Twins Michal Rada and Nina Radova made history with a unique 400m hurdles double, as Czechia celebrated three gold medals on the final night of action from the European Athletics U18 Championships in Banska Bystrica on Sunday (21).
Nina Radova ran a brilliantly paced race in the women’s 400m hurdles. Running from lane five, she ran with intent from the gun. By the home straight, Croatia’s Eva Barbarić running strongly in lane three was her only threat for gold.
But Radova pulled clear over the penultimate barrier, running to a championship best of 58.00. Barbaric won bronze in a personal best 58.85. France’s Lalie Pouzancre-Hoyer came through for bronze in a personal best 59.07.
Immediately after seeing his sister win gold, all eyes turned to Michal Rada in the men’s race. Running from lane six, he ran down the stagger on Italy’s Tommaso Ardizzone and Serbia’s Nebojša Ilić within the first two hurdles.
And as they turned into the home straight, he had built a ten metre lead on the field, setting a brutal pace that none of his competitors could live with. He clocked a superb European U18 best of 49.42 in a dominant performance.
His Czechia teammate Marek Váňa added even more glitter to a brilliant night for the neighbouring nation, taking silver in a personal best 51.12. Ardizzone rallied to take bronze in a national U18 best of 51.38.
