The 2003

European Athletics Junior Championships The European Athletics U20 Championships (formerly named the European Athletics Junior Championships up to 2015) are the European championships for athletes who are under-20 athletes, which is the age range recognised by World Athletics as jun ...

was held in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

from 23 to 27 July 2003. A total of 44 events were contested; 22 by men and 22 by women.

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

had the biggest medal haul with nine golds and a total of 26, closely followed by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

(also 9 golds but 24 medals in total).

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

was third with 17 medals, while

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

was fourth with ten medals. Four championship records were set at the competition, although three were as a result of using lighter implements in the men's throwing events.European Junior Championships (Men)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-06-04. Tampere stadium1

Nelson Évora Nelson Évora GCIH (born 20 April 1984) is an Ivory Coast-born Portuguese track and field athlete who specializes in the triple jump. Évora is a former outdoor Olympic, World, and European triple jump champion. He has also won a European i ...

was a stand-out performer, having won both the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. Ivet Lalova of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

did the sprint double in the women's 100 metres and 200 metres, while Sophie Krauel showed her versatility by taking golds in the 100 metres hurdles and the

. The

long-distance track event Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

s also provided opportunities for athletes to double up, as

Inna Poluškina Inna Poluškina (born 7 July 1984, in Riga) is a Latvian long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres. Biography Poluškina has won championships in the 1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m, 10,000 m and half marathon A half marathon is a road r ...

and

Marius Ionescu Marius Viorel Ionescu (born December 18, 1984) is a Romanian long-distance runner.London2012.com
< ...

both left the competition with a gold and a silver medal.Sonninen, Anti-Pekka (2003)
17th European Junior Championships 2003

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

. Retrieved on 2010-06-04. The men's

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the wom ...

offered the chance for the hosts to demonstrate their ability in the country's favourite

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

event – the Finnish men swept the podium through the efforts of

Teemu Wirkkala Teemu Sakari Wirkkala (born January 14, 1984, in Kokkola) is a Finnish javelin thrower. His personal best throw is 87.23 metres, achieved in July 2009 in Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland ...

Tero Järvenpää Tero Mikael Järvenpää (born 2 October 1984 in Tampere) is a Finnish javelin thrower. He represents Tampereen Pyrintö on club-level and his coach is his father Pentti Järvenpää. His personal best throw is 86.68 metres, achieved in July 200 ...

, and Antti Ruuskanen. In the women's 2000 m steeplechase, Catalina Oprea set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the rarely competed event, despite falling over mid-race. This was the last time that the women's 2000 metres steeplechase was held, as it was replaced by a 3000 m version in 2005.

Records

*† = New mark established with a lighter junior throwing implement (6 kg shot and hammer, 1.75 kg discus)

Medal summary

Men

Women

Medal table

References

;Results
European Junior Championships (Men)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-06-04.

GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-06-04.
Full results
(archived) {{European athletics champs European Athletics U20 Championships A E European Athletics Junior Championships, 2003 2003 in youth sport Sports competitions in Tampere

Records

Medal summary

Men

Women

Medal table

See also

References