The two U20 races.
10km U20 men
At the 5km mark Lukas Niedzialek (POL) was leading the race and was the favorite and passed in 21:17.
You have a small advantage of 3 "on Pedro Gonesa (ESP) passing in 21:20 together with Riccardo Orsoni (ITA).
The passages of Lukas Niedzialek are the following:
- 1km: 4:16
- 2km: 8:38 (4:16)
- 3km: 12:45 (4:14)
- 4km: 17:01 (4:16)
- 5km: 21:17 (4:17)
Immediately after the mid-race Riccardo Orsoni (ITA) increased his pace and reached the Polish at 7km and took the lead at 29:51.
The technical situation saw a very operational international jury: of the first three athletes Orsoni has a red card (no contact) while Gonesa and Niedzialek have two red cards (one for contact and one for unlocking).
The 8km ahead is Lukas Niedzialek (POL) together with Riccardo Orsoni (ITA) in 34:09 with the last km covered in 4:19, while Gonesa follows in 34:35 (last km in 4:27).
He stretches Lukas Niedzialek (POL) and takes the lead at 9km in 38:20 (last km in 4:11), while Orsoni seems to settle for silver in 38:30 (last kmin 4:21).
The unexpected happens in the last km when the Pole is stopped in the Penalty Zone for 60" while he was turning in 4:08.
When Riccardo Orsoni notices it stretches just enough (last km 4:14) and goes on to win in 42:43 which represents the personal best
Second place for Pedro Gonesa (ESP) in 43:18
Third place goes to Lukas Niedzialek (POL) in 43:28 who saves the medal in front of Selman Ilhan (TUR) in 43:41
Fifth place for Christopher Snook (GBR) in 45:45 which beats at the photo finish Aldo Andrei (ITA) accredited at the same time.
Italian Riccardo Orsoni was a surprise winner in the U20 men’s 10km. The Italian shrieked with delight as he broke the tape, which was hardly a surprise – 30 seconds earlier he had been a distant second. Fate had intervened to deprive race favourite Lukasz Niedzialek of a gutsy win, when he was pulled over to the pit lane to serve a one-minute suspension in sight of the winning line. Orsoni duly seized his chance to not only win but remove 15 seconds from his PB in 42:43. Spain’s Pedro Conesa had originally been part of a small group breathing down Niedzialek’s neck, but walked the second half of the race an isolated third only to receive a welcome silver instead. Right at the death, and with medal hopes seemingly dashed, Niedzialek sprung out of captivity and blasted the last 60m to make sure of bronze.
10km U20 women
It seemed to be in Alexandropoulis (GRE) at the Balkan Championships rather than in the European Cup.
Up to half the race to drive were in 5 athletes, three from Turkey (Meryem Bekmez, Evin Demir and Kader Dost) and two from Greece (Olga Fiaska and Kiriaki Filtisakou).
The mid-race pass is 22:16 for Meryem Bekmez, while the others follow with gaps in the order of 6 "-7".
The two athletes from Turkey, Meryem Bekmez and Evin Demir continue with their pace and with these steps:
- 7km: Bekmez: 31:44 (4:40); Demir: 32.44 (4:42)
- 8km: Bekmez: 36:20 (4:37); Demir: 37:25 (4:42)
- 9km: Bekmez: 40:58 (4:38); Demir: 42:10 (4:45)
Upon arrival.
Victory for Meryem Bekmez (TUR) in 45:37
Second place for Evin Demir (TUR) in 46:49
Third place for Pauline Stey (FRA) in 47:53
LOC report
There was never a doubt about the winner of the women’s U20 10km as Meryem Bekmez destroyed the field to walk solo from the gun. The young Turk’s only concern was weaving her way through 50km walkers throughout, and it needed a nifty piece of organisation to get the winning tape in place just before the 18-year-old broke it with something to spare.
Turkey was by far the strongest team on paper and so it proved with Evin Demir taking silver – albeit more than a minute behind her teammate. Neither posted a personal best, but in the heat and with medals on their mind rather than times – it didn’t matter.
The surprise of the race saw the third Turk Kader Dost fade over the last 2km to be first passed by Pauline Stey from France and then in the last 200 metres by Estonia’s Jekaterina Mirotvortseva – the first time that country has made a top four finish in a major race and with a 48:05 national U20 record.