Three Bears Head To European U23 Championships

Lucija Leko (left), Audrey Jacobs (center) and Mari Testa (right) each posted multiple top-10 marks for the Bears in 2025.

T&F7/16/2025 2:16 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Lucija Leko, Audrey Jacobs, Mari Testa Set To Compete In Bergen

Three members of the California track & field team – Lucija Leko, Audrey Jacobs and Mari Testa – will return to the track this week for one of the world’s top competitions of the year in the European U23 Athletics Championships. The meet will be held Thursday-Sunday at Fana Stadium in Bergen, Norway.
 
Fans can watch a live stream on Eurovision Sport via the European Athletics website, which also includes a full timetable and results.
 
Leko, a rising junior from Croatia, will compete in both the women’s shot put and women’s discus, both events in which she has excelled for the Golden Bears. Her shot put PR of 17.10m (56-1.25) is the current school record as well as the No. 2 mark in Croatian history,, while her season-best discus mark of 56.85m (186-6) ranks No. 4 in Cal history. She was named All-America Honorable Mention after appearing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships,
 
Jacobs, a rising senior from the Netherlands who was likewise named All-America Honorable Mention this year, will enter the women’s hammer throw contest after another successful collegiate season. Her season-best throw of 64.94m (213-0) was set at the NCAA West Regional in May, one of four 64-meter efforts so far this year. Jacobs’ PR of 65.22m (213-11), which stands as the Dutch U23 record, ranks sixth in program history.
 
Testa earned her spot at the European U23 Championships less than two weeks ago with a tremendous gold-medal effort in the 100m hurdles at the Austrian U23 Championships, where her winning time of 13.56 was one-fifth of a second faster than the rest of the field. The rising junior had a breakout season for the Bears in 2025, bettering her PR by nearly a full second to 13.45 – the eighth-fastest time in the Cal record books.
 
European Athletics U23 Championships – Golden Bears Appearance Schedule (Times PT/Local)
 
Thursday
Women’s Shot Put Qualifier A (12:30 a.m./10:30 a.m.)
Women’s Hammer Qualifier B (4:50 a.m./1:50 p.m.)
Women’s 100m Hurdles Round 1 (7:10 a.m./4:10 p.m.)
Women’s Shot Put Final (10:20 a.m./7:20 p.m.)
 
Friday
Women’s 100m Hurdles Semifinal (6:35 a.m./3:35…