Linda Botkova wins the 400m hurdles at the European U18 Championships (© Getty Images)
Linda Botková produced the standout performance of the European U18 Championships in Rieti, smashing the European U20 record in the girls’ 400m hurdles before returning little more than an hour later to claim a second gold medal on Sunday (19), the final day of the four-day championships.
The 16-year-old Czech athlete clocked 55.19 to take almost two seconds off her pre-championships PB and move to second on the world U18 all-time list, behind only world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Botková had broken the championship record in every round, running 56.79 in the heats and 56.78 in the semifinals before making an enormous breakthrough in the final. Still eligible for the U18 category next year, she then contributed to Czechia’s victory in the 1000m medley relay.
“These championships were amazing and I still cannot believe it,” said Botková. “In those three days, every race was my PB and also a championships record, so it could not be better. To be the new European champion, it sounds incredible.” She now turns her attention to the World Athletics U20 Championships in Oregon, where she intends to contest the 100m hurdles.
Botková spearheaded an impressive championships for Czechia, but Great Britain enjoyed the greatest overall medal success. The British team collected eight gold medals, setting championship records in five disciplines.
Samuel James produced one of the biggest breakthroughs of the championships in the boys’ high jump. He added 16 centimetres to his lifetime best, clearing a world U18-leading championship record of 2.25m.
The mark equalled the British U18 best and moved James to equal 13th on the world U18 all-time list. No U18 athlete had jumped higher since 2019.
Divine Iheme won the boys’ 100m in 10.29, also a championship record, with Spain’s Francisco de las Heras taking silver in 10.36.
Britain was even more dominant in the 200m. Ethan Heggarty broke the championship record with 20.77 in the heats but was later disqualified from the semifinals for a lane infringement.
His teammate Bronson Hearn-Smith ensured the title still went to Britain, lowering the record to 20.70 in the final. Poland’s Bartosz Pytlik finished second in 21.01.
Tito Odunaike equalled his own world U18 lead of 16.12m to win the boys’ triple jump, while Moyo Stumpenhusen threw a British U18 record of 64.92m to take the discus title.
Doualla delivers on home soil
Kelly Doualla provided the host nation with one of the defining moments of the championships, delighting the Italian crowd by winning the girls’ 100m in a European U18 best of 11.14.
Doualla’s performance was also a championship record and world U18 lead, moving her to equal 10th on the world U18 all-time list.
Italy’s other individual gold medal came at the opposite end of the athletics spectrum. Rebecca D’Alessandro won the longest event on the programme, completing the girls’ 5000m race walk in 22:58.95.
Remic dominates as records fall
Slovenia’s Živa Remic completed a championship-record double in the girls’ 800m. After clocking 2:04.19 in the semifinals to improve the previous record, Remic led the final from the front and crossed the line almost two seconds clear of the field in 2:03.77.
The Netherlands’ Eljahro Philipsen became the first European U18 athlete to break 13 seconds for the boys’ 110m hurdles, clocking 12.96 in the opening round. In the final, however, Türkiye’s Yunus Emre Civelek took gold in 13.08, finishing 0.01 ahead of Philipsen.
Switzerland’s Aimie Decrausaz was in a class of her own in the girls’ 3000m. She broke the championship record with 9:06.60 and finished almost 15 seconds ahead of her nearest opponent.
Czechia’s Kristýna Záhorová added another championship record in the girls’ long jump, winning with a leap of 6.47m.
Bulgaria’s Viktoria Angelova produced a world U18 lead of 13.98m to win the girls’ triple jump in just the fifth competition of her career in the discipline.
Julie Bourgis, meanwhile, cleared a championship record of 4.40m to lead a French one-two in the girls’ pole vault from Isild Drouet.
World U18 leads in combined events and throws
Finland’s Alisa Launonen prevailed in a high-quality heptathlon, scoring a world U18 lead of 6154. Launonen also set a Finnish U18 record but was pushed throughout by Germany’s Svea Funck, who surpassed 6000 points for the first time to take silver with 6065.
Czechia’s Sebastian Andrejev secured another world U18 lead in the boys’ decathlon, winning a close contest with 7523. He entered the concluding 1500m in second place but did enough in the final discipline to take the title by 16 points.
Czechia’s Josef Pazdera added more than three metres to his previous best to win the hammer with 79.07m, finishing almost four metres clear of the rest of the field.
Finland’s Jere Murto was even more dominant in the javelin, winning by more than 10 metres with a world U18-leading 80.41m in the fifth round.
Ukraine’s Milaniia Kokhan saved her best for the final round of the girls’ hammer, throwing a European U18-leading 70.19m to secure gold. She is the younger sister of Olympic and world bronze medallist Mykhaylo Kokhan.
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