Huge coverage of star names in athletics – Espoo will host high-level prestigious competitions next summer

Finland will have a strong team for the under-23 European Athletics Championship in Espoo next summer. Several top international names are also expected to come to the venue.

Next summer, Espoo will have good opportunities to see Europe’s absolute elite in athletics, when the under-23 European Championship will be held on the Leppävaara field. In the coming year, the under-23 competitions will consist of track and field athletes born between 2001 and 2003. As many as five athletes of the age groups in question won the individual prize competition at the European Championships held in Munich last summer.

Among them was the Ukrainian high jump star Jaroslava Mahutshiha Polish speedster Pia Skrzyszowskaa British 800m runner Keely HodgkinsonLithuanian discus thrower Mykolas Alekna and a Greek javelin thrower Elina Tzengko. Among them, Mahutshih, Hodgkinson and Alekna won World Championship medals.

In addition to them, four other athletes won individual medals. No less than two of the three EC medalists in women’s fast fences were born between 2001 and 2003. One of the most fascinating names in the age group is also British Max Burginwhose 800-meter time of 1:43.52 at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku was the third fastest in the season’s world statistics.

The last athletics summer was hectic for European track and field athletes, when first the World Championships were held in July in Oregon and about a month later in Munich they competed for European Championship medals. In addition, in between the Games in question were the Commonwealth Games, in which, for example, Great Britain participated.

In the summer of 2023, the competition medals for adults will be fought “only” at the World Championships. Unlike last years, they will be held only at the end of August in Budapest, Hungary.

There is a good month between the Under-23 European Championships and the World Championships, so at least in this respect, no prestigious adult competitions will prevent athletes of the age group who have already achieved merit at the international level from participating in the Espoo event.

Competition Manager Harri Lammi says that the message of the delegation of the European Athletics Federation that recently visited Espoo was that the best of the age group will be seen at the games.

– They believe that the games will be a tough season in that sense, because the athletes will be able to give competitive performances with the upcoming World Championships in mind, says Lammi.

The story continues after the video, picture and fact section.

Vanninen, Kosonen, Laine

The age groups in question are also very interesting for Finns. Fascinating names include, among other things, sesenotlija Saga Vanninena pot thrower Silja Kosonena javelin thrower Topias Lainean endurance runner Eemil Helandera pot thrower Sara Killinena pole vaulter Juho Alasaari and an endurance runner Nathalie Blomqvist.

Vanninen, Kosonen and Alasaari have reaped success, for example, in the under-20 World Championships. Laine, on the other hand, is the defending champion from the previous under-23 European Championships.

– Finland is becoming one of the best youth groups of all time, Lammi believes.

CEO of SUL Harry Aalto is on the same lines.

– We have a very tough team. We expect that our athletics will continue the tailwind that it has had recently, Aalto refers to last summer’s EC success.

The story continues after the picture and fact section.

Gym

The European Championships for under-23s will be held in Finland for the third time. The first age group competitions were organized in 1997 in Turku. In 2013, the venue was Tampere.

Leppävaara stadium is currently under renovation. The track will get a new mondo surface, in addition to which the other performance venues will also be renovated. A new multipurpose hall is also currently being built at the Leppävaara sports park. It is used in connection with the games.

The track and multipurpose hall should be ready by May.

– There will be a sports hall next to the main grandstand, where there will be 200-meter circular tracks. It functions above all as a training facility during the European Championship, says Aalto.

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