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| France's Teddy Tamgho is one of the stars heading to Ostrava for the European Athletics U23 Championships. |
Frenchmen Teddy Tamgho and Christophe Lemaitre are two of the star names that stand out among the final entries announced today ahead of the Ostrava 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships.
Both have also been listed among the nominees for the men’s European Athlete of the Month award for June.
The 22-year-old Tamgho, indoor world record holder in the triple jump, struggled with injuries at the start of this season but has come back strongly with a world-leading jump of 17.91m in Lausanne recently.
Lemaitre, meanwhile, continues to gain in strength and stature. The 21-year-old won the 100m title at the SPAR European Team Championships in Stockholm with a new national record of 9.95, and then equalled this feat at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne.
The men’s final entries for the 14-17 July championships in the Czech city are here and the women’s final entries here.
Also among the European Athlete of the Month nominees heading to Ostrava for the eighth edition of the championships is 800m specialist Adam Kszczot of Poland.
The European indoor champion has started his outdoor season in style, winning his favourite event ahead of compatriot Marcin Lewandowski with a European-leading time of 1:44.30 in Bydgoszcz recently.
Other notable names in the list of entries for Ostrava include Spain’s Javier Cienfuegos, 20, the world junior record holder in the hammer, and Switzerland’s Lisa Urech, who clocked a new national 100m hurdles record of 12.62 at the Resisprint meet in La Chaux De Fonds last Sunday.
Great Britain’s 400m hurdler Nathan Woodward clocked 48.71 at the same meet for second place on the European list this year.
It was also a British under-23 record, making him the fastest European under-23 hurdler this year and, like Urech, favourite to take the honours in Ostrava.
Russia’s Darya Klishina will also be coming to Ostrava. The 2011 European indoor champion won gold at the Novi Sad 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships and will be looking for another European long jump title.