Germany’s Olivia Gürth set a championship record as she won the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo on Saturday (15), finishing in 9:26.98 to snip 0.33 from Anna Emilie Moller’s four year old best.
Gürth ran a tactically astute race to add the U23 crown to the U20 title she won two years ago in Tallinn. Lithuanian Greta Karinauskaitė, sixth last time, made most of the running with Gürth and Spain’s Marta Serrano.
Serrano was dropped with two laps to go and then Gürth took off at the bell. Karinauskaite couldn’t quite summon the response and had to settle for silver in 9:30.96. Serrano hung on for bronze in 9:41.47.
"Today, I fulfilled all my dreams and everything I hoped for happened," said a thrilled Gürth. "I expected a tactical race and I knew that the last lap is my strength. So, I knew that when I keep an eye on Greta, I can push it a bit in the last lap.
“So far, I usually spared my best performance for the major championships so it was a good timing. Before the race, I said that the time is not important and the win is my main objective. But the championships record - that is a bonus and I take it."
In a tactical affair, the Netherlands' Stefan Nillessen was rewarded for his commitment with gold in the men’s 1500m. The Dutch runner emerged from a tightly packed bunch with 600 metres left to take the race by the scruff of the neck.
The two fastest athletes on paper, Great Britain’s Matthew Stonier and Spain’s Pol Oriach looked poised to take over around the final bend. But Nillessen refused to yield and maintained his lead right down the home straight to claim gold in 3:43.35.
Spain’s Mohammed Attaoui made a late burst to win silver in 3:43.63 and Sweden’s Samuel Pihlstrom edged into bronze with 3:43.73. Stonier and Oriach faded to fourth and fifth in 3:44.31 and 3:44.85.
British quartet eclipse the women's 4x100m championship record
The British women’s 4x100m team blazed to another championship record, clocking 43.04 in an assured performance. The quartet of Cassie-Ann Pemberton, Amy Hunt, 100m finalist Alyson Bell and Aleeya Sibbons clipped 0.01 off Germany’s two-year-old best.
Slick baton handling was key to their victory and as Germany fumbled on the final changeover, Sibbons pulled clear.
Afterwards Bell, sixth in the individual 100m, said: “Every time we race I just feel more comfortable running the third leg. Trusting these girls and trusting myself really made me feel so relaxed and Amy is such a good person to come and receive the baton from. I don't think anyone of us thought that we would break the championship record as we did. It was the cherry on top of such an amazing year."
France came through for silver in 43.39 and Switzerland, aided by a charging anchor leg by 100m bronze medallist Melissa Gutschmidt, won bronze in a national U23 record of 43.59.
The men’s 4x100m went to Italy, home of the current Olympic champions in the event, by a whisker. And despite no individual finalists, the combination of Erik Marek, Melluzzo Matteo, Marco Ricci and Junior Tardioli proved the depth of Italian sprinting.
The Netherlands were the pre-race favourites after leading the heats with 38.90, but after Cedric Fini and 100m silver medallist Rapael Bouju spilled the baton on the first changeover, it opened the door to the rest of the field.
Entering the home straight, France, Poland and Greece were all in the mix, but Tardoli steamed ahead to seize gold albeit by a minuscule winning margin.
France got the silver in 38.92 - just 0.003 shy of the Italians - and Poland the bronze in 39.06. Greece just missed out on the medals in fourth but they had the consolation of setting a national U23 record of 39.09, their second record of the day.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics