It was a golden night for France at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo on Saturday (15) with tricolore flags hoisted high to celebrate three gold medals in the late evening sun.
Zhoya battles to 110m hurdles glory
After a fallow 2022, charismatic French hurdler Sasha Zhoya got back to gold medal winning ways. It was no technical masterclass, but it was a thrilling victory nonetheless as he just got the better of Italian rival Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli in 13.31 (+0.5m/s).
Both clipped three hurdles each as they raced shoulder to shoulder, but Zhoya just got ahead by the penultimate barrier and held off the challenge by 0.04. There was a further French medal for Erwann Cinna who won bronze in 13.47.
For Zhoya, it was a welcome return to the top of the podium, after winning world and European U20 gold in 2021. “The race was a bit sloppy,” he admitted post-race.
“It was not the cleanest race of my life but the hurdles are just like that. The time is not the best time of the year. I was looking for a faster time. But the final is the final and it can often be messy. But I got the first place and it is nice to go home with that medal.”
Earlier, Marie-Julie Bonnin grabbed gold, going one better than she managed at the 2019 European U20 Championships. The French athlete cleared 4.50m at the third attempt and when Belgium’s Elien Vekemans failed at the same height, victory was assured. Bronze went to Norway’s Kitty Friele Faye with a personal best of 4.40m.
Simon Gore claimed the final French gold of the evening, winning the men’s triple jump final. The world U20 bronze medallist landed a fourth round 16.40m (+0.9m/s) to see off main challengers Sweden’s Gabriel Wallmark and former European U18 champion Batuhan Cakir of Türkiye. Wallmark’s third round 16.24m (+0.4m/s) earned him silver and Cakir’s fifth round best of 16.16m (+1.7m/s).
Championship record of 12.68 for Ditaji Kambundji
In the 100m hurdles final, European indoor and outdoor bronze medallist Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland gave a classy performance running to gold in a championship record with 12.68 (0.0m/s). Italy’s Veronica Besana was in close contention, but clattered into the penultimate hurdle and tumbled out.
Elena Carraro filled her compatriot’s shoes, grabbing silver with 12.97 just ahead of bronze medallist Anna Toth in a photo finish after the Hungarian was given the same time.
There are few sporting audiences that show as much appreciation than the Finns do for a javelin competition. And it was an atmosphere that Ukraine’s Artur Felfner reveled in to win gold in the men’s event.
With victory safely secured with a third round 82.32m, he unleashed a final round 83.04m to underscore his dominance. It added the European U23 title to the World U20 and European U20 titles he also owns.
Finland’s Topias Laine gave the home crowd plenty to shout about, taking silver, his best being a third round 79.77m. Bronze went to Italy’s Michele Laine with a personal best of 77.23m.
In the women’s 10,000m, an exciting duel ensued between Great Britain’s Alice Goodall and Spain’s Sara Nestola. The pair left the field in their wake with eight laps to go with Goodall pushing the pace. The Scot was five metres clear at the bell and in the warm evening sun, the Italian could never quite breach the gap.
Goodall finished in 33:16.45 with Nestoli clocking 33:17:15. Another Italian, Aurora Bado won bronze in 34:12.75 after catching long-time third placer Maria Kassou of Greece on the final lap. The result was also a unique long distance double for Scottish athletes, with Megan Keith having already won the women’s 5000m on Thursday.
“Before the race, I knew that there is a chance for a medal, maybe a silver? But now, to call myself a European champion sounds unbelievable to me,” said Goodall. “I expected the Italian girl to have a very fast kick in the end, but she actually did not have it.
“I was trying to hold her off and it was a tense race all the time. Hopefully, we will have some celebrations with my friend Megan Keith tomorrow. She is also at the same university team as me.”
Tizian Lauria of Germany added 15 centimetres to his lifetime best to win the men’s shot, He uncorked a fifth round effort of 19.80m to relegate international team mate Eric Maihofer to silver with 19.44m. Bronze went to Muhamet Ramadani, winning Kosovo’s first ever medal at these championships with 19.20m.
In the men’s high jump, Turkiye’s Ali Eren Ünlü overcame a mini crisis to get the better of higher ranked Ukrainian duo Oleh Doroshchuk and Roman Petruk.
Unlu needed three attempts to get over 2.15m, but a first time clearance at 2.19m gave him the momentum he needed. And whilst the Ukraine pair, Finland’s Arttu Mattila and Massimiliano Luiu all failed at 2.22m, Unlu sailed over second time to win gold. Doroshchuk and Petruk shared silver on countback.
Norway in command in the decathlon
At the end of the opening day, Norwegian duo of Sander Skotheim and Markus Rooth have a firm hold on the men’s decathlon. Rooth led after the morning’s opening salvos in the 100m, long jump and shot.
But in the evening, Skotheim fought back, winning the high jump with 2.15m to Rooth’s personal best of 2.03m. Then in the 400m, Skotheim ran 47.69 to Hooth’s 49.05 to sit in the lead with 4457 points to Rooth’s 4364 overnight. Belgium’s Jente Hauttekeete currently occupies bronze with 4259.
World U20 champion Blessing Afrifah of Israel cruised to an impressive victory in the men’s 200m, winning heat 3 in a wind-assisted (+2.3m/s) 20.65. Men’s 100m silver medallist Raphael Bouju was another impressive qualifier, winning heat 1 in 20.83 (+0.4m/s).
In the women’s 200m heats, Nikola Horowska of Poland was the fastest qualifier, winning heat 1 in a wind assisted 22.99 (+2.4m/s). Defending champion Dalia Kaddari of Italy was the next best, winning heat 3 in 22.30 (+2.0m/s).
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics