Gold rush for GB at Euro U18 Champs
On a day that saw large parts of Britain glued to England’s FIFA World Cup quarter-final win over Sweden, the nation’s leading youth athletes were enjoying a gold rush of their own at the European Under-18 Championships in Gyor.
On the third of four days of action in the Hungarian town, Keely Hodgkinson won the 800m, Sam Bennett (pictured above) took the 110m hurdles, Dominic Ogbechie the high jump and Kane Elliott the 1500m as Britain went to the top of the medals table.
Hodgkinson stormed to a hugely emphatic victory when she led through the bell in 62 seconds, building a significant lead as the 16-year-old charged along, before powering home in 2:04.84.
Behind, Sophie O’Sullivan – the daughter of Irish endurance legend Sonia – battled to the silver medal for Ireland in 2:06.05 as Gael de Coninck of Sweden was third.
Hodgkinson said: “This feels incredible, I cannot believe I am a European champion. It’s more than I could have dreamed really. All the hard work has been worth it.”
A dominant run in the 800m final for Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson in a championship record of 2:04.84 and a medal for O'Sullivan!
Sonia O'Sullivan's daughter Sophie claimed a silver medal on her championship debut no less. pic.twitter.com/dHBqUJ9Z9o
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 7, 2018
In the men’s 1500m Elliott was similarly bold as he led virtually all the way but he had to work harder on the last lap to secure victory.
The Briton was passed with 250m to go and fell back to fifth place. He was still in fourth coming off the final bend as Bence Apati of Hungary sped away, seemingly en route to gold.
But Elliott moved out wide and attacked and his final surge saw him overtake Apati as he took gold in 3:55.26, while his GB team-mate Jacques Maurice was 11th.
“I knew I had to move out [with 100m to go] otherwise I was going to get boxed in so I had no other choice,” Elliott said. “I knew I had enough left in the tank so I just gave everything I had to get a medal.
“My plan going in was either to sit in behind the second place athlete or go to the front. I was happy doing either. I just wanted to be as close to the front as possible. I got myself in a good position and I’m just delighted with the outcome.”
What a crazy finish to the 1500m at the European U18 Championships! 😱
Kane Elliott produced this brilliant sprint finish to pip Hungary's Bence Apati for the title. pic.twitter.com/vw4ripNE5J
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 7, 2018
Ogbechie was a class apart in the high jump as the Briton cleared 2.16m to win by 3cm from Oleh Doroshchuk of Ukraine.
With the title in the bag, Ogbechie even tried 2.19m but settled for a 2.16m victory after three failures at the higher height.
“It was such a surreal atmosphere,” Ogbechie said. “Everyone was going absolutely mental in the stands, everyone was so supportive and it was just a great night at the track. I’ll keep those moments with me. Keely and Sam won just before me, so it was like a mini super Saturday. It was a great moment to be jumping.”
“It was quite tense between me and the Ukrainian (Doroschchuk) which made it really exciting. I saw him foul and I just thought ‘you’ve got to clear this’. When we both got to 2.16m, I knew I had done it before and I knew I could do it again. I was delighted to clear it.
“I had a go at 2.19m, I was feeling tired but two of my attempts were really close. I knew I had secured the gold so I was delighted about that so I thought I may as well just go for the higher height.”
Another British gold medal on the third day of competition at the European U18 Championships!
Watch @Dom_ogbechie96 clear 2.16m to win the high jump title in Gyor. pic.twitter.com/KOqQ1mFfkl
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 7, 2018
Sam Bennett was another emphatic British winner as he sped to the sprint hurdles title in a UK under-18 record of 13.19.
“I didn’t come into the final as the fastest but that didn’t put me off,” he said. “I wasn’t concerned about rankings. Some people perform better on different stages. I like the competition, it makes me become a better runner and I think that showed today. I am so pleased to be European champion. This has been my target all year.”
Ireland is also enjoying a successful championship and after Sarah Healy’s 3000m victory on Friday her team-mate Rhasidat Adeleke, who is still only 15, won the 200m title in style in 23.52 (2.0) ahead of Gemima Joseph of France.
“I can’t believe it. It’s so surreal,” she said. “I just tried to keep my form because I know if I lose my form then I’ll slow down.”
In the hammer, Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine set a world under-18 men’s record with 87.82m as he finished more than six metres clear of his rivals.
In the men’s 400m, Lorenzo Benati of Italy just held off a fast-finishing Brit Ethan Brown to win 400m gold in a championship best of 46.85. With a superb late surge Brown was just two hundredths of a second behind as his team-mate Ben Pattison was fourth in 47.25 in a close finish for the medals.
In the women’s one-lap race, Barbora Malikova of Czech Republic clocked 52.66 to take the title as Natasha Harrison of GB ran 55.21 in eighth.
Elsewhere, Lena Lebrun of France was a convincing winner of the 2000m steeplechase in 6:35.41.
Lizaveta Dorts of Belarus took the women's shot with 17.34m. Just outside the medals, Serena Vincent was fourth in a GB under-18 record of 16.84m with team-mate Hannah Molyneaux fifth with 16.47m.
The men’s 200m saw a German one-two as Alexander Czysch (21.15) and Daniel Regenfuss (21.19) dominated the podium.
There was also more success for Germany when Leni Wildgrube captured the women's pole vault title with 4.26m as GB's Jade Spencer-Smith finished fifth with 3.90m to equal her PB.
The championships conclude on Sunday with a number of Brits in action, including Lucy-Jane Matthews and Marcia Sey in the 100m hurdles final and Max Burgin in the men’s 800m.
» See the July 12 issue of AW for full coverage
