The 2001

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 an

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 ...

competition for athletes under-20 which was held at the

Stadio Olimpico Carlo Zecchini Stadio Olimpico Carlo Zecchini (formerly known as Stadio Olimpico Comunale) is a multi-use stadium in Grosseto, Italy. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of U.S. Grosseto. The stadium holds 10,200. Durin ...

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

from 19 – 22 July 2001. A total of 44 events were contested, 22 by male and 22 by female athletes. Two new events were introduced into the programme: the women's

2000 metres steeplechase The 2000 meter steeplechase is a rarely run senior athletics and a standard youth athletics event for the steeplechase in track and field. The event is part of the athletics programme for boys and girls at the IAAF World Youth Championships in At ...

and the women's 10,000 m track walk (replacing the 5000 m walk event). Five new championships records were recorded over the four-day competition, in addition to the two marks set in the newly introduced events.

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

topped the medals table with eight golds and shared the honour of the greatest medal haul (17) with second placed

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 ...

which won six gold medals.

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

came third with five golds, although fourth placed Germany had a larger medal total (15) but with one less gold medal. Two British sprinters were nominated as the best athletes of the tournament: Vernicha James won the women's award for her

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and

4×400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

gold medals, as well as a

bronze.

Mark Lewis-Francis Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis, MBE (born 4 September 1982) is a retired British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialised in the 100 metres and was an accomplished regular of GB 4 x 100m relay. A renowned junior, his great ...

took the men's award for his

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

gold and for anchoring the men's sprint relay to the team title. Russian

Anastasiya Ilyina Anastasiya Ilyina (born 16 January 1982) is a retired Russian long and triple jumper. In the triple jump she won the silver medal at the 1999 World Youth Championships, the gold medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships, and the gold medal a ...

won the gold in 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 ...

, setting a championship record in the latter event. Former

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Elvan Abeylegesse Elvan Abeylegesse, (also formerly: Hewan Abeye (አልቫን አበይለገሠ, Amharic) and Elvan Can ( Turkish); born September 11, 1982) is an Ethiopian-born naturalized Turkish middle and long-distance running athlete who competes over dis ...

did the 3000/

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a s ...

double for Turkey, breaking the championship record in the 5000 m.

Michał Hodun Michał () is a Polish and Sorbian form of Michael and may refer to: * Michał Bajor (born 1957), Polish actor and musician * Michał Chylinski (born 1986), Polish basketball player * Michał Drzymała (1857–1937), Polish rebel * Michał Heller ...

of Poland took the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's c ...

and discus gold medals, while Belgian athlete

Kevin Rans Kevin Rans (born 19 August 1982 in Ekeren) is a Belgian former pole vaulter. He finished eighth at the 2000 World Junior Championships and tenth at the 2005 World Championships. He also competed at the 2006 World Indoor Championships and the ...

completed an unusual

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

double at the competition in the 200 m and the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...

Among the athletes who won medals at the competition were Carolina Klüft, Yelena Isinbayeva and

Andreas Thorkildsen Andreas Thorkildsen (born 1 April 1982) is a retired Norwegian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He was the Olympic Champion in 2004 and 2008, European Champion in 2006 and 2010, and World Champion in 2009. He is the fir ...

– all of whom went on to become 2004 Olympic gold medallists. Elvan Abeylegesse,

Anna Chicherova Anna Vladimirovna Chicherova (russian: Анна Владимировна Чичерова; born 22 July 1982) is a Russian high jumper. She was the gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and origin ...

and Marian Oprea also went on to win Olympic medals. The

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

junior champion Ladji Doucouré successfully changed focus to the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hu ...

, becoming the 2005 World Champion.

Records

Medal summary

Men

Women

Medal table

Elvan Abeylegesse 2010 European Team Championships

;Key:

References

;General *Russi, Nicholas (2006-06-14)
16th European Junior Championships 2001 - Blue sky, blue track and a lot of Italian enthusiasm

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 5 ...

. Retrieved on 2010-07-19. ;Results
European Junior Championships Statistics database

. Retrieved on 2010-07-19.
European Junior Championships (Men)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-07-19.

GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-07-19. {{European athletics champs E European Athletics U20 Championships International athletics competitions hosted by Italy 2001 in Italian sport 2001 in youth sport Sport in Grosseto

Records

Medal summary

Men

Women

Medal table

See also

References