European Junior Championships - Preview

Finland, a nation boasting a rich athletics culture and tradition, provides a worthy host for the 17th version of the European Junior Championships, which begin tomorrow in Tampere (24 - 27 July 2003).

The Finns, widely respected for their vast knowledge and passion for athletics, are expected to enthusiastically support the four-day championships, which will be held at the picturesque 30,000 capacity Ratina Stadium.

The biennial event helped launch the careers of a raft of the world finest athletes with Zhanna Block, Heike Drechsler, Gabriela Szabo, Dwain Chambers and Steve Ovett, all former European junior champions.

But what can we expect from the class of 2003?

Many believe the championship superstar could be Germany’s Sophie Kravel, who has been dubbed the new Heike Drechsler.
The highly-rated Kravel will be bidding for a 100m Hurdles and Long Jump double and while a strong favourite in her track event, she potentially faces a much stronger challenge in the field.

Kravel comes up against a powerful two-pronged Romanian threat from World junior Long Jump champion Adina Anton and recently crowned World youth Long Jump gold medallist Cristine Spataru.

Spataru, who also won World youth gold in the Triple Jump in Sherbrooke, bids for the same ambitious horizontal jumps double in Tampere.

In the women’s Pole Vault, World junior champion Floe Kuhnert – a 4.32m performer – is predicted to take over the European Junior title won two years ago by Russian Yelena Isinbayeva, who broke the World record in Gateshead earlier this month.

On the track, Bulgaria’s Ivet Lalova is bidding to become the eighth woman to win a European junior 100m/200m sprint double.
A semi-finalist in last year’s World Junior Championships she went into this season with a 100m best of 11.83 and 200m best 24.18 but has made remarkable progress this season recording 11.14 and 22.87 respectively.

World Junior 200m champion and reigning European junior title-holder Vernicha James of Great Britain has just returned from injury and in her current fitness is not expected to threaten the Bulgarian.

The women’s endurance events pit Great Britain against Eastern Europe in some potentially mouthwatering clashes.

Much is expected of Great Britain’s Charlotte Moore in the 800m, who reached last year’s Commonwealth Games final as a 17-year-old, although, she was surprisingly beaten to the national 800m title last month by World junior fourth-placer Jemma Simpson.

However, the pair won’t have matters all their own way as Holland’s Najla Jaber heads the season’s rankings (2:02.08) and the Russian duo Lilia Bikboulatova (2:03.55) and Eugenia Khaliulina (2:03.64) must be respected.

Diminutive Ukrainian Nelya Neporadna starts favourite in the 1500m - with a best outdoor time of 4:11.68 - but watch out for Great Britain’s fast-finishing Dani Barnes, a training partner of Simpson.

In the women’s 5000m, Britain’s European junior cross country champion Charlotte Dale will be among the favourites with Yuliya Stashkiv of Ukraine. Latvian Irina Poluskina is entered in both the 3000m and 5000m and is also a strong gol medal contender.

Elsewhere, the Czech Republic’s talented 400m hurdler Zuzana Hejnova aims to add the European junior title to the World youth crown she won in Canada two weeks ago.

Much of the quality in the men’s programme will come in the field with the likely highlight the men’s High Jump.

The Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Baba (2.32m), who placed ninth in March’s IAAF World Indoor Championships, starts as the marginal favourite. He faces fierce opposition from Poland’s Michal Bieniek (2.30m), Russia’s Alexey Dmitrik (2.28m) and Sweden’s Linus Thornblad.

Russia’s Artem Kuptsov aims to emulate the achievements of his brother, Dmitriy, who won last the European junior Pole Vault title in 2001. The younger Kuptsov, who boasts a world class best of 5.70m, will target the championship record of 5.60m.

Finland’s main hopes of gold rest in the event, which is virtually their national sport, the Javelin. Teemu Wirkkala goes into the event as European number one and with the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders he aims to become the first Finn to win the men’s title since 1970.

Germany’s Robert Harting (64.05m) in the Discus and Sweden’s Magnus Lohse (21.11m) in the Shot appear worthy favourites. In the Long Jump, Britain’s Jonathan Moore hopes to win a European junior gold medal just like his father Aston. Moore snr won the Triple Jump title in 1975.

The men’s track programme is not expected to produce the same level of quality as the field but the competition should be no less keen.

Eddy de Lepine of France with a personal best of 10.19 will be the man to beat in the 100m, while less than a tenth of a second separate the top four in Europe in the 400m. Britain provides 50 percent of the top quartet with Adam Charlton and Richard Davenport hoping to land a tenth European junior 400m gold for their nation.

However, the other pre-race favourites - Spain’s Oscar Albalat and Germany’s Thomas Wilhelm - will seek to deny them.

World junior 800m bronze medallist David Fiegen of Luxembourg has struggled with injury this year and Ukranian Oleg Lobanov is quickest on paper in the two-lap race.

Less than a second separates the top three in the men’s 1500m with German Patrick Schulz, Britain’s Tom Lancashire and Spain’s Francisco Espana, the main contenders.

The men’s 10,000m pits Ukrainian Oleksandr Matviychuk, brother of reigning champion Vasiliy, against European junior cross country champion Evgeny Rybakov of Russia.

German Ruben Schwarz is firm favourite to win the men’s steeplechase.