European Athletics U23 Championships – Day Three

Debrecen, HungaryVisa in Finnish means “gnarled” but there was nothing twisted about the way Visa Hongisto roared past the field down the straight to take 200m gold in 20.84 on yesterday's third day of the European U23 Championships (14).

But for the headwind of 1.9mps, Hongisto would surely have set a career best, but he was happy enough with a job well done. All through the rounds he had been impressive and he showed it was no coincidence as he let Briton Rikki Fifton blast off from the gun before hauling him in down the straight. The Briton, fourth in these championships last time round, faded to third in 21.02, overtaken by Vojtech Sulc (CZE) who set a lifetime best of 20.91 for silver.

“I could not believe it!” said the 20-year-old Hongisto. “I win and I’m the first sprinter of Finnish athletics to be European champion. Initially I wasn't thinking of more than a bronze medal, but this was my lucky day.”

The class act of the 400m Hurdles finalists, Angela Morosanu (ROM), made quality tell as she blasted away from the gun and was never headed. She crossed the line in a new championship record of 54.50, a great time under any circumstances and only 0.10 outside her career best. European junior silver, Irina Obedina (RUS), was likely to be the only challenger and, though she ran a fine race, was unable to get on terms with the flying Romanian. Third in a season’s best was Zuzana Hejnova (CZE) who had looked so strong in the semis.

“I’m happy with my time and of course with the first place too,” said Morosanu. “I trusted in my chances, but in the hurdles you never know. That race proves to me that I'm on the right road. I'm confident I can run faster than 54.50, and get a place in the final in Osaka.”

Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski had been an assured winner of his semi-final when he had shown an impressive turn of speed and it was the same weapon that was to bring him victory in the 800m final in 1:49.95. Taking the bell in 56.76 Lewandowski was tracking the tall Josef Repcik (SVK) and with 200m the Pole kicked for home, immediately opening up a gap. 1:45-man Richard Hill (GBR) started to close fast round the final bend but had left himself too much to do and ran out of steam as the Ukraine’s Oleksandr Osmolovych and Abdesslam Merabet (FRA) sped past for the minor medals.

“It was quite easy for me to win,” said Lewandowski, “because of the very slow pace. I'm a fast runner, and that's gives me a lot of confidence. I want to be present at the senior world championships, and I have a chance of reach the qualifying time in Madrid. From today I'm preparing for that.”

Nevin Yanit (TUR) had looked the likeliest winner of the 100m Hurdles through the rounds and so it proved as the 12.88 performer was never headed, breaking the beam in 12.90 into a slight headwind for gold and a season’s best. Norway’s Christina Vukicevic, who had always looked a likely medallist, grabbed silver in a 13.08PB, while heptathlete Jessica Ennis (GBR) claimed bronze.

The women’s Pole Vault came down to a battle between Russia, Aleksandra Kiryashova, and two Germans, Anna Schultze and Anna Battke. With only one failure up to 4.45, the Russian was never seriously under threat. After failing twice at 4.45, Schultze reserved her final attempt for 5.50 at which she made a decent attempt, just brushing the bar off to take silver while Battke collected bronze. With the pressure off, Kiryashova went on to set a PB of 4.50 before trying unsuccessfully for 5.55.  

It was yet another 1-2-3 for Russia as they scooped the 20km Race Walk medals on a hot morning around the Great Forest in Debrecen. Gold medallist Valeriy Borchin went one better than at last year’s European championships, crossing the line first in 1:20.43. Over a minute down was team-mate, Andrey Krivov followed by Sergey Bakulin. Just like yesterday, Russia started the day with a clean sweep of the walking medals to copy their women.

Some things never change. In the medal stakes, Russia are well ahead with 26, including ten golds.

Michael Butcher for the IAAF