With this, let’s take a look at the top 5 athletes to watch out for at the European Athletics U23 Championships 2023.
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The European Athletics U23 Championships 2023 is set to kick off from July 13 to July 16, 2023, in Espoo, Finland. This event is organized by the European Athletics Association and is one of the most prominent age group competitions in Europe in Athletics. The European Athletics U23 Championships 2023 will also witness young athletes battling it out to become the U23 champion in the coming days. With this, let’s take a look at the top 5 athletes to watch out for at the European Athletics U23 Championships 2023.
Ditaji Kambundji, who is the sister of Mujinga Kambundji, is one of the top competitors at the European Athletics U23 Championships 2023. At the 100m hurdles, Ditaji will be leading Switzerland’s charge at the age-group event. She secured a third-place finish in the 100 meters hurdles at the European Championships in 2022, followed by another bronze in the 60 meters hurdles at the European Indoor Championships in 2023.
The 21-year-old athlete clinched the title of 100 m hurdles champion in the 2021 European under-20 category. She also had the opportunity to compete in the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which took place in 2021. Holding the Swiss indoor record for the 60 m hurdles, she has also achieved national champion status on five occasions. This makes her one of the favorites at the European Athletics U23 Championships 2023.
Sander Skotheim, the Norwegian multi-event athlete, is a rising star in the field of athletics. His significant accomplishments include a silver medal at the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships. He performed exceptionally at the 2019 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Baku, where he bagged a gold medal in the decathlon event.
Additionally, Skotheim secured silver at the 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships decathlon in Tallinn. In 2022, he became the senior indoor Norwegian champion in the heptathlon and earned several individual indoor medals, such as gold in the high jump, silver in the triple jump, and bronze in the long jump.
Elina Tzengko, who won the Rising Star Award for 2023 at the Golden Tracks award ceremony, is another prime contender at the European Athletics U23 Championships 2023. The athlete who excels in javelin throw achieved a remarkable feat by securing a gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in 2022.
This accomplishment crowned her as the youngest Greek and javelin European champion. Her victory at the 2021 European Under-20 Championships was marked by a gold medal, following a silver at the World Under-20 Championships. As a result, she is acknowledged as one of the promising talents in Greek classical sports.
Hailing from Lithuania, Mykolas Alekna, is also among the athletes to watch out for at the U23 championships. Alekna belongs to a sporting family, being the son of two-time Olympics gold medalist discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna. At only 19, he achieved an impressive feat by securing the silver medal at the 2022 World Championships, setting a record as the youngest discus medalist globally.
Following this, Alekna emerged as the youngest winner in his field during the 2022 European Championships and also broke the competition record. His crowning moments in 2021 included being the champion at both the World Under-20 and the European U20 Championships.
Keely Hodgkinson will be grabbing a lot of eyeballs at the European Athletics U23 Championships 2023. At just 19, she clinched a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, shattering a British record established by Kelly Holmes in 1995. Her career is adorned with notable feats such as becoming the silver medalist at the 2022 World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Moreover, she was crowned the 2022 European champion and has twice been the European indoor champion, in 2021 and 2023. Remarkably, her victory in 2021 made her the youngest-ever winner of the European women’s indoor 800m event. However, the Tokyo silver medalist will compete in the 400m instead of her signature event in this championships.
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