THE under-23 category has its fair share of critics but many athletes have used the European Under-23 Championships as a platform for future success on the global stage. Here's a look at some of Britain's leading medal candidates in Ostrava and when they will be competing (all times local).
July 15
4.25pm – men's 100m final (James Alaka and Andrew Robertson)
CHRISTOPHE LEMAITRE has opted to compete solely in the 200m so there shouldn't be too much resistance to the continuation of the British dominance in the under-23 division. After a clean sweep of the medals in 2009 as well as gold and silver in 2007, James Alaka and Andrew Robertson are the medal favourites this year and they lead the European under-23 rankings with 10.23 and 10.29 respectively.
CR – Simeon Williamson 10.10 (2007)
4.40pm – women's 800m final (Lynsey Sharp)
LYNSEY SHARP'S ranked third in Europe with a PB of 2:01.98 but she might find it difficult
to pierce the Russian challenge which is led by European indoor 1500m champion Yelena Arzhakova. Coached by former world medallist Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Arzhakova recently won the Russian under-23 title in 1:59.56 although she's posted a faster time indoors. Two-time world junior champion Mirela Lavric from Romania is also in the field.
CR – Yelena Kofanova 1:58.94 (2009)
4.55pm – men's 800m final (Mukhtar Mohammed)
WHILE the overall standards in some events aren't particularly impressive, the 800m is shaping up to be one of the most competitive and despite the interest of some of Europe's leading half-milers, a recent PB of 1:46.58 in Sweden shows Mukhtar Mohammed will be in with a chance. Reigning champion Adam Kszczot, who improved to 1:44.30 on home-turf in Bydgoszcz, starts as favourite to claim Poland's third successive European under-23 title. He's also won the European Team Championships and European Indoor Championships this year which proves his nous in tactical oriented races, especially at continental level. European junior champion Kevin Lopez, 1:45.92 this year, is another leading contender along with Pierre Ambroise Bosse, who is part of a group of up-and-coming French middle-distance runners.
CR – Nils Schumann 1:45.21 (1999)
July 16
3.25pm – women's hammer throw final (Sophie Hitchon)
SOPHIE HITCHON graduates to the under-23 ranks on the back of a world junior title in Moncton where she became the first ever British world champion in this discipline. Hitchon's improved the UK record to 69.43m this year but she's likely to need something in excess of this to defeat Bianca Perie from Romania, who has such a stellar record in age-group competitions. Perie, who holds a PB of 73.52m, has won two world junior, world youth and European junior titles and this will be her debut at the European Under-23 Championships.
CR – Kamila Skolimowska 71.38m (2003)
4pm – women's 400m hurdles final (Meghan Beesley)
MEGHAN BEESLEY'S the favourite for the bronze medal behind a pair of world-class Ukrainians comprised of Hanna Titimets and Anna Yaroshchuk, who have both broken the 55-second barrier this year. Beesley's third fastest with 56.21 and she's exactly one-second ahead of the fourth fastest under-23 athlete.
CR – Angela Morosanu 54.50 (2007)
4.15pm – men's 400m hurdles final (Jack Green, Nathan Woodward, Niall Flannery)
THE 400m hurdles has been Britain's most successful event in the past decade with gold medals from Matt Elias in 2001, Rhys Williams in 2005, Dai Greene in 2007 and Lloyd Gumbs in 2009 and a clean-sweep is there for the taking given the British trio's dominance in the under-23 rankings. Such is the depth, Tom Phillips, who is the fourth fastest in Europe with 49.78 is only a reserve behind Nathan Woodward (48.71), Jack Green (48.98) and Niall Flannery (49.76). Gold is expected to be decided between Woodward, who won the trials ahead of Green before an improvement to 48.71 last week, and the Malcolm Arnold-coached Green, who's improved down from 50.49 this year. Nobody else in the under-23 category has broken the 50-second barrier.
