After returning from injury, Vicente aims to complete the circle in Espoo 2023

The supremely talented Maria Vicente returns to the championship arena, aiming to “come full circle” at this week’s European Athletics Under-23 Championships in Espoo, July 12-16.

The now 22-year-old Spanish athlete has previously won gold at the Under-18 European Athletics Championships and the Under-20 European Athletics Championships.

He reached the podium in both 2018 Gyor, Hungary and 2019 Boras, Sweden in the heptathlon, also adding triple jump gold at previous championships. And it is in the horizontal jumps that he makes his latest gold search in Espoo.

After a challenging 2022, when he withdrew from the heptathlon at the European Athletics Championships in Munich due to injury, he is looking to return to winning ways.

This year I decided to do the long jump and triple jump because last year was very difficult for me. I was hurt. In the sevens, it (took) a long time to prepare for that, and I didn’t have it. This year I feel good again and try to do my best.

I also wanted to complete the circle by trying to win one event here,” he added. Participating in the U18 and U20 European Championship brings me a lot of experience, (helps) also make me calmer and more relaxed, to compete as I know how. I want to do my best and be competitive again.

Vicente has a career best of 14.21m at the Spanish Under-23 Championships in Tarragona earlier this month and is the best athlete in the women’s triple jump. But in the long jump, she faces a stacked field led by Italy’s Larissa Iapichino, European indoor silver medalist and two-time Diamond League winner already this year.

Koti hopes that Kosonen and Laine will be cautiously confident on the threshold of Espoo

Vicente is one of the many athletes whose expectations are high this week, but the pressure is extra for Finns Silja Kosose and Topias Laine. Kosonen is already the U20 world and European champion, and he has shown his pedigree at this level and believes that experience pays off.

I’ve been to a few international competitions now and I think it helps me more and more each time. It gets easier, it’s not as stressful and I just know I can enjoy it, he said at the official pre-event press conference.

He also hoped to make it a memorial service for his closest supporters. A few are coming to the finals on Friday. So I feel a little pressure that I need to get to the final first so they don’t waste their money!

Laine, who is defending the men’s javelin championship, is carrying home hopes in an event with a rich heritage in Finland and revealed that the former world champion has suffered in his hand. Tero Pitkmki has been in touch, he is one of my idols. That’s pretty cool, he smiled.

This is the first time we have a competition like this in our country, so I’m excited. In a competition like this, medals are always interesting. But I’m hoping and feeling good enough to throw my personal best. Hopefully I can do it on Saturday.

20-year-old 400m runner Havard Bentdal Ingvaldsen is the latest Norwegian athlete to make his presence felt on the international stage.

Having finished fourth at the Oslo Diamond League in a national record of 44.86, highlighted by a win at the European Athletics Championships in Silesia in 44.88, comparisons with second-round star Karsten Warholm, the Olympic champion and 400m hurdles world record holder, are inevitable.

Warholm made a major breakthrough at these same championships, winning gold at Bydgoszcz 2017 in 48.37, before winning his first World Athletics gold in London that summer.

He is one of my idols, she said. He is the best in the world at what he does. I really hope I can follow in his (Warholms) footsteps. I don’t know if I’ll be world champion this year, but I’ll do my best this year and we’ll see.

But at the moment he is focused on Espoo. That’s my biggest goal for the season. I’m having the best time going into these championships, my goal is a medal and I’m really looking forward to it.

The championships organized in the Sports City

Before the athletes took center stage, the politicians opened the championships, which have returned to Finnish soil for the third time.

European Athletics Director Karin Grute Movin said: There is a great love for athletics in Finland. It’s always a pleasure to come here. For myself, because I’m Swedish, I’m close. It feels like a neighbor. I am very confident that we will again have a fantastic organized championship and fan support in the stadium.

The chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, Kimmo Oila, was present, who said: It has been a journey. For a couple of years, we have been working hard for this event. But I am absolutely sure that this will be an unforgettable event. Ticket sales have gone pretty well, so I hope the atmosphere is good and we all enjoy this event.

At the same time, Espoo’s city manager Jukka Makela commented: There are many children and young people living in Espoo and they all love sports. For us as a city, top performance is just as important as the example of athletics for children and young people. It is exciting for our children to see European athletes competing here in our homeland.

Chris Broadbent from European Athletics