{"id":1040006955,"date":"2025-08-10T21:32:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T20:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/?p=1040006955"},"modified":"2025-08-12T09:41:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T08:41:55","slug":"fitzgerald-completes-golden-double-at-euro-u20-champs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/news\/fitzgerald-completes-golden-double-at-euro-u20-champs-1040006955\/","title":{"rendered":"FitzGerald completes golden double at Euro U20 Champs"},"content":{"rendered":"

British distance runner adds 3000m title to 5000m crown on final day in Tampere as Italy top the medals table<\/p>\n

Innes FitzGerald demonstrated her great ability once again on the final day of the European Under-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, when she won the women\u2019s 3000m in a championship record of 8:46.39.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old had won the 5000m title<\/a> three days earlier and on Sunday (Aug 10) she enjoyed another runaway victory as she beat Gabby Szabo\u2019s 33-year-old championship record by more than four seconds.<\/p>\n

Carmen Cernjul of Sweden was runner-up in 9:08.87 as FitzGerald\u2019s team-mate Isla McGowan finished a fine fifth in 9:14.55.<\/p>

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\"I am so pleased,\" said FitzGerald. \"It was a big task to do the 5000m and the 3000m. I knew it was in me, but it was whether I could actually execute it on the day. So I am pleased to come away with that win today.<\/p>\n

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Innes FitzGerald (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"And I knew that the championships record was there as well. So to get that is just the icing on the cake. It was tough. I did not know how it was going to go. Some of those girls are so good and I did not know whether they would come with me or not.<\/p>\n

\"So the first couple of laps was a bit of a game. I was like 'oh, am I by myself or not?' And then I realised that I am and I just got to grind it out to keep going. The crowd was amazing pushing me every lap.<\/p>\n

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Innes FitzGerald (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"The championships like this are really good for gaining experience. And then hopefully, I can take that into Tokyo (World Champs) to the heats, and then hopefully to the final. Next for me - Brussels Diamond League.\"<\/p>

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In only her fourth serious summer season in athletics, FitzGerald is enjoying a terrific season under the guidance of coach Gavin Pavey, the husband and coach of former European senior champion and five-time Olympian Jo Pavey.<\/p>\n

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Innes FitzGerald (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Italy pipped Britain in the overall medals table when winning six golds and 14 medals in total compared to Britain\u2019s five golds and 13 medals.<\/p>\n

Spain also won five golds and 14 medals but had far more bronze medals whereas the British team earned seven silver medals and just one bronze.<\/p>\n

Italy\u2019s success was partly down to Kelly Douala, 15, who won the women\u2019s 100m earlier in the championships<\/a> and on Sunday anchored Italy to 4x100m gold in 43.72.<\/p>

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Italy's 4x100m winners (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Italy were lucky to reach the final as they only qualified after Germany were disqualified in the heats for a lane infringement, but with a stronger team in the final they beat the runners up, Great Britain & Northern Ireland, who were anchored by individual 100m silver medallist Mabel Akande as they clocked 43.98 ahead of bronze medallists Poland.<\/p>\n

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Britain's 4x100m medallists (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FitzGerald aside it was a day of silver medals for Britain. These included Thea Brown, who leapt out to a PB of 6.44m (1.2) in the long jump after an injury-hit year with ankle sprains and hamstring problems, but she finished runner-up behind Bori R\u00f3zsahegyi of Hungary who jumped 6.46m (0.7).<\/p>\n

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Thea Brown (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another British silver came from Otis Poole in the men\u2019s high jump as he jumped 2.19m with the gold going to Elijah Pasquier of France with a national junior record of 2.25m.<\/p>\n

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Otis Poole (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elsewhere, H\u00e5kon Moe Berg of Norway added the men\u2019s 1500m title to the 3000m crown he won earlier in the championships. Moe Berg clocked 3:47.36 with Norwegian team-mate Andreas Dybdahl taking silver.<\/p>\n

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H\u00e5kon Moe Berg (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The much-anticipated women\u2019s 800m didn\u2019t disappoint as Jana Marie Becker of Germany won a battle in the home straight in 2:01.67 with 15-year-old Slovenian \u017diva Remic taking silver in 2:01.76.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s Shaikira King had led at the bell in 59 seconds but was passed down the back straight and finished fifth in 2:03.60.<\/p>\n

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Jana Marie Becker (left) (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the heptathlon, Jana Koscak of Croatia looked like a runaway winner at the end of the first day but she had to hold off a challenge from Sarolta Kriszt\u00a0of Hungary on day two.<\/p>\n

With Kriszt making ground on Koscak, the Croatian led by 95 points going into the 800m and it was one of her weaker events and one of Kriszt's strongest.<\/p>\n