CR – Marek Plawgo 48.45 (2003)
4.40pm – men's 400m final (Luke Lennon-Ford and Nigel Levine)
THE Brits lead the European under-23 rankings through Nigel Levine (45.85) and Luke Lennon-Ford (46.03) but watch out for European fourth placer Vladimir Krasnov, who helped Russia to the European 4x400m relay title last year.
CR – Leslie Djhone 45.04 (2003)
6.05pm – men's 200m final (James Alaka and Danny Talbot)
TREBLE European champion Christophe Lemaitre should win this easily but Danny Talbot, in his first year out of the junior ranks, will be in the hunt for the minor medals. The Birchfield Harrier, who just missed out on a place in the world junior final last year, improved to 20.54 in Geneva where he was pipped by Jamaican-turned Swiss Alex Wilson, who set a national under-23 record of 20.51. A transferee who won't be competing in Ostrava though is Ramil Guliyev, who has been blocked from international competition until 2014 on the back of an unpopular switch from Azerbaijan to Turkey.
CR – Chris Lambert 20.34 (2003)
6.50pm – men's 110m hurdles final (Lawrence Clarke)
COMMONWEALTH bronze medallist Lawrence Clarke's ranked fourth in Europe behind a trio of Russians but he'll be there to snap up a medal if any of the higher-ranked athletes falter. The European junior champion comes fresh from a PB of 13.59 from Mannheim which translates to a one-tenth improvement on his pre-2011 lifetime best.
CR – Ladji Doucoure 13.23 (2003)
8pm – women's 3000m steeplechase final (Eilish McColgan)
EILISH MCCOLGAN is something of a newcomer to the steeplechase but she's really taken to the event. In just her fourth outing over the barriers, the 20-year-old claimed the World Championships 'B' qualifier with 9:47.03 in Birmingham and this time puts her in the mix for a podium finish in Ostrava.
July 17
3.15pm – women's pole vault final (Holly Bleasdale)
IN less than a year, Holly Bleasdale has transformed herself from a UK junior silver medallist to an Olympic and world pole-vault contender. The world junior bronze medallist enjoyed a stellar indoor season and the Blackburn athlete has continued her breakout season with UK records of 4.65m and 4.70m and the latter also corresponds to a world age-19 record. Bleasdale holds an ascendency of 28cm over nearest rival Ekaterini Stefanidi from Greece, who first cleared 4m at 14.
CR – Yelena Isinbayeva 4.65m (2003)
4pm – women's 1500m final (Stacey Smith)
STACEY SMITH acquitted herself well in her first senior GB vest at the European Indoor Championships and the 21-year-old is expected to challenge for a medal on the back of a sub-4:07 PB in Birmingham. She might face the 800m favourite Yelena Arzhakova as the timetable allows for a middle-distance double.
CR – Lidia Chojecka 4:07.86 (1999)
4.20pm – men's 1500m final (James Shane)
SHANE set all sorts of age-group records as a young teenager but having drifted towards the periphery of UK middle-distance running, the Newham & Essex Beagle broke the 3:40-barrier for the first time in Spain and he justified his selection for the European Team Championships with a sensible tactical performance which bodes well as the final is unlikely to be a fast race. Other pre-race favourites include former European junior cross-country champions Florian Carvalho (3:35.29) and Jeroen D'Hoedt (3:36.90) as well as European junior champion David Bustos (3:39.09) and reigning champion Ivan Tukhtachev from Russia (3:39.80).
CR – Wolfram Muller 3:38.94 (2001)
5.20pm – men's discus throw final (Brett Morse and Lawrence Okoye)
BRETT MORSE looked set to lead the domestic challenge in this event but the Birchfield Harrier, who's consistently surpassed the 60m barrier this year, was usurped by Lawrence Okoye at the weekend, who smashed the UK record in Hendon and such was the calibre of his effort, Okoye's mark of 67.63m moves him to No.3 on the European under-23 all-time lists. Gold and silver are there for the taking.
CR – Robert Harting 64.50m (2005)
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