World U20 leader Angelina Topic easily advanced to the final of the high jump on Day 1 of the 2022 European Athletics U18 Championships in Jerusalem on Monday (4). The joint world U18 record-holder progressed through to the final with a perfect card during qualification and cleared 1.77m to lead a strong field in the medal hunt.
Topic, who recently tied the world U18 best mark with 1.96m, successfully navigated over the qualifying heights without a single miss.
Also advancing to the final with a perfect card was fellow medal hopefuls Johanna Goring of Germany and Merel Maes from Belgium. Read more: How to watch the European Athletics U18 Championships 2022?
Estonia’s Karmen Bruus, the second-best U20 jumper in the world this year, also moved on, although she had a few bumps in her journey after needing all three tries to clear her opening height of 1.71m and took two attempts at 1.77m.
The final of the high jump is set for Wednesday.
“Let’s see how I feel on Wednesday,” Topic said on the European Athletics website. “Also, the other competitors are in great shape, so we will see.
“The environment here is great. Lots of people have come out to watch and cheer – I really love it!
Topic finished ninth in front of her home fans at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, this past March.
Meanwhile, also in the field at the 2022 European Athletics U18 Championships on Monday’s opening day, Valentina Savva from Cyprus threw 68.48m in the first round of the competition to continue her good form this season in the hammer –comfortably exceeding the automatic qualifying mark of 65.00m.
“It was always my plan to come here and get a big Q straight away. I wanted to do one throw and be in the final. It was an easy round, and my goal is to take the win home,” she said.
“I have always been this determined, I know what I want, and that is to win.”
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