Adriana Vilagoš ( sr-Cyrl, Адриана Вилагош; ; born 2 January 2004) is a Serbian athlete who specializes in the

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

. At the age of 18, she won silver medal at the

2022 European Athletics Championships The 2022 European Athletics Championships were the 25th edition of the European Athletics Championships and were held in Munich, Germany, from 15 to 21 August 2022. They were part of the 2022 European Championships, European Championships, a multi ...

, becoming the youngest ever European medallist in a throwing event. One year prior, Vilagoš was for the first time the World Under-20 Champion and earned silver medal at the European U20 Championships successfully defending her World U20 title in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and breaking championship and European U20 records in the process.

Early life and background

Vilagoš was raised in

Mali Iđoš Mali Iđoš (Montenegrin Cyrillic, Montenegrin/ sr-Cyrl, Мали Иђош, ; , ) is a village and municipality located in the North Bačka District of the autonomous province Vojvodina, Serbia. The municipality comprises three local communities a ...

in north Serbia, being of Hungarian descent. She started out when she was a kid by playing handball and throwing a vortex – a small, egg shaped foam missile with an aerodynamic tail. She has been coached from the beginning by her mother Đerđi, originally a handball coach and a public prosecutor. They watched

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

videos to learn the technique (by men’s world record-holder

Jan Železný Jan Železný (; born 16 June 1966) is a Czech former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a IAAF World Championships in Athletics, World and Olympic Games, Olympic champion and holds the Javelin throw#Men, world reco ...

among others).

Career

In 2018, only 14, Adriana threw a Serbian under-18 (javelin 500 g) record of 59.69 m, which she improved to 64.73 m a year later. In March 2020, she set a world record under-18 best with a throw of 68.76 m in

Sremska Mitrovica Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Sava, Sava river. , the city has a total population of 36,764 inhabitants, while its adminis ...

, breaking 2019 record of Elina Tzengko (65.90 m), her two years older rival from Greece. At the

2021 Balkan Athletics Championships The 2021 Balkan Athletics Championships was the 74th edition of the annual track and field competition for athletes from the Balkans, organised by Balkan Athletics. It was held on 26 and 27 June at the Smederevo Fortress in Smederevo, Serbia. M ...

held in

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...

, Serbia in June, Vilagoš lost only to Tzengko to take the silver medal. This result of their competition was repeated in July at the

European Athletics U20 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 ...

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, Estonia. On 14 August at the Balkan U18 Championships in

Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-Cyrl, Краљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar River, Ibar, in the geographical region of ...

, Adriana bettered her world under-18 best with a 70.10 m performance, becoming the first U18 woman in history to break the 70-metre barrier. Just five days later, she beat Tzengko to gold for the first time at the World U20 Championships held in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya, setting a national U20 record. Vilagoš also had several performances during the year which were better than

Tatjana Jelača Tatjana Mirković ( sr-cyr, Татјана Мирковић; Jelača / Јелача, born 10 August 1990) is a Serbian javelin thrower. A two-time Olympian having competed at the Summer Olympics of 2008 and 2012, Mirković won the silver medal ...

's national U23 record of 60.89 m. However, for record purposes Serbian Athletics Federation (SAS) recognizes only the period following the end of athlete's junior eligibility up to the year in which the athlete turns 22-years-old, making Vilagoš eligible for U23 record consideration only during the 2024–2026 period. In 2022, the 18-year-old placed in the top three in 15 of her 16 competitions, consistently throwing beyond 60 metres and finishing ahead of experienced senior opponents. She won for the second consecutive time U23 competition of the

European Throwing Cup The European Throwing Cup (Until 2015 European Cup Winter Throwing) is an annual continental athletics competition for athletes specialising in the events of discus, javelin and hammer throwing and the shot put. The winter event, organised every ...

, triumphed in the

Balkan Championships The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

, and captured decisively her second world u20 title at the World U20 Championships staged in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Colombia, setting a championship and European U20 record of 63.52 m. She placed second behind only Tzengko and ahead of great

Barbora Špotáková Barbora Špotáková (; born 30 June 1981) is a former Czech track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. She is a two-time Olympic Champion and three-time World Champion, as well as the current world record holder with a throw o ...

at her first senior European Championships Munich 2022. Adriana achieved 11 world's best U20 performances of the season, and was voted

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

Female Rising Star of the Year. In 2024 alone she set new national record four times. In October she was awarded the Rising Star trophy at the Golden Tracks awards by the

European Athletic Association The European Athletic Association (EAA, 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 h ...

(EAA), while her mother received Coaching Award. In 2025 she set two new national records at

in Cyprus (66.88 m) and at Easter meeting in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

(67.22 m).

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilagos, Adriana Living people 2004 births People from Mali Iđoš Sportspeople from North Bačka District Serbian female javelin throwers World Athletics U20 Championships winners Hungarians in Vojvodina Serbian people of Hungarian descent 21st-century Serbian sportswomen Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Serbia Mediterranean Games gold medalists in athletics European Athletics Championships medalists European Games competitors for Serbia Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Serbia Diamond League winners

Early life and background

Career

International competitions

See also

References

External links