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Jana Koscak (Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kriszt went for it and crossed the finish in 2:10.84 but Koscak dug in and ran quicker than expected with 2:14.56 to hold on to gold with 6293 points to Kriszt's 6251 as Britain's Eden Robinson finished fifth with 5648.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Three golds for Britain on day three in Tampere<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI was looking forward to this competition and I have been dreaming about this title ever since what happened in Jerusalem,\u201d said Koscak. \u201cTo get the entire collection of the European under-18, European under-20, world under-20 and European Youth Olympic Festival gold \u2013 it is the entire collection almost complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

British results...<\/strong><\/p>\n

U20 men:<\/b>\u00a0100 (-0.7):<\/b>\u00a02= T Wilson (SB) 10.47; 7 D Williams (BFTTA) 10.62.\u00a0Ht4 (-1.7):<\/b>\u00a01 T Wilson (SB) 10.54.\u00a0Ht6 (-2.4):<\/b>\u00a02 D Williams (BFTTA) 10.78.\u00a0SF1 (-0.1):<\/b>\u00a01 T Wilson (SB) 10.49.\u00a0SF2 (-0.7):<\/b>\u00a02 D Williams (BFTTA) 10.57.\u00a0SF3 (-0.5):<\/b>\u00a04 G Warburton (Stock H) 10.63.\u00a0200: Ht1 (0.1):<\/b>\u00a04 E Franklin (WG&EL) 21.55.\u00a0Ht3 (-1.4):<\/b>\u00a02 J Odey-Jordan (BFTTA) 21.35.\u00a0Ht4 (-1.6):<\/b>\u00a03 E Nwokeji (SB) 21.76.\u00a0SF1 (-2.4):<\/b>\u00a04 J Odey-Jordan (BFTTA) 21.28.\u00a0SF2 (1.9):<\/b>\u00a05 E Franklin (WG&EL) 21.32; 6 E Nwokeji (SB) 21.38.\u00a0400: Ht1:<\/b>\u00a02 S Chevous (Ips) 47.46.\u00a0SF2:<\/b>\u00a04 S Chevous (Ips) 47.17.\u00a0800:<\/b>\u00a01 R Mirfin (Sky) 1:48.09; 2 T Waterworth (Hunts) 1:48.20.\u00a0Ht1:<\/b>\u00a01 W Rabjohns (Poole) 1:49.01.\u00a0Ht2:<\/b>\u00a01 T Waterworth (Hunts) 1:47.83.\u00a0Ht3:<\/b>\u00a01 R Mirfin (Sky) 1:48.40.\u00a01500: Ht1:<\/b>\u00a05 O Patton (Kilb) 3:45.80.\u00a03000: Ht1:<\/b>\u00a09 O MacDonald (Giff N) 8:27.20.\u00a0Ht2:<\/b>\u00a011 L Dunham (Herts P) 8:39.85.\u00a05000:<\/b>\u00a010 M Clark (Norw) 14:24.45; 13 R Marshall (Fife) 14:28.27.\u00a0110H: Ht3 (-1.6):<\/b>\u00a02 C Staddon (Bath) 13.80.\u00a0Ht4 (-0.3):<\/b>\u00a01 T Wright (Taun) 13.64.\u00a0Ht5 (-0.1):<\/b>\u00a01 N Hanson (NEB) 13.54.\u00a0400H: Ht4:<\/b>\u00a01 O Parker (R&N) 51.62.\u00a0Ht5:<\/b>\u00a05 R Mourtada (B&B) 53.05.\u00a0SF2:<\/b>\u00a03 O Parker (R&N) 51.35.\u00a0SF3:<\/b>\u00a07 R Mourtada (B&B) 53.37.\u00a04x100: Ht3:<\/b>\u00a01 Great Britain & Northern Ireland 39.86.\u00a0HJ: QB:<\/b>\u00a04 O Poole (Yate) 2.12.\u00a0LJ:<\/b>\u00a05 D Emegbor (Harrow, U17) 7.44\/0.9.\u00a0QB:<\/b>\u00a02 D Emegbor (Harrow, U17) 7.39\/-0.4.\u00a0TJ: QA:<\/b>\u00a08 H Henry (SB, U17) 15.00\/-0.1.\u00a0DT:<\/b>\u00a011 J Foord (Taun) 51.34.\u00a0QA:<\/b>\u00a06 J Foord (Taun) 55.26.\u00a0QB:<\/b>\u00a011 M Adeniran (BMH) 50.19.\u00a0HT:<\/b>\u00a04 J Berry (Hale) 73.99.\u00a0QA:<\/b>\u00a01 J Berry (Hale) 73.68
