Yonathan Kapitolnik is through to the high jump final at the European Athletics Championships, ONE reports, clearing 2.23m in qualifying at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on Monday to book his place among the continent's best.
The 23-year-old from Ganei Tikva went through the qualifying round in tidy fashion: 2.15m at the first attempt, 2.19m on his second try, then 2.23m — again on the second attempt — to secure his spot in the final without needing to push into the riskier territory near his personal best.
It is a result that matters for an athlete who has spent this season fighting instability and minor injury trouble rather than chasing new heights. Kapitolnik went out early at the World Championships in Tokyo last year, failing all three attempts at 2.25m, so simply landing cleanly in a major final is itself a marker of progress.
Kapitolnik remains Israel's standard-bearer in the event. His personal best of 2.31m, set indoors in early 2025, sits alongside a resume that includes gold at the 2021 World U20 Championships and the 2021 European U20 Championships, a final appearance at the senior World Championships in Eugene in 2022, and six Israeli national titles in a row.
He has spent the past year based in the United States, having signed with the University of Illinois track and field programme in late 2025 after competing collegiately in Europe.
The men's high jump final in Birmingham is the next assignment for Kapitolnik, part of an 18-strong Israeli team competing at the championships hosted for the first time in Britain, at the Commonwealth Games venue redeveloped for Birmingham 2022.
