Sara Kolak secured her place in the final of the European Championships with a third-place result in the shot put competition. The Olympic champion from Rio de Janeiro in 2016, however, was unable to join 19-year-old Vita Barbić in the final. Barbić, the current world junior champion under 20 years old, competed in the second qualifying group. Her throw of 53.52 meters in the last, third series was enough for 26th place overall among the 30 competitors. This distance was more than seven meters shorter than the personal best she set three weeks ago at the national championships in Zagreb, where she achieved 60.71 meters. Unfortunately, due to windy conditions, Vita fell significantly short of her potential and missed the opportunity to compete in the premier final in senior-level competition, which was within reach. In the unusual qualification round, only the Swiss athlete Leonie Huegli surpassed the qualification standard (61.00 meters) and set a new national record with a throw of 62.33 meters. Among the finalists, the current European junior champion from Rome 2024, Serbian athlete Adriana Vilagoš, barely managed to qualify with a throw of 57.25 meters in the last attempt, securing her 10th place. The bronze medalist from Rome, Norwegian Marie-Therese Obst, did not perform any valid throws and failed to make it into the finals. Neither did Czech athlete Nikola Ogrodnikova, who had previously placed fifth at the European Championship two years ago. Alongside Huegli and Kolak, only two other athletes exceeded the 60-meter mark, German Julia Ulbricht with 60.86 meters and Turkish Esra Turkmen with 60.43 meters. The shot put final is scheduled for Sunday, the last day of the competition, starting at 20:55 local time. Meanwhile, 26-year-old Croatian representative in pole vault, Ivan Geronimo Šerić, did not qualify for the final after failing to clear the initial height of 5.25 meters in all three attempts. The pentathlon competition began on Friday, with Croatian record holder Jana Koščak facing a disappointing start. In the first discipline, the 20-year-old from Varazdin ran slower than her personal best time of 14.30 seconds on the 100 meter hurdles, finishing at the bottom of the rankings. Competitors in the second and third groups benefited from tailwinds, helping them achieve their best individual results. In the second discipline, high jump, Koščak cleared 1.83 meters, earning her third place and 1016 points, lifting her from the bottom of the standings to 13th place. After two of seven disciplines, she has accumulated 1952 points. Leading the field is Polish athlete Adrianna Sulek-Schubert with 2135 points, followed closely by Irish athlete Kate O'Connor with one point fewer. Both cleared 1.86 meters in the high jump, while O'Connor was slightly slower than Sulek-Schubert in the 100 meter hurdles. Third place goes to German Sophie Weissenberg with 2074 points. On Saturday evening, the pentathletes will compete in the discus throw and the 200 meter race, following the schedule of long jump, javelin throw, and the final 800 meter race on Saturday. Croatian pentathlete Jana Koščak withdrew from further participation in the European Championships after completing three disciplines. At just 20 years old, she started her competition in Birmingham with a performance below her personal best in the 100 meter hurdles, finishing at the bottom of the rankings. She improved her position in the high jump, clearing 1.83 meters for third place and 1016 points, moving up to 13th place. However, in the third discipline, the discus throw, she managed only 12.21 meters, which was the second-worst result among the 24 heptathletes and 1.79 meters less than her best result this year. This dropped her to 22nd place overall, leading her to withdraw from the competition before the 200 meter race. After the first day of the heptathlon, Polish athlete Adrianna Sulek-Schubert leads with 3968 points, followed by Dutch athlete Sofie Dokter with 3944 points and Irish athlete Kate O'Connor with 3926 points. British athletes have been dominant in track events at the European Championships, with over half of the gold medalists coming from the host nation. On Wednesday, Matthew Hudson-Smith won gold in the 400 meters, continuing his successful run in European competitions. Hudson-Smith, a double defending champion from Berlin 2018 and Munich 2022, expressed pride in competing on the track where he grew up and where a tribune bearing his name is located. His victory was particularly meaningful given the emotional context of the event. The night of June 27 marked a historic moment in the European Championships, with standout performances across multiple disciplines. Swedish runner Andreas Almgren broke the oldest European Championship record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 27:23.44, overtaking a group of 25 runners and finishing ahead of many competitors. Cuban-Talian Andy Diaz achieved a remarkable long jump of 18.15 meters, placing him fourth in history. German javelin thrower Julian Weber also made headlines by surpassing the 90-meter barrier with a throw of 90.40 meters, breaking the previous European Championship record held since 1998. These performances underscored the competitive nature of the European Championships and highlighted the athletes' readiness for future global competitions.
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