Finnish athletes secured a total of seven medals at the European Athletics U20 Championships, the nation's best medal haul this century in the biennial competition.

The tally included four silver medals — won by Ella Mikkola in the high jump, Aatu Kangasniemi in the shot put, Mico Lampinen in the hammer throw and Rebecca Nelimarkka in the javelin — as well as three bronze, for Enni Virjonen (Heptathlon), Pinja Kärhä (hammer throw) and Aatu Kangasniemi again in the hammer throw.

The result left Finland in eighth place overall from 33 competing nations in the final Placing Table standings, marking the best performance by a Finnish team in the U20 championships since the 1999 games in Latvia, when the Finns secured 10 medals.

The previous record for this century was five medals, won at each of the games in 2001, 2017 and 2021.

While the medalists grabbed the headlines, Finland's points tally was helped by the number of Finnish athletes who finished in 4th or 5th place — garnering the team an additional 80 points in total.

Jesse Jokinen, Yle Sport's athletics expert, noted that the medal haul in Tampere bodes well for the future of Finnish athletics.

"They are ready to compete. It is not enough to perform in training, you have to be able to do it in the competition arena. If you are aiming for the highest level, then that is a really important trait for an athlete. There were a lot of guys like that on this team," Jokinen said.

Jokinen singled out high jumper Ella Mikkola and heptathlon athlete Enni Virjonen in particular as potential stars for the future, as they now look to make the step up to compete against the established adult athletes.

"I believe that both have the potential to reach an extremely good level in Europe," he said.

Elite young athletes from across Europe had converged on the city of Tampere for the four-day event, which ran from Thursday until Sunday.

Athletes born between the years of 2006 to 2009 were eligible to compete, with the first championships having taken place in 1970.