Final entries for the ECCC Track & Field U20 Groups A and B which will both take place in Leiria, Portugal on 21 September are now available and can be found under Related Documents.
Last year’s titles were won by Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Fenerbahce and both clubs will return to defend their titles. In fact, Turkish-based club Fenerbahce will be looking for their eight successive crown in this competition on the women’s side and they have named a team which features world U18 100m champion Mizgin Ay who won three events last year.
Other standout names on Fenerbahce’s team roster include European U20 shot put silver medallist Pinar Akyol and European U20 cross country bronze medallist Inci Kalkan in the 1500m.
Fenerbahce could quite possibly sweep both titles as their men’s U20 team is equally rich with talent including world U20 leader Alperen Karahan in the shot put and Ilyas Canakci, who anchored Türkiye to victory in the 4x400m at the European U20 Championships, in the individual 400m as well as the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
But one event which should be won by the reigning champions on the men’s side is the men’s javelin. Leandro Ramos finished second at the senior equivalent of this event in Castellon, Spain in May, setting a national senior record of 77.52m. He was also part of the title winning team twelve months ago.
The ECCC Track & Field U20 Group B also takes place in Leiria on Saturday. The men’s competition features Czech club AK Skoda Plzen whose team features Czech twins Michal and Jakub Forejt, the silver and bronze medallists in the discus at the European U20 Championships.
Michal will contest the shot put and Jakub will compete in the discus and hammer.