Six years ago in Grosseto, Italy, Armand Duplantis and Jakob Ingebrigtsen announced themselves as two of the sport’s most exciting prospects.
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At the 2017 European Athletics U20 Championships, Swedish hero Duplantis set a pole vault championship record of 5.65m to win gold. And Norwegian icon Ingebrigtsen rebounded from a heavy fall in the 1500m final to win both the 5000m and 3000m steeplechase, launching his trademark trend of golden doubles at European level indoors and outdoors.
With the latest edition of the historic event set to take place in Jerusalem, Israel on 7-10 August, could the stage be set for the next generation of European male superstars to emerge?
The European Athletics U20 Championships will be streamed in its entirety from 7-10 August on the All-Athletics platform through the European Athletics website. Up to four additional streams will be available on the All-Athletics platform, providing dedicated coverage of the field events in the Givat Ram Stadium.
The most obvious name to follow Ingebrigtsen’s lead is Niels Laros of the Netherlands, who boasts an equally potent range.
He leads the European U20 list in the 800m (1:44.78), 1500m (3:32.89) and 5000m (13:23.01) and has the fastest lifetime best in the 3000m (7:48.25), a distance over which he is yet to compete this year.
He is entered for all four events and although an audacious quadruple could be a step too far, a multiple assault on gold is entirely plausible. He may be most tempted to repeat his 1500m/3000m double at last year’s European Athletics U18 Championships in the same Givat Ram Stadium in Jerusalem.
His strongest opposition in both events should come from Ireland’s Nicholas Griggs, defending champion over 3000m and also U20 silver medallist at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Turin last December. Over 800m, Laros could face stiff opposition including Jakub Dudycha of the Czech Republic, the European U18 gold medallist from last year.
No matter which events he chooses to take on, Laros’ races promise to be among the most eagerly awaited of the championships. Anticipation will also be high in the field events.
Can Herczeg add European U20 javelin gold to his European U20 record?
Fresh from setting a sensational European U20 record of 84.98m for the men’s javelin, Hungary’s György Herczeg will start as the hot favourite for gold.
It promises to be a monumental few weeks for the youngster, who will turn 19 at the championships and then will look towards the World Athletics Championships on home soil in Budapest. Germany’s Max Dehning, last year’s World U20 silver medallist is also sure to be a contender.
In the men’s long jump, Mattia Furlani is one to watch. With a personal best of 8.24m and a marginally wind-assisted 8.44m to his credit, the Italian leads the world U20 list and is the favourite to add to the European U18 gold he won last year.
Furlani won a memorable double gold in Jerusalem last year, winning long jump gold before adding the high jump title to his list of accolades but the 18-year-old, who is still a junior next year as well, is focusing solely on the long jump this time around.
Gold will be Furlani's primary goal but if the conditions allow, could he also challenge the championship record of 8.17m which dates all the way back to 1987?
The hammer boasts one of the deepest fields of the championships, boasting the whole of this year’s world’s top 10 with the U20 6kg implement. Jovan Stranic from Serbia heads the rankings with 78.53m. Max Lampinen of Finland, last year’s World U20 silver medallist and European U18 gold medallist Iosif Kesidis, who provided one-half of a double for Cyprus last year, lead the iron clad opposition.
Ukraine’s Mykhailo Brudin finds himself in similar territory in the men’s discus. He leads the world lists with the U20 1.75kg-sized discus and is another who triumphed at the European U18 Championships in 2022.
A rare gold medal for Austria in the 110m hurdles?
The 110m hurdles brings together this year’s top two in the world over the U20 0.99m barriers in Austria’s Enzo Diessl and Finland’s Rasmus Vehmaa.
Diessl should have the edge with his best being 13.11 to Vehmaa’s 13.30 although the latter will be looking to atone for his performance last year when he fell in the semifinals after leading the heats with a wind-aided 13.18 over the U18 barriers.
If Diessl was to prevail next week, this would be Austria’s first gold medal at the European Athletics U20 Championships since 2011 and just their fourth in championship history.
In the flat sprints, Poland’s Marek Zakrzewski is targeting a 100m/200m double, a feat which hasn't been achieved by a male sprinter since Darren Campbell in 1991.
The Pole tops the rankings over 200m with a best of 20.78 and is the current European U18 champion over 100m. In the 400m, fellow countryman Maksymilian Szwed heads the season’s rankings with a best of 45.70.
After a disappointing campaign at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, this could be a golden championships for the Poles.
In the men’s 3000m steeplechase, Sergio del Barrio of Spain will be seeking to add to the European U18 gold he won last year over 2000m.
Meanwhile in the 10,000m race walk, Türkiye's Hayrettin Yildiz took bronze at the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia last year and will be firmly in the hunt for another medal but the favourite could be Italy's Diego Giampaolo who won the 10km race walk at the European Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, always a good indicator of form.
There will be plenty of intrigue in the men’s high jump. With a best of 2.24m, Edoardo Stronarti of Italy leads the entries, but plenty of eyes will also be on third ranked Melwin Lycke-Holm of Sweden, son of 2004 Olympic gold medallist Stefan Holm.
In the men’s pole vault, Michal Gawenda of Poland brings plenty of championship pedigree having won European U18 gold and World U20 bronze last year. But his season’s best of 5.42m is some way down on Switzerland’s top-ranked Valentin Imsand who has cleared 5.61m this season.
The men’s triple jump includes Estonia’s Viktor Morozov, a world and European U20 bronze medallist, Bulgaria’s European U18 champion Lachezar Valchev and his versatile teammate Bozhidar Saraboyukov who is targeting medals in both the long jump and triple jump having won silver in the high jump at the World Athletics U20 Championships last year.
Ali Peker of Türkiye and Germany's Georg Harpf resume rivalries in the men’s shot after winning gold and silver respectively at last year’s European Athletics U18 Championships.
But the pre-event favourite is another German, Lasse Schulz, who is ranked second in the world with the U20 6kg shot with 20.48m.
Current world leader in the U20 decathlon list is Great Britain’s Sammy Ball with 7870 points and he will be seeking his first major title in Jerusalem. And if he does prevail, he will become only the second Brit to win this title after Daley Thompson in 1977.
But last year’s European U18 gold and silver medallists Amadeus Graber of Germany and Sweden’s Leo Goransson are sure to make it a hard-fought contest.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics