TRIO REACH THE PODIUM ON DAY TWO OF 2024 EUROPEAN U18 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thea Brown, Joel Masters and Joel Ajayi all starred as Great Britain scored a hat-trick of medals on day two at the European Athletics U18 Championships in Slovakia.

Brown (coach: Joanne Harding, club: Sale Harriers Manchester) won silver in the women’s heptathlon in Banska Brystica after eye-catching performances across the seven events that banked a personal best of 5807, the second best ever by a Brit in this age group, behind only European Indoor silver medallist Niamh Emerson.

The Brit finished second to Finland’s Enni Virjonen overall and produced a sensational display in the long jump discipline to kickstart the second day of competition. Having fouled on her first two attempts, she landed an impressive 6.05m (-0.8m/s) for the best jump of the day to add 865 points to her tally.

After adding a throw of 27.41m in the javelin, the Brit came into the concluding 800m in third place in the overall standings but closed out her campaign with a personal best of 2:27.99 to move up to the silver medal position.

Elsewhere, the pair of Masters (Joel Humphries-Cuff, BFT Track Academy) and Ajayi (Gary Howard, Havering) secured more medal delight for Great Britain and Northern Ireland after finishing second and third respectively in the 100m men final, as Germany’s Jakob Kemminer took gold.

Both Brits got out of the blocks strongly with Ajayi and Masters neck and neck after 50 metres, but the German ran a superb race to come through an pip Masters in the last few strides to take the European title with the Brits locking out the rest of the podium.

Toby Wright (Steve Shaw, Taunton) was another GB & NI athlete in finals action on Friday night and he fell agonisingly short of a medal in the men’s 110m hurdles as he was edged out by Hungary’s Hristiyan Kasabov in a photo finish.

Both athletes were given the same time, but it came down to one thousandth and he can take heart from his fourth-place finish having clocked a personal best of 13.47 (1.1).

Sadly, in the women’s 100m final, Nell Desir (Lisa Waddon, Cardiff Archers) was disqualified for a false start.

Elsewhere, ten British athletes progressed to the next round of their respective disciplines, setting the stage for what will surely be an exciting weekend.

In the morning session, Dillon Millard (Dave Lee, Taunton) qualified for the men’s 2000m Steeplechase (84cm) final, clocking in at 5:55.37 for sixth in heat one with the first seven automatically advancing.

Out in the field, Louis Tutcher (Matt Spicer, Yate) would soon emulate his compatriot to progress to the final of the Hammer Throw (5kg), with his best effort 68.03m.

The duo’s performances were followed by a hat-trick of personal bests by Kara Dacosta (Stephen Ball, Trafford), Aron Tugwell (Lisa Waddon, Cardiff Archers) and Regan Corrin (Emma Lowry, Manx) in their own respective disciplines.

Tugwell finished third in his men’s 200m heat, equalling his PB with 21.41 (0.4), to advance to the semi-finals on Saturday. Sadly Jake Odey-Jordan (Victor Blackett) missed out on a place in the semis after finishing fourth in his heat.

Meanwhile, Regan Corrin’s mark of 2.05m saw him advance to the men’s high final with relative ease.

However, the standout among the trio was undoubtedly Dacosta who backed up her emerging reputation in the women’s 400m with a superlative showing in the semi-final, winning her heat and clocking a new personal best of 52.79. She moves into the final as the fastest qualifier overall.

Meanwhile, the evening session saw the British team pick up where they left off, with Bethany Trow (Shrewsbury) and Shakira King (John Skevington, Wreake & Soar Valley) both advancing to the semi-final of the women’s 800m after winning their respective heats.

Not to be outdone, Tom Waterworth (Derek Darnell, Huntingtonshire) and Matthew McKenna (Martin Norman, Walton) emulated their compatriots with victory in their races in the men’s 800m.

Results