European women's hammer throw championship

Finnish hammer throwers Silja Kosonen and Krista Tervo entered the European Championship final as leading contenders. Tervo held a season best of 77.35 meters despite recent health concerns, while Kosonen recorded a season best of 76.41 meters. They faced significant competition from world record holder Anita Wlodarczyk—who had a difficult qualifying round of 68.70 meters—and other finalists such as Italy’s Sara Fantini and Denmark’s Katrine Koch Jacobsen.

In the final held in Birmingham, Silja Kosonen secured the gold medal with a winning throw of 76.28 meters, overtaking the defending champion, Sara Fantini. This victory represents Kosonen’s first major senior championship medal and makes her the seventh Finnish outdoor track and field athlete to win a European Championship title since the 2000s.

Kosonen’s coach, Jani Pihkanen, who has trained her for nearly a decade, stated that the win was the culmination of intense training focused on strength, body control, and speed. The pair had specifically targeted a peak performance for this championship following Kosonen’s narrow miss of a medal at the previous World Championships.