Charlotte Henrich, Lyla Belshaw, and Rafferty Mirfin all won gold at the European Athletics Under-20 Championships on a spectacular Saturday of action in Tampere.

Henrich (Nigel Stickings, Invicta East Kent) stormed to 400m gold in a new personal best time of 51.68s, to add the under-20 title to the under-18 crown she won three years ago.

Belshaw (David Smith, Colchester) also followed up under-18 gold with under-20 victory, as she timed her race to perfection to win the 1500m.

The 17-year-old finished strongly to win in 4:14.59, with Isobelle Jones (Wolverhampton & Bilston) producing a big kick on the home straight to clinch bronze in a personal best 4:16.18.

Eleanor Strevens (Dean Miller, Eastbourne) made it three British athletes in the top five, finishing fifth in 4:17.51.

Mirfin (Gordon Agar, Skyrac) had earlier started the gold rush in the 800m, winning a dramatic race ahead of compatriot Tom Waterworth (Derek Darnell, Huntingdonshire) after Will Rabjohns (Mark Pauley, Poole AC) was disqualified for stepping on the inside.

It capped an enthralling evening in Finland that also saw Lucy Tallon (Nigel Stickings, Tonbridge) win a stunning silver in the 200m.

Tallon produced a personal best of 23.37s to win her semi-final, and she followed that up just a few hours later to clinch silver in the final for her first international medal.

Elsewhere, Millie Gold (Mark Gold, Swansea) finish seventh in the 3000m steeplechase following up a personal best performance in the heat with another strong run, while Olivia McGhee (Michael Lewis, Rugby & Northampton) finished 12^th.

Arabella Wilson (Andrew Fisher, Thames Valley) produced another fine performance in the 400m hurdles to finish fifth in the final in a personal best time of 57.34s.

Jacob Foord (Taunton AC) placed 11^th in the discus final with a best attempt of 51.34m.

Saturday also saw Eden Robinson (Cardiff Archers) begin her heptathlon campaign.

Robinson opened in style with a personal best 13.82s in the 100m hurdles, before equalling her personal best of 1.62m in the high jump.

The 18-year-old then went out to 13.99m in the shot put, the second-highest result in the field, before closing the first day with 24.98s in the 200m to leave her fourth in the standings overnight.

Alani Dumbuya (Simon Forster, Leigh) did not progress to the shot put final, finishing 16^th in qualifying with 13.65m.

The morning session saw Harriet Court (Mark Roberson, Thames Valley) finish fifth in the women’s javelin, with a best throw of 52.05m.

“I can’t complain at all,” she said. “My first championships and the biggest competition I’ve ever done.

“Getting to the final was great and then getting to the six throws was even better.”

Thea Brown (Ashley Bryant, Sale Manchester Harriers) produce an opening jump personal best of 6.42m to seal automatic qualification for the women’s long jump final.

She was joined by Daisy Snell (Guy Spencer, Blackheath & Bromley), who jumped 6.08m to progress.

Charlie Staddon (Julie Alexander, Bristol & West), Toby Wright (Steve Shaw, Taunton), and Noah Hanson (Tony Jarrett, Newham & Essex Beagles) all safely navigated the 110m hurdles heats.

Staddon clocked 13.80s for second in his heat, before Wright and Hanson both won their races in 13.64s and 13.54s respectively.

The men’s 200m saw Jake Odey-Jordan (Victor Blackett, BFT Track Academy) qualify for the final in 21.28s, but later withdrew.

Ethan Franklin (Gladys Bird, Woodford Green Essex Ladies) and Ebuka Nwokeji (Ty Holden, Shaftesbury Barnet) just missed out on the final with times of 21.32s and 21.38s respectively.

Dillon Millard (Dave Lee, Taunton AC) narrowly missed out on a place in the 3000m steeplechase final in 9:01.78.