Who is Adriana Vilagos? Everything we know about Serbian teen who won the Rising Star of 2022 award

Adriana Vilagos, the Serbian javelin thrower, exceeded all expectations put on her youthful shoulders.

There is always a certain degree of pressure when you begin the season as the current world champion. Out of the 16 javelin tournaments Adriana Vilagos participated in, the Serbian athlete finished in the top three 15 times. She has routinely thrown more than 60 meters in 2022.

Adriana participated in nine international tournaments between 2021 and 2022. In them, she won six gold and three silver medals. She won the title of the World Athletics Female Rising Star of the Year 2022 after recording 11 of the greatest U20 performances in the world this season.

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Who is Adriana Vilagos?

Adriana Vilagos, a Serbian athlete who excels in the javelin throw, was born on 2nd January, 2004. She became the youngest European medalist in a throwing event when she won the silver medal at the 2022 European Athletics Championships at the age of 18.

Adriana grew up in Northern Serbia's Mali. When she was younger, she began throwing a vortex, a little foam egg-shaped rocket with an aerodynamic tail, while playing handball.

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Adriana Vilagos' Career

At the age of 14, Adriana set the Serbian under-18 (javelin 500 g) record in 2018 with a throw of 59.69 meters, which she later increased to 64.73 meters.

She broke the 2019 record of her two-year-old competitor from Greece, Elina Tzengko (65.90 m), when throwing 68.76 meters at Sremska Mitrovica in March 2020.

She finished second behind Tzengko at the 2021 Balkan Athletics Championships in Smederevo, Serbia, in June. The outcome of their contest was replicated in July in Tallinn, Estonia, at the European Athletics U20 Championships.

Adriana Vilagos improved her under-18 world record on 14th August, 2021, at the Balkan U18 Championships in Kraljevo, becoming the first under-18 female to ever cross the 70-meter mark. She established a national under-20 record just five days later when, at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, she defeated Tzengko to win gold for the first time.

Adriana won silver at the senior European Championships, 2021, finishing one place ahead of world record holder Barbora Spotakova, less than three weeks after defending her global U20 championship. She finished her season well on the international stage, placing third in the 63.00m event at the Wanda Diamond League competition in Brussels.

She won the U23 competition at the European Throwing Cup for the second time in a row. She also won the Balkan Championships and Mediterranean Games, and successfully defended her world U20 title at the World U20 Championships held in Cali, Colombia.

Adriana Vilagos

After becoming the first woman to win back-to-back global U20 javelin championships since former world record holder Osleidys Menéndez in 2021, Adriana won a silver medal at the European U20 Championships. She successfully defended her title in 2022.

The 18-year-old frequently threw more than 60 meters and finished ahead of more seasoned competitors in 2022, placing in the top three in 15 of her 16 competitions.

In the process, she set a championship and European U20 record of 63.52 m. At her maiden senior European Championships in Munich in 2022, she finished ahead of the legendary Barbora Potáková and second only to Tzengko.

Adriana Vilagos' winning score also moved her up to third place on the U20 all-time list for the world. But she still has another season left in the age division, so she may go even farther up the list next year.

Adriana receiving the World Athletics Rising Star Award is surely a big thing. This will definitely boost her aura. Looking at her record, it is not very hard to say who is going to be the next big thing on the World Athletics circuit.