Successful showing by Greeks in Sweden
The Greek team won four medals at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Boras, Sweden, making it Greece’s best showing at the event since 2005.
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Greece’s star of the Championships was easily Spyridoula Karidi. After choosing to not compete in the long jump (which she had also been qualified for) in order to focus on the triple jump, the 18-year-old from Kerkyra nearly missed out on the triple jump final. Failing to register a valid jump after the first two rounds of qualifying, Karidi recorded a jump of 13.63 metres (just short of her personal record of 13.64 metres) on her third and final attempt, to finish in first place overall in qualifying.
Unlike in the qualifying rounds, Karidi would not struggle in the final. Her opening jump was 14.00 metres, a new Greek national U20 record. That would be enough to win gold, as Bulgaria’s Aleksandra Nacheva (the world champion) could only reach 13.81 metres, meaning that the event favorite would go home with just a silver medal. In addition to her jump of 14.00 metres, Karidi also registered jumps of 13.76, 13.67, 13.60, and 13.57 metres. With the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying standard for the women’s triple jump being 14.32 metres, it is very possible that Karidi will be able to achieve that within the next year and compete in her first Olympics whilst still a teenager. Just to put things into perspective, her personal record has improved from 12.18 metres in 2017, to 13.27 metres in 2018, to now 14.00 metres in 2019.
Christos Frantzeskakis won a silver medal in the hammer throw. The youngster from Chania, Crete, improved his personal record with the 6kg hammer from 81.62 metres to 84.22 metres. This throw set a new Greek national U20 record. Ukraine’s Myhaylo Kokhan won gold with a throw of 84.73 metres, which happened to be a new European U20 record.
Javelin thrower Dimitrios Tsitsos captured a bronze medal in Boras, which happened to be his first career medal at a major international competition. The 18-year-old from Giannitsa in Macedonia improved his personal record from 72.91 metres to 77.79 metres.
Winning Greece’s last medal of the Championships was Andreas Pantazis. The triple jumper from Megara improved his personal record from 15.87 metres to 16.08 metres to take bronze.
With four medals, this was Greece’s best performance at the European U20 Championships since 2005, a year in which the Greek team won six medals. At the previous edition in 2017, Greece won two medals, which was the first time at the event since 2005 that Greece won any medals.
There may have only been four medal winners on the 19-athlete Greek team, but several other Greeks also made good impressions in Boras. 16-year-old Elina Tzengko came up just short in the javelin throw, finishing fourth in the final, where fellow Greek Margarita Tsoukala finished in twelfth place. Earning fifth place finishes in Boras were hammer thrower Stavroula Kosmidou, and pole vaulter Antonios Santas. Also earning a fifth place finish was Kiriaki Filtisakou in the women’s 10,000 m race walk, where 17-year-old Olga Fiaska came in eighth place. High jumper Panagiota Dosi finished seventh overall in her event. Theodoros Ziogas, who celebrated his 18th birthday in Boras, came in ninth place in the men’s hammer throw. Also finishing in ninth place in their event was pole vaulter Ariadni Adamopoulou.
The next European Athletics U20 Championships will take place in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2021. Several of the younger members from this year’s Greek squad will be expected to return, including Fiaska, Tzengko, and Ziogas.
