Hubert Trościanka after winning the decathlon at the European U20 Championships (© Getty Images)
Poland’s Hubert Trościanka put on a masterclass on his way to a world U20 decathlon record* to highlight performances at the European U20 Championships in Tampere, which included a staggering 30 national records and six championship records.
Across the first two days of competition, Trościanka pieced together a commanding performance in the decathlon as he became the first athlete to ever surpass 8500 points in the U20 decathlon. The 19-year-old combined events star took down the previous record of 8435, set in 2017 by Germany’s Niklas Kaul, by 79 points.
Trościanka took the lead in the first of 10 events with a 10.74 personal best in the 100m. He added a 7.26m long jump and 15.48m throw in the shot put to lead through three events, but Luuk Pelkmans snatched the lead with a 2.06m high jump to Trościanka’s 1.94m. He regained the lead from the Dutchman with a world U20 decathlon best 46.21 in the 400m, but the margin narrowed with his 14.23 in the 110m hurdles to Pelkman’s 14.07.
Pelkmans swapped into the gold-medal position with a 46.48m throw in the discus to Trościanka’s 43.36m, but a 4.80m clearance in the pole vault gave the Polish star the lead going into one of his strongest events – the javelin. He launched a championship decathlon best of 68.87m to establish nearly a 300-point lead going into the final event.
A gruelling 4:28.59 in the 1500m gave Trościanka a winning tally of 8514, making him the highest-scoring U20 decathlete of all time and a name to watch out for as he rises to the senior ranks in 2026.
In the women’s triple jump, Italy’s Erika Saraceni took down a 24-year-old championship record and bettered her own Italian U20 record with a 14.24m leap. Her first leap of 14.08m was good enough to match her lifetime best and she went on to improve to 14.15m and eventually 14.24m. In the bronze medal position, Latvia’s Adriana Kruzmane also bettered a national U20 record with 13.62m.
France’s Elijah Pasquier also found success in the jumps. The 19-year-old cleared 2.25m for gold in the high jump to take down a 35-year-old French U20 record of 2.24m, set by Didier Detchénique in 1990.
Innes FitzGerald put on quite the show as she managed double gold for Great Britain in the 3000m and 5000m. On day one of competition in Tampere FitzGerald clocked 15:09.04 at the longer distance for her first gold and managed to keep fresh enough legs to topple Gabby Szabo’s 32-year-old championship record in the 3000m with 8:46.39.
Joining FitzGerald as double gold medallists on the track were Norway’s Håkon Moe Berg in the 1500m and 3000m and 15-year-old Italian Kelly Ann Maevane Doualla in the 100m and 4x100m. Moe Berg clocked an 8:43.20 on Saturday before winning the 1500m gold in 3:47.36 on Sunday. Doualla sped to an 11.22 for the 100m crown on Friday and anchored Italy (Alice
Pagliarini, Elisa Valensin, and Margherita Castellani) to 4x100m gold with a national U20 record 43.72 on Sunday. That pushed Poland to a national U20 record of 44.07 for bronze. In the heats, Latvia also clocked a national U20 record at 45.86.
Jarno van Daalen of the Netherlands pulled off a shot put/discus double. He landed a 21.07m throw to win the shot put before launching a 63.18m throw in the discus.
In the 400m hurdles, Michal Rada of Czechia established a world U20 lead and championship record with his 48.78. That mark puts him at No.2 on the European U20 all-time list and is the fastest in more than 40 years. Rada went on to anchor Czechia to a 4x400m national U20 record of 3:05.79 alongside Ondřej Loupal, Lukáš Mareš, and Tomáš Horák. Spain secured silver and their own U20 record in 3:06.83.
Pushed by Rada’s winning ways, Iker Moreno of Spain clocked a national U20 record of 49.66 for silver and Quinten de Vos set a Dutch U20 record of 50.46 for bronze.
Alexandra Stefania Uta of Romania also established a championship record in the 400m hurdles with her 55.55 clocking for gold and a European U20 lead to beat France’s Méta Tumba with a lean. Tumba’s 55.56 was good for a French U20 record and silver over Estonia’s Viola Hambidge, who lowered her national U20 record to 56.71.
Also in the hurdles, Matteo Togni clocked a European U20 lead and Italian U20 record of 13.27 for gold in the 110m hurdles. Bulgaria’s Hristiyan was second with a 13.31 clocking for a national U20 record and Norway’s Elias Grannes Pedersen clocked a 13.42 for a Norwegian U20 record and fifth place.
The 10,000m race walk saw seven national U20 records fall across both the men’s and women’s races. Taking gold on the women’s side, Sofia Santacreu became the first U20 Spaniard to drop below 44:00.00 in the women’s 10,000m race walk with her 43.47.89, bettering a decade-old national record. That feat helped to pace four more national records: Serena di Fabio (ITA), 43:56.25 for silver, Mina Stanković (SRB), 44:35.66 (all-ages record), Chloe le Roch (FRA), 45:08.59, and Theresia Emma Mohr (AUT), 45:13.07 (all-ages record).
Spain took top honours in the men’s race as Joan Querol bettered an 11-year-old national U20 record in 39:10.04 to snag the championship record and Italy’s Giuseppe Disabato clocked a 39:20.87 for silver to better his own record.
Croatia’s Jana Košcak equalled her own national record of 6293 to win the heptathlon. Propelling her in the rankings was a championship heptathlon record of 1.92m in the high jump. That mark ties her own national U20 record and matches her own world U20 lead. In close competition with Košcak throughout seven events, Sarolta Kriszt managed a Hungarian U20 record of 6251.
Several other athletes set national age-group records. Ireland’s Conor Kelly set a national U20 record to win the men’s 400m in 45.83, Turkey’s Kiyasettin Kara clocked a 3000m steeplechase national record of 8:43.55 for gold, Victoria Kwarteng set a French U20 record of 52.26 in the 400m, and Laura Friklova of Slovakia clocked a record-breaking 13.10 in the 100m hurdles heats.
In less than a year, many of these athletes will use their experience from the continental stage as they go on to compete at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
A full list of results from the European U20 Championships Tampere 2025 can be found here.
*subject to the usual ratification procedures
