British distance runner adds 3000m title to 5000m crown on final day in Tampere as Italy top the medals table

Innes FitzGerald demonstrated her great ability once again on the final day of the European Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, when she won the women’s 3000m in a championship record of 8:46.39.

The 19-year-old had won the 5000m title three days earlier and on Sunday (Aug 10) she enjoyed another runaway victory as she beat Gabby Szabo’s 33-year-old championship record by more than four seconds.

Carmen Cernjul of Sweden was runner-up in 9:08.87 as FitzGerald’s team-mate Isla McGowan finished a fine fifth in 9:14.55.

"I am so pleased," said FitzGerald. "It was a big task to do the 5000m and the 3000m. I knew it was in me, but it was whether I could actually execute it on the day. So I am pleased to come away with that win today.

"And I knew that the championships record was there as well. So to get that is just the icing on the cake. It was tough. I did not know how it was going to go. Some of those girls are so good and I did not know whether they would come with me or not.

"So the first couple of laps was a bit of a game. I was like 'oh, am I by myself or not?' And then I realised that I am and I just got to grind it out to keep going. The crowd was amazing pushing me every lap.

"The championships like this are really good for gaining experience. And then hopefully, I can take that into Tokyo (World Champs) to the heats, and then hopefully to the final. Next for me - Brussels Diamond League."

In only her fourth serious summer season in athletics, FitzGerald is enjoying a terrific season under the guidance of coach Gavin Pavey, the husband and coach of former European senior champion and five-time Olympian Jo Pavey.

Italy pipped Britain in the overall medals table when winning six golds and 14 medals in total compared to Britain’s five golds and 13 medals.

Spain also won five golds and 14 medals but had far more bronze medals whereas the British team earned seven silver medals and just one bronze.

Italy’s success was partly down to Kelly Douala, 15, who won the women’s 100m earlier in the championships and on Sunday anchored Italy to 4x100m gold in 43.72.

Italy were lucky to reach the final as they only qualified after Germany were disqualified in the heats for a lane infringement, but with a stronger team in the final they beat the runners up, Great Britain & Northern Ireland, who were anchored by individual 100m silver medallist Mabel Akande as they clocked 43.98 ahead of bronze medallists Poland.

FitzGerald aside it was a day of silver medals for Britain. These included Thea Brown, who leapt out to a PB of 6.44m (1.2) in the long jump after an injury-hit year with ankle sprains and hamstring problems, but she finished runner-up behind Bori Rózsahegyi of Hungary who jumped 6.46m (0.7).

Another British silver came from Otis Poole in the men’s high jump as he jumped 2.19m with the gold going to Elijah Pasquier of France with a national junior record of 2.25m.

Elsewhere, Håkon Moe Berg of Norway added the men’s 1500m title to the 3000m crown he won earlier in the championships. Moe Berg clocked 3:47.36 with Norwegian team-mate Andreas Dybdahl taking silver.

The much-anticipated women’s 800m didn’t disappoint as Jana Marie Becker of Germany won a battle in the home straight in 2:01.67 with 15-year-old Slovenian Živa Remic taking silver in 2:01.76.

Britain’s Shaikira King had led at the bell in 59 seconds but was passed down the back straight and finished fifth in 2:03.60.

In the heptathlon, Jana Koscak of Croatia looked like a runaway winner at the end of the first day but she had to hold off a challenge from Sarolta Kriszt of Hungary on day two.

With Kriszt making ground on Koscak, the Croatian led by 95 points going into the 800m and it was one of her weaker events and one of Kriszt's strongest.

Kriszt went for it and crossed the finish in 2:10.84 but Koscak dug in and ran quicker than expected with 2:14.56 to hold on to gold with 6293 points to Kriszt's 6251 as Britain's Eden Robinson finished fifth with 5648.

READ MORE: Three golds for Britain on day three in Tampere

“I was looking forward to this competition and I have been dreaming about this title ever since what happened in Jerusalem,” said Koscak. “To get the entire collection of the European under-18, European under-20, world under-20 and European Youth Olympic Festival gold – it is the entire collection almost complete.”

Full results here