Dominant Iceland crowned European Athletics Team Championships 3rd Division winners

Image: courtesy of European Championships

Iceland topped the standings of the European Athletics Team Championships 3rd Division with a commanding collective performance in Maribor on Wednesday (25) to secure a direct passage back into the 2nd Division.

After taking six victories on Tuesday, Icelandic victories on day two came courtesy of 17-year-old Eir Hlesdottir who won the women’s 200m in a national record of 23.44 and for Erna Soley Gunnarsdottir in the shot put with 16.05m.

But what really strengthened the Icelandic cause was their consistency across the programme. As well as their eight victories, Iceland also finished second in 14 events and fourth in three events. In total, Iceland finished inside the top three in 20 of the 37 events.

This helped Iceland to a total of 461.5 points for a commanding victory over Luxembourg (410 points) who also sealed promotion straight back into the 2nd Division in 2027. Their standout performance on day two was a national record of 13.23 for Victoria Rausch in the 100m hurdles.

And there was also a historic performance from Bosnia & Herzegovina who sealed promotion out of the bottom tier of the European Athletics Team Championships for the first time in competition history in dramatic fashion.

After initially finishing fourth after the mixed 4x400m, initial winners Moldova were disqualified for a lane infringement, depriving them of 16 crucial points. Bosnia & Herzegovina moved from fourth to third in the overall rankings with 383 points ahead of Moldova with 371 points.

Two-time world outdoor medallist Amel Tuka was one of the team captains and he led by example, kicking to victory in the 800m in 1:49.37.   

Moreno rolls back the years in the hammer

However, an anticipated Icelandic victory in the women’s hammer went instead to the legendary Yipsi Moreno who was making her international debut for Albania after a venerable career for Cuba, winning three world titles and Olympic gold in 2008.

Now 44, Moreno sealed a full quota of points for Albania and she finished her series in style, improving her national record for the third time in the competition with a mark of 67.96m.

Iceland’s Guorun Karitas Hallgrimsdottir, who led the entry-list with a recently set lifetime best of 69.92m, had to settle for second with 66.04m.

Another top performance came from Yekaterina Sariyeva who won the triple jump for Azerbaijan with a marginally wind-aided 13.85m (+2.5) in the fifth round, defeating Iceland’s Irma Gunnarsdottir who set a national record of 13.72m to contribute big points for her country. 

Elsewhere, Alham Naghiyev completed a sprint double for Azerbaijan, following up his victory in the 100m with another victory in the 200m in a lifetime best of 20.75. 

Malta’s Gina McNamara also completed a middle-distance double, following up her victory in the 800m yesterday with a win in the 1500m in 4:27.22.