Maria Vicente and Holly Mills lead heptathlon after day one in Sweden
Just two points separate Spain’s Maria Vicente and Britain’s Holly Mills at the end of the first day of heptathlon action at the European U20 Championships in Borås, Sweden.
World and European under-18 champion Vicente had been in fifth place ahead of the fourth and final event on day one – the 200m. Her PB time of 23.76 was the quickest overall and saw her move into the top spot with 3565 points after also clocking 13.68 in the 100m hurdles, clearing 1.72m in the high jump and throwing 11.96m in the shot put.
European under-18 long jump champion Mills had led the competition after setting a PB of 13.45 in the hurdles into a headwind of -2.5 for the fastest ever 100m hurdles time in a heptathlon by an under-20 Briton.
She retained her lead after two events after clearing 1.78m in the long jump.
Ireland’s Kate O’Connor launched herself ahead after a 13.41m throw in the shot put, having also set a PB of 1.81m in the high jump, and ended the day placed third on 3543 points.
Britain’s Amaya Scott-Rule finished the day in fifth place after a series featuring three personal bests for 3443 points, while her GB team-mate Olivia Dobson placed 18th with 3065 points.
In the day’s qualifying action, Britain’s European under-20 100m leader Jeremiah Azu was among those to impress as he went quickest in both the semi-finals (10.37) and heats (10.56).
With a 10.37 clocking, Great Britain's Jeremiah Azu qualifies fastest for the 100m final in #Boras2019. pic.twitter.com/wiORzBvh5d
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 18, 2019
He’ll be joined in the final by Chad Miller, who ran 10.47 to win his semi-final, while Tobi Ogunkanmi placed sixth in his in 10.63.
N’Ketia Seedo went quickest in the women’s 100m heats with a Dutch under-18 record time of 11.37 as GB’s Immanuela Aliu won her heat in 11.57, before the pair clocked 11.40 and 11.58 respectively to win their semi-finals.
GB’s Isabelle Boffey (2:09.04), Sarah Calvert (2:06.72) and Keely Hodgkinson (2:06.19) all won their respective 800m heats, while Joshua Lay (3:50.20) and Erin Wallace (4:27.64) made the 1500m finals.
Max Heyden (8:36.12) and Ben West (8:26.14) booked their places in the final of the men’s 3000m, while the long jump final will feature Stephen MacKenzie and Alessandro Schenini after their respective best marks of 7.30m and 7.21m.
Amber Anning (53.68) and Louise Evans (54.20) both secured 400m semi-final spots, while Lewis Byng qualified for the shot put final and Bayley Campbell secured the 12th qualifying spot for the hammer final, throwing 69.76m.
Josh Zeller and Jack Sumners progressed to the 110m hurdles semi-finals, clocking 13.60 and 13.66 respectively.
Results can be found here.