Croatian heptathlete Jana Koščak has withdrawn from the European Athletics Championships being held in Birmingham. The young international, who won the title of world junior champion last year, did not appear at the start of the final event of the first day, the 200 metres. Her participation in this major competition ended prematurely.
Before withdrawing, Koščak competed in three events, and after the shot put she was in 22nd place on the overall standings among the 24 entered heptathletes. In the first day's event, the 100 metres hurdles, she recorded a time of 14.30 seconds. Although this result placed her at the bottom of the rankings in that discipline, it is important to note that she was one second slower than her personal best.
In the high jump, the 20-year-old Croatian showed solid form by clearing a height of 1.83 metres. For this result she scored 1016 points, which gave her third place in the discipline and temporarily lifted her to 13th position in the points battle. However, the situation changed abruptly in the shot put.
In the final event of the first day, Koščak threw the shot put a distance of 12.21 metres. This result was second-last in the field and 1.79 metres short of her best mark achieved during this season. After this performance, her position on the standings dropped to 22nd, which was the moment the decision to withdraw was made.
After three completed events, the top spot in the heptathlon standings is held by the Pole Adrianna Sulek-Schubert. She leads with 3968 points, a significant advantage over the competition. In second place is the Dutchwoman Sofie Dokter with 3944 points, while the Irishwoman Kate O'Connor is third with 3926 points. The competition continues on the second day, but for Koščak the European Championships in Birmingham are officially over.
