European Athletics U20 Championship 2023 Jerusalem: Laros and Caune dominate distance running

Posted : 09 August 2023

Niels Laros and Agate Caune, two of Europe's most promising distance running talents, showcased their abilities with dominant and contrasting victories during the third morning session of the Jerusalem 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships on Wednesday.

Laros exhibited his strength by securing victory in a tactical 1500m race with a time of 3:56.78. He unleashed an astonishing final lap of 51.35, extending an impressive lead of three seconds over Austria’s Kevin Kamenschak (3:59.73) and Czech Republic’s Ondrej Gajdos (4:00.98). Despite being the second fastest European U20 runner in history for 1500m, with a previous time of 3:32.89, Laros remained focused and humble, acknowledging the challenges each competitor presented in the final: "I never underestimate anyone. Everyone made it to the final, everyone wants to do his best… Still, a final is a final and anything can happen, so I am thankful for this gold… I do not want to look arrogant but I think it was hard to beat me today."

On the other hand, Agate Caune of Latvia dominated the 3000m final, leading from start to finish. Though she fell slightly off the pace of Gabriela Szabo's longstanding championship record in the last two laps, her time of 8:53.20 secured her the second fastest time in the history of the European Athletics U20 Championships. She comfortably clinched victory with a massive margin of 28 seconds, making it the largest winning margin in championship history. In a separate race for the remaining medals, Zuzanna Wiernicka won silver in 9:21.40, overtaking Germany's Sofia Benfares (9:25.42) on the last lap.

Regarding her strategy, Caune shared, "The championship record was not my goal today. My goal was to run comfortably, to run great and focus for tomorrow because it is a longer distance and harder."

Both Laros and Caune are poised to continue their medal quests in the 5000m finals the following evening, as they prepare for their debuts at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest later this month.

Sofia Santacreu of Spain made a triumphant return to the Givat Ram Stadium by securing victory in the 10,000m race walk in 46:00, following her win in the 5000m race walk at U18 level last year. Santacreu led Italy's Giulia Gabriele (46:57) in the event.

In the men's shot put final, Germany's success story persisted as Lasse Schulz clinched gold with a throw of 20.21m in the last round, surpassing his teammate Lukas Schober's 19.76m. Greece's Dimitrios Antonatos secured the bronze with a lifetime best of 19.31m, disrupting Germany's potential clean sweep.

Tabea Eitel of Germany set a European U20 lead and lifetime best of 6.59m in long jump qualifying, while Serbia's Angelina Topic reached 6.50m on her first attempt and turned her focus to the high jump final.

However, a surprise came with the absence of world U20 discus champion Emma Sralla from Sweden, who recorded three no-throws in the qualifying round. The leading positions in the two pools were taken by Germans Lea Bork and Milina Wepiwe, who threw 52.34m and 52.24m respectively.

European Athletics U20 Championship 2023 Jerusalem: Laros and Caune dominate distance running

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