\nU20 women:<\/b>\u00a0100 (-0.1):<\/b>\u00a02 M Akande (Linc W) 11.41.\u00a0Ht1 (-2.4):<\/b>\u00a01 M Akande (Linc W) 11.65.\u00a0Ht3 (-3.8):<\/b>\u00a03 J Mantle (Card) 12.04.\u00a0Ht5 (-2.0):<\/b>\u00a03 K Slater (Read) 11.70.\u00a0SF1 (-0.2):<\/b>\u00a01 M Akande (Linc W) 11.48.\u00a0SF2 (-0.3):<\/b>\u00a06 K Slater (Read) 11.86.\u00a0SF3 (0.7):<\/b>\u00a04 J Mantle (Card) 11.77.\u00a0200 (-2.0):<\/b>\u00a02 L Tallon (Ton) 23.49.\u00a0Ht3 (-1.2):<\/b>\u00a01 L Tallon (Ton) 23.65.\u00a0Ht3 (-0.3):<\/b>\u00a05 E Robinson (Card Arch) 24.98.\u00a0SF2 (-0.4):<\/b>\u00a01 L Tallon (Ton) 23.37.\u00a0400:<\/b>\u00a01 C Henrich (Inv EK) 51.68.\u00a0Ht5:<\/b>\u00a01 C Henrich (Inv EK) 53.21.\u00a0SF1:<\/b>\u00a01 C Henrich (Inv EK) 52.39.\u00a0800: Ht1:<\/b>\u00a01 S King (W&SV) 2:04.48.\u00a0Ht3:<\/b>\u00a07 B Trow (Shrews) 2:09.47.\u00a0Ht4:<\/b>\u00a03 A Bennett (Kett) 2:07.30.\u00a01500:<\/b>\u00a01 L Belshaw (Col H) 4:14.59; 3 I Jones (W&B) 4:16.18; 5 E Strevens (E'bne) 4:17.51.\u00a0Ht1:<\/b>\u00a01 E Strevens (E'bne) 4:20.70; 2 L Belshaw (Col H) 4:20.74.\u00a0Ht2:<\/b>\u00a02 I Jones (W&B) 4:21.60.\u00a03000: Ht1:<\/b>\u00a01 I Fitzgerald (Exe) 9:19.41; 4 Z Gilbody (Tel) 9:26.77.\u00a0Ht2:<\/b>\u00a03 I McGowan (Banb) 9:24.56.\u00a05000:<\/b>\u00a01 I Fitzgerald (Exe) 15:09.04; 5 F Bradley (Yate) 15:55.50.\u00a0100H: Ht3 (0.8):<\/b>\u00a06 E Robinson (Card Arch) 13.82.\u00a0400H:<\/b>\u00a05 A Wilson (TVH) 57.34.\u00a0Ht2:<\/b>\u00a01 S Okoro (Have) 58.39.\u00a0Ht4:<\/b>\u00a01 A Wilson (TVH) 59.01.\u00a0SF2:<\/b>\u00a02 A Wilson (TVH) 57.69.\u00a0SF3:<\/b>\u00a03 S Okoro (Have) 58.83.\u00a03000SC:<\/b>\u00a07 M Gold (Swan) 10:24.59; 12 O McGhee (R&N, U17) 10:41.24.\u00a0Ht1:<\/b>\u00a07 O McGhee (R&N, U17) 10:31.05.\u00a0Ht2:<\/b>\u00a03 M Gold (Swan) 10:21.75.\u00a04x100: Ht2:<\/b>\u00a01 Great Britain & Northern Ireland 44.66.\u00a0HJ: QB:<\/b>\u00a05 I Pain (Chelt) 1.77.\u00a0PV: QB:<\/b>\u00a05 I Turner (Dac) 3.95.\u00a0LJ: QA:<\/b>\u00a01 T Brown (Sale) 6.42\/0.7.\u00a0QB:<\/b>\u00a07 D Snell (B&B) 6.08\/0.3.\u00a0SP: HtA:<\/b>\u00a02 E Robinson (Card Arch) 13.99.\u00a0QA:<\/b>\u00a07 A Dumbuya (Leigh) 13.65.\u00a0JT:<\/b>\u00a06 H Court (TVH) 52.05.\u00a0QA:<\/b>\u00a03 H Court (TVH) 50.64<\/p>\n

Full results here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British distance runner adds 3000m title to 5000m crown on final day in Tampere as Italy top the medals table<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1040006959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","inline_featured_image":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_championship":0,"wds_primary_country":0,"wds_primary_sports":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,160,142],"tags":[],"championship":[],"country":[],"sports":[35988,36034],"class_list":["post-1040006955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-reports","category-young-athlete-news","sports-3000m","sports-track-field"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040006955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1040006955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040006955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1040006959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1040006955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1040006955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1040006955"},{"taxonomy":"championship","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/championship?post=1040006955"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=1040006955"},{"taxonomy":"sports","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athleticsweekly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sports?post=1040006955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}