European Athletics (EA) – News – Zalewski shocks them all

He may have been the outright favourite for the 200m gold after his fast 20.30 in June, but Briton Adam Gemeli did not even get a medal as Poland's Karol Zalewski surprised them all with a storming run on third day of the European Athletics U23 Championships in Tampere. 

The Pole, fourth in the 2012 World juniors, clocked yet another PB of 20.41 after running a 20.53PB to win his heat at the European Athletics U23 Championships on Friday, but it was the manner of his win that was so surprising. Gemili established a lead around the bend but then appeared to stall as the tall Pole came flying through. After appearing to fade slightly Czech Pavel Maslak summoned up his 400m strength to climb into silver but it was the equally determined Daniel Talbot of Great Britain who was to snatch that medal from him by 0.03 in 20.46. Despite only repeating the bronze he won in Ostrava two years ago, Maslak was rewarded with a national record of 20.49.

Ingebrigtsen makes up for morning disappointment
Norway's Henrik Ingebrigtsen made up for his morning disappointment when he fell in the heats of the 1500m to take advantage of a slow 5000m final and sprint to gold. Silver and bronze went to Britain's Tom Farrell and Spain's Aitor Fernandez.

Winner of the 10,000m, Gabriel Navarro of Spain tried to liven things up in the first 1km which passed in a steady 2:52.22, but no one seemed interested and the pace slumped to 77sec lap for the fourth lap. At 2000m it was team-mate Fernandez's turn to take the lead but now they were on 15min pace. At this stage it was playing into the hands of the Norwegian jogging at the back of the field, Ingebrigtsen who had been dumped so unceremoniously out of the 1500m heats in the morning, his knees still scorched. At 3000m it was once again Navarro in 9:00.80 but then the pace quickened to 66/67 per lap. At 4000m reached in 11:49.11 Farrell started to turn the screw shadowed by fellow Briton Luke Caldwell. The pace at this stage had become too hot for Navarro, but with 300m remaining it was Fernandez who burst to the front. Ominously for everyone though, Ingebrigtsen was still jogging and with 250m to go he turned on the after burners and the race was as good as over.

Krauss holds his nerve best
With a mid-race surge, Simon Krauss of France collected 110m Hurdles gold in a lifetime best 13.55. Second, also with a career best, was the Netherlands' Koen Smet while bronze went to Germany's Gregor Traber. That time represents an improvement of 0.14 for the Frenchman on his previous best from this summer. The whole field looked nervous as they lined up but it was the Frenchman who held his nerve the best to take the honours. Born in Orleans, he had a best of 13.97 last year but he has now reduced that by almost half a second with most of the summer yet to come.

Bekric sets European leading time
Serbia's Emir Bekric took 400m hurdles gold in a new national record 48.76 with silver medallist, Sebastian Rodger of Great Britain, also setting new best figures of 49.19. In bronze, Rasmus Magi of Estonia was also given the same time, also a national record. Right from the start the imposing frame of Bekric went into the lead and stayed there while the rest were left to scrap for the minor medals. Over the final two hurdles Rodger made a concerted effort to catch the Serb but then had to use all his reserves to hold off a fast finishing Magi who threw his torso at the line to try and snatch silver from the Briton's grasp. Two years ago Bekric took bronze in Ostrava and last year in Helsinki he collected European silver.

Gudzius wins it early
It was all over by the end of the second round in the discus. Viktor Butenko took an early lead with his first effort of 60.40, but then Lithuania's Andrius Gudzius sent one out to 62.40 with this second throw and that was gold and silver sorted. Bronze went to Danijel Furtula of Montenegro. After setting a national record of 64.60 earlier this year, Furtula was disappointed not to have had more of an impact, but try as he might he could never quite match the top two. Gudzius adds U23 gold to his World Youth and Junior golds.

Makhrosenka gold
Zakhar Makhrosenka of Belarus came from behind so to speak to take hammer gold with a throw of 74.63. Hungary's Akos Hudi continued his country's tradition in this event with silver while France's Quentin Bigot had to content himself with bronze. Bigot had gone out to a 74m lead in round three but Makhrosenka, 76.08PB this year, came alive in the next round to send the implement out to 74.23. He then took it 40cm further with his next effort. Hudi got close with his fifth round throw, the hammer hitting the turf at 74.06 to shunt the Frenchman into bronze. Bigot tried to come back but his effort fell short at 73.71. It was now all down to their sixth and final throws. Mahkrosenko fouled with his last attempt but the others who were throwing after him could not capitalise.

Williams signals her comeback
After her storming win in the 400m earlier in the afternoon, Lenora Guion Fermin was always like to be a threat, but it was a resurgent Jodie Williams who took gold – just – to confirm her comeback from last year's hamstring injury. Starting in lane four, Williams ran a magnificent bend to enter the straight in the lead but like an impending storm Guion Fermin was gathering out in lane eight to upset the predictions. As the line drew nearer, Williams sensed she was under pressure but maintained her form to the end and it paid off with the tenacious Frenchwoman failing by 0.04 to catch her. For Guion Fermin came the reward of a 22.96PB. Bronze went to Italy's Gloria Hooper in 23.24, beating Britain's Ashleigh Nelson (23.25PB) by the slender margin of 0.01.

Guion Firmin confirms her class
She looked like the champion in waiting even since she stepped on the track in Tampere and Lenora Guion Firmin of France confirmed it by setting a personal best of 51.68 to lift the 400m title. Silver went to Romania's Mirela Lavric to add to her gold from the 800m while bronze went to Poland's Justina Swiety. Six out of the eight women in this final set lifetime bests with Lavric and Swiety clocking 52.06 and 52.22 respectively. It looks very much as though France has found a successor to Marie Jo Perec.

