Israel's under-18 women closed their European championships in Rieti with a national record. Nivi Seligmann, Roni Rabinovitz, Koral Tsimbalist and Hila Varsano ran 2:15.00 in Sunday's opening round of the 1,000m medley relay at the Stadio Raul Guidobaldi — a time confirmed on the official results — to set a new Israeli best over the rarely contested distance.
The mark they beat had stood for 35 years: 2:19.7, set back in 1991. Sunday's quartet stripped almost five seconds off it in a single run of the sprint-medley format, whose legs of 100, 200, 300 and 400 metres were shared out with Seligmann of Leader Netanya leading off, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Rabinovitz and Maccabi Ramat Hasharon's Tsimbalist carrying the middle two legs, and Varsano closing on the 400m.
The record did not come with progression attached. Israel finished seventh in the third heat, 20th of the 24 nations entered, and missed the final in a round where Czechia's 2:07.62 led all qualifiers and every finalist broke 2:10.
For a team assembled from three clubs in an event Israel almost never races, the gap to the leaders reads less as a verdict than as a starting point.
For Varsano, the relay capped a heavy weekend. A day earlier the 17-year-old had run her 400m hurdles semi-final, finishing eighth in the third semi in 1:02.11 to fall short of the final — an entirely forgivable exit two days after a 1:00.02 in the heats had lowered her own Israeli under-18 record.
There was a sharper ending on the infield during the same session. Ido Noam took sixth place in the 2,000m steeplechase final in 5:53.96, delivering exactly the top-eight finish the national federation's professional director had predicted for him.
Aviv Ochman fared tougher in the same race, caught out in a punishing pace and coming home 14th in 6:19.99.
Israel left Rieti with two new national marks to show for the trip — one individual, one shared by four teenagers who had never run faster.
