20th July 2024

KATIE PYE SEALS FIRST GOLD OF 2024 EUROPEAN U18 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Katie Pye, Olivia Forrest and Kara Dacosta led the way as Great Britain banked another trilogy of medals on day three of the European Athletics U18 Championships in Slovakia.

Pye (Mick Woods, Aldershot Farnham and District) won a hard-fought gold medal – and Great Britain’s first in Banska Bystrica – in the women’s 3000m, clocking in at 9:20.25 just ahead of Germany’s Julia Ehrle and fellow Brit Olivia Forrest (Paul Forrest, Brentwood Beagles) in a race that went right down to the wire.

Proceedings kick-started with Forrest setting the pace from the start and with two laps to go, the medal contenders soon became a quintet of Norway’s Venus Abraham Teffera and Hungarian Fanni Sazalai alongside Pye, Forrest and Ehrle.

The German looked set to win with 600m to go as she opened up a 20m lead before faltering on the back straight to create an opportunity which Pye and Forrest seized with both hands.

The British pair were neck-and-neck as the race began to wind down and though Ehrle found a second wind to overtake Forrest, the German had to settle for silver, with Forrest clinching bronze.

“I wanted this medal, but it was so hard,” said Pye. “My legs hurt so much but I kept sprinting towards the line and got it just in the finish. It was a close race. What I learned today is that you need to believe until the last 100 metres. It all came down to the home straight.”

Dacosta (Stephen Ball, Trafford) further cemented her credentials with another fantastic race, winning silver in the women’s 400m and scoring a personal best of 52.60 seconds.

The Trafford star’s time marks her as the third fastest Brit ever in the U18 discipline, behind only Linsey MacDonald (51.16) and Catherine Reid (52.25)

The men’s 1500m duo of Alex Lennon (Nick Hancock, Sutton & District) and Evan Grime (Ian Grime, Salford Harriers) contested the men’s final during the morning session on day three, finishing fifth and seventh overall.

With the gold going to Filip Toul of the Czech Republic in a time of 3:54.77, the British pair came home in times of 3:58.33 and 3:59.10 respectively.

Louis Tutcher (Matt Spicer, Yate) finished seventh in the hammer throw (5kg) Men Final, with a best attempt of 68.56m. He opened with a mark of 67.75m in round one, before throwing the 68.56m, but he cut a frustrated figure as he fouled the next four attempts to leave him with a top eight finish. Ireland’s Thomas Williams sealed gold with a best of 73.95m.

More GB & NI interest came in the women’s 2000m steeplechase final with the duo of Ava James (David Leach, Lewes) and Rae Le Fay (Peter Baker, Hastings AC) placing seventh and fourteenth respectively in times of 6:44.37 and 7:16.28.

Elsewhere, 11 British athletes progressed to the next round of their respective disciplines, setting the stage for a thrilling day four finale as the European Athletics U18 Championships draw to a close on Sunday.

In the morning session, Nell Desir (Lisa Waddon, Cardiff Archers), Elsie Brindle (Winchester), Ava John (Yasmine Regis, Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow) and Shiloh Omotosho (Sarah Robinson, Basildon) advanced to the final of the women’s medley relay.

The quartet finished first and registered a blistering World U20 lead of 2:10.20, cementing their status as leading contenders for the final tomorrow evening.

Meanwhile, 100m medallists Joel Masters (Joel Humphries-Cuff, BFT Track Academy) and Joel Ajayi (Gary Howard, Havering) were joined by Toby Wright (Steve Shaw, Taunton) and Harry Bradley (Darryn McAtee, Newport Harriers) to pick up where the women left off by securing their own place in tomorrow’s men’s medley relay final with a season’s best of 1:54.12.

In the evening session, Shaikira King (John Skevington, Wreake & Soar Valley) booked her ticket to the women’s 800m final by running 2:07.13 in her semi-final, finshing second to secure the automatic qualification to the race for medals.

Meanwhile, the dynamic duo of Tom Waterworth (Derek Darnell, Huntingtonshire) and Matthew McKenna (Martin Norman, Walton) emerged victorious from their respective heats in the men’s 800m semi-final.

Waterworth looked a commanding figure as he won semi-final two in 1:52.73 from Łukasz Zaczyk (POL). A few moments later, McKenna won a faster semi-final in 1:51.46.

Results