Innes FitzGerald claimed 5000m gold to open the European Athletics Under-20 Championships in style.

FitzGerald (coach: Gavin Pavey, club: Exeter) led throughout the race with a dominant performance to come home in 15:09.04, the second-fastest time in championship history.

It is the first part of an attempted double by the 19-year-old, who is also competing in the 3000m.

“I’m so pleased to have come away with the win,” she said. “I definitely went out there wanting to get the win and just to have fun. The crowd are amazing here in Finland.

“The plan was just see how I feel, start of relatively steady and then push on if I felt good. I didn’t want to leave it down to a sprint because I wanted to save my legs for the 3000m.

“It’s quite a big ask but I will go out there, recover hard and hopefully come out tomorrow feeling good.”

The same race saw Freya Bradley (Anthony Glover, Yate) finish fifth in a personal best time of 15:55.50.

“I am happy to get a pb, I can’t ask for much more,” she said. “I just didn’t quite have it at the end to beat fifth place but I am quite happy with my GB debut.”

Katie Pye (Mike Woods, Aldershot, Farnham & District) battled hard but ultimately did not finish.

Mabel Akande (Denise Timmins, Lincoln Wellington) qualified fastest for the women’s 100m final on Friday, clocking 11.48s in her semi-final.

Akande eased through her morning heat in 11.68s, while Kaya Slater (Roddy Slater, Reading AC) and Jess Mantle (Helen James, Cardiff) also progressed to the evening’s semi-finals. However, Slater and Mantle both narrowly missed out on progressing to the final.

“It feels amazing,” said Akande. “I did what needed to be done for the two races, I am ready to go for the final.

“I think I can go quicker. It’s late in the evening tomorrow, so I will have time to relax and get in the zone. I can put everything into that race – I’m so excited.”

Team captain Teddy Wilson booked his place in the men’s 100m final by winning his race in 10.49s.

Dylan Williams joined him with second in his semi-final in 10.57 but George Warburton missed out by six thousandths of a second in 10.63.

The evening also saw Harriet Court (Mark Roberson, Thames Valley) earn her place in the women’s javelin final with a best throw of 50.64m.

The men’s 800m final will feature three British athletes as Will Rabjohns (Mark Pauley, Poole AC), Tom Waterworth (Derek Darnell, Huntingdonshire), and Rafferty Mirfin (Gordon Agar, Skyrac) all won their heats.

With just one automatic qualifier from each race, all three Brits looked to lead from the front to secure their spot.

Rabjohns was first, battling through to the front at 600m to then comfortably come home in 1:49.01.

Waterworth then led from gun to tape to clock 1:47.83, the fastest-ever 800m heat time at a European Under-20 Championships, before Mirfin fought through to win in 1:48.40.

“One automatically going through was always going to be tough so it was really important I got the win. Thankfully I did,” said Rabjohns.

“I sort of sat in for the first lap and on the back straight on the second lap I decided to make my move and held on for the last 200, it was really nice.”

Eleanor Strevens (Dean Miller, Eastbourne), Lyla Belshaw (David Smith, Colchester), and Isobelle Jones (Wolverhampton & Bilston) also made it a trio of Brits in the women’s 1500m final.

Strevens and Belshaw led from the front in their heat, crossing the line in unison to both seal automatic qualification while Jones followed swiftly after with second place in her heat.

Stephanie Okoro (Laura Turner-Alleyne, Havering) and Arabella Wilson (Andrew Fisher, Thames Valley) both won their heats to progress in the 400m hurdles.

Okoro clocked 58.39s, the third-fastest time across all heats, while Wilson followed in 59.01s.
Oliver MacDonald (Dudley Walker, Giffnock North) and Luke Dunham (Andrew Hobdell, Herts Phoenix) were both unable to progress to the men’s 3000m final.

MacDonald was narrowly edged out in 8:27.20 before Dunham was forced to contend with torrential rain to come home in 8:39.85.

In the field, Jacob Foord (Taunton AC) progressed to the final of the men’s discus with a best attempt of 55.26m. However, Mikun Adeniran did not progress with his best throw of 50.19m.

Isla Pain (Cheltenham) just missed out on the women’s high jump final on countback after a best height of 1.77m.

The morning session saw Charlotte Henrich (Nigel Stickings, Invicta East Kent) qualify fastest in the women’s 400m with a dominant performance to clock 53.21s.

Stan Chevous (Lee Bowker, Ipswich) also qualified automatically in the men’s 400m, thanks to a second-place finish in his heat in a time of 47.46s.

Jabez Berry (Steve Pearson, Halesowen) needed just two throws to reach the automatic qualification mark in the men’s hammer.

Berry opened with an attempt of 70.14m before going out to 73.68m with his second throw to secure his place in Friday’s final, which begins at 1.50pm BST.

Oliver Parker (James Wright, Rugby & Northampton) stormed into the men’s 400m hurdles semi-finals, winning his heat in 51.62s before Rayhan Mourtada (John Blackie, Blackheath & Bromley) also qualified in 53.05s.

Daniel Emegbor (Rohan Samuel, Harrow) booked his place in the men’s long jump final with a best attempt of 7.39m.