Aniysa Kornikova en route to #2 European all-time 10,000m Walk performance Hengelo (© Mark Shearman)
Russia's Aniysa Kornikova got the 19th European Junior Athletics Championships off with a bang by nearly setting a European junior record in the women's 10,000m Race Walk, the first gold medal to be decided.
Kornikova's last kilometre test
Kornikova was on course to beat the time of 43:11.34 set by her compatriot Vera Sokolova at the last edition of these Championships two years ago until weakening in the final kilometre but she still clocked a marvellous 43:27.20, the 9th fastest time ever.
"I'm not sure whether I am happy with the gold medal or sad that I just missed the record. Walking alone in the second half of the race was hard and I think that was the reason why I lost the record in the last kilometre," said the 17 year-old, who will still be eligible to contest the IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics next year in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz.
In her first official track competition of the year, although she stated her credentials when winning the European Cup Race Walking junior 10km on the roads in May, Kornikova went to the front immediately and flew through the opening kilometre in 4:13.12, more than 10 seconds faster than Sokolova.
Another Russian, Yelena Shumkina, trailed closely behind Kornikova for the first quarter of the race before she could keep up no longer and Kornikova passed the halfway point in 21:15.60, still more than seven seconds ahead of European record pace.
The audacious early pace started to tell shortly around two-thirds of the way into the race and although Kornikova passed 7000m in 30:02.09, she was now barely a second ahead of Sokolova's split. She still was still marginally in front on the clock at 9000m and, after lapping everyone else in the field at least once, Kornikova's record ambitions only disappeared in the final two laps.
Shumkina took the silver in 46:24.74 while Alena Kostromitina completed a Russian clean sweep, the first ever by a single nation in this event, in a personal best 46:41.56.
Dashin' Lashyn
Later in the day, the Ukraine's Dymtro Lashyn became the first male champion of the Championships when he won the men's 10,000m in a personal best of 29:51.58. After following Russia's Roman Pozdyaykin for 19 laps, the pair building up a lead of 100 metres, Lashyn hit the front halfway around the next circuit and headed for home.
"I am very happy with the gold but actually hoped to run faster. But having Roman make the pace for me was very helpful. We are good friends and I know he likes to run from the front so I used this to my advantage," said Lashyn.
Germany's Matti Markowski overtook the courageous but suffering Pozdyaykin on the back straight of the final lap to get the silver personal best of 30:10.75 with his Russian rival taking the bronze medal in 30:13.70.
More Ukraine energy
The best performance among the myriad of qualification rounds on the opening day was, without doubt, from the Ukrainian discus thrower Ivan Hryshyn, who produced a championship record of 62.27m.
Hryshyn, Europe's best junior thrower this year with 63.40m, nevertheless had to survive a few nail-biting moments during the qualifying competition and only produced his record throw with his third and final effort after reaching a relatively modest 58.73m with his first throw, short of the automatic qualifying distance 59.00m, and then fouling his second effort.
The men's and women's 100m finals on Friday are both building up to be enthralling head-to-head duels.
British sprint speculation
Britain has won 10 out of the last 12 European junior 100m titles and looks on course for another gold medal but whose neck it will be hung around remains a matter of speculation.
Leevan Yearwood confirmed his status as the slight favourite with an impressive 10.34 when winning his semi-final, a time only he has beaten among Europe's teenage sprinters this year, but just behind him was his Germany's Julian Reus in a personal best of 10.35.
Italy's Giuseppe Aita, who set a personal best of 10.50 in the heats, won the other semi-final in 10.59.
Bulgaria's Inna Eftimova and Norway's Ezinne Okparaebo both ran 11.46, which in the latter case was a national junior record, to emerge as clear winners of their respective semi-finals in the women's 100m.
Phil Minshull for the IAAF
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