Krause front runs her way to a championship record
It has been a feature of this championships (barring the men's 5000m) that athletes have not been afraid to lead and Gesa-Felicitas Krause exemplified that to perfection when she took steeplechase gold in a new championship record 9:38.91. Right from the start the German took the race to the opposition leading through the first kilometre marker in 3:12.56. Already the field was split and it was down to four to decide the medals. In her wake was the Russian pairing of Yekaterina Sokolenko and Evdokiya Bukina with France's Cecilie Chevillard hanging on. It was the Frenchwoman who was to let go first and she eventually finished fifth because of the effort of trying to stay with the German. With four laps to go the German was still making the pace shadowed by Sokolenko and 400m later it was down to three with Bukina struggling. Two to go and it was just Krause and Sakolenko. It was then that Krause really opened up and by the bell the gap to Sokolenko was 4.5sec and to Bukina a full 9sec. From then on it was a virtual lap of honour as Krause crossed the line with one eye on the clock as she revised the championship record from six years ago.

Pedersen adds to her medal collection
It was a good night for the Norwegians after all. In the morning they had watched as their gold medal hope in the 1500m, Henrik Ingebrigtsen, fell and failed to qualify. But then he came back to capture 5000m gold and shortly afterward, Isabelle Pedersen, was a runaway winner of the 100m hurdles. After watching her in the heats it was hardly a surprise and she does have previous. World Junior champion in 2010, the woman from Bergen collected European Junior silver in 2009 and 2011 and was out and out favourite in Tampere. Silver went to Poland's Karolina Koleczek, but all the Finnish hopes were on Nooralotta Neziri. She got away to a poor start and was never in the hunt for gold, but she dug deep to claw her way back into medal contention and was rewarded with bronze just 0.03 ahead of Poland's Urszula Bhebhe.

Rudakova judges it right
Vera Rudakova of Russia ran a finely judged race to win 400m hurdles gold in a lifetime best 55.92. Silver went to the Netherlands' Bianca Baak also in a new best of 56.75 while bronze was won by the Ukraine's Anastasiya Lebid on the run-in. It was assumed that Aurelie Chaboudez of France would be the Russian's main rival. The Frenchwoman was in lane three, just inside the Russian, and rose to the first hurdle in the lead. But by the third hurdle it the Russian running smoothly who had made up the deficit on Chaboudez. From this point on, Rudakova moved into an unassailable lead and enjoyed an untroubled run to the line.

Russia rules
You cannot argue with someone who sets three lifetime bests in the course of a championship. As the bar went higher, Angelina Zhuk Krasnova just kept going over, finally calling a halt after brushing the bar at 4.70 with gold safely in her pocket. The Russian had one failure at 4.60 her first PB, but from then on she vaulted perfectly. With each clearance she celebrated in style and her energy seemed bottomless. There was simply no holding her and fellow Russian, Azhelika Sidorova, had to be content with silver with a personal best of 4.60. Bronze went to Sweden's Angelica Bengtsson, the 2012 World junior champion, in a season's best 4.55. The Russian Pole Vault factory just keeps producing new models.

Trost turns it on
The titles just keep coming for Alessia Trost. World Youth champion in 2009, World Junior champion in 2012, the lady from Pordenone near Trieste in the north west of Italy is now European U23 high jump champion. She had a wobble at 1.90 but then it was plain sailing as she cleared 1.92, 1.94 and then a personal outdoor best 1.98 at the third attempt. Up to 1.92 Lithuania's Airine Palsyte had a clean card and was in the lead but then she faltered to allow the Italian – who has jumped 2m indoors – a lifeline. Palsyte had two failures at 1.94 and left her final effort for 1.96. She did not make it, but then Trost went higher anyway and the Italians could celebrate their first gold of these championships.

Hitchon grabs gold at the death
It was a tale of two hammer throwers. Sophie Hitchon held the season lead coming into Tampere but it was Barbara Spiler who set the pace after the early skirmishes of the first two rounds. The Briton went out to a solid 68.13 as an opening salvo and then consolidated with 68.80. But then it was the Slovenian's turn as she thumped one out to 68.98 in round three. Hitchon fouled her next two throws while the Slovenian kept pumping them out: 69.69 and then a 68.30 in round five. But she may have wondered what was to come as she then made the Latin rite sign of the cross as they prepared for the final throw of the dice. Throwing second last Hitchon refused to panic and hurled the implement beyond the 70m line, calmly watching it arc through the Tampere sky to hit the turf at 70.72. A dejected Spiler failed to respond and it was gold for the Briton. France's Alexia Sedykh was a distant third with a fifth round 66.67. But the final was all about Hitchon and Spiler.

Johnson-Thompson roars back after Shot set-back
Katerina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain is in the lead after the first day of the heptathlon with a score of 3761. Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands occupies second spot 88 points down while the leader after the Shot, Anastasiya Mokhnyuk of the Ukraine, slipped to third after the 200m a further 36 points adrift.

The first event of the evening session, the Shot, was always going to be her Achilles heel and so it proved for Johnson-Thompson. Even so, she still came close to her best of 11.83 falling short by 7cm. It was Mokhnyuk who saw her chance and grabbed it by setting a lifetime best of 13.11 to collect a valuable 735 points and move into the lead with a total of 2775. Vetter went even further with 13.48 to claim silver medal position leaving the Briton in bronze just 3 points off the Dutch woman but 48 behind the Ukrainian.

After PBs in the Shot and 200m, Mokhnyuk, had turned the tables on the Johnson-Thompson. But in the third and final heat the Briton responded to the challenge with a lifetime best 23.45 and she was back in the driving seat.

 

European Athletics (EA) – News