on one card. For discus, I am trying to go there with no expectation and enjoy every second of it. Because this year, the discus went way beyond expectations and so I am really here to enjoy every moment,” she added.
The European Athletics U18 Championships gets underway on Thursday 18 July at 9:00 CET at the SNP Dukla Stadium.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics