Tammila and Alatalo win medals in Albania – European Student Championships 2026 end in successes for Helsinki University and Haaga-Helia
Ida Tammila won the silver medal in the weight class for competitors under 46 kilograms in taekwondo, while Anna Alatalo won bronze for taekwondo forms in the European Universities Combat Sports Championships in Tirana. The two medals were the only ones awarded not only to athletes in combat sports but also the only ones won by Finnish competitors at the 2026 EUC Championships. The Finnish Student Sports Federation wishes to congratulate the medalists!
Ranked first in her category, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Science’s Tammila advanced to the finals with confidence. Unfortunately, the final match ended in an injury, robbing Tammila of her chance to win the gold medal. The gold eventually went to Portugal’s Patricia Salgueiro.
Anna Alatalo of Helsinki University performed well under pressure, achieving her personal best in the last sections of the taekwondo forms championships. The winner of the forms competition was Carolina Costa of Portugal.
In addition to taekwondo, Finnish athletes took part in karate and judo competitions at the Championships. Jyväskylä University’s Tuomas Suur-Inkeroinen missed out on the bronze medal by one win. It appeared Suur-Inkeroinen was short of competitive rhythm after his training period.
European Student Championships 2026 are over for the Finnish team
As a whole, the Finnish team’s performance in Albania is something to be proud of. Unfortunately, the arrangements were not quite up to par with what is to be expected of top international sports events: the accommodation and food left a lot to be desired, which of course affected the athletes’ ability to properly prepare for their competitions. The European University Sports Association EUSA apologized for the poor arrangements. OLL is still trying to find solutions to the problems encountered by some of its athletes.
As the European Championships 2026 draw to a close, we can once again say that there have been no years without medals. European student athletes continue to raise the bar every year, and the Championships get more and more competitive. This year, we saw many successes, but also failures, which are also a part of sports. However, the most important thing is that our athletes have represented both Finland and their educational institutions in an exemplary manner, which raises everyone’s spirits.
Next year, the Championships will include single-sport competitions, thus encompassing a wider variety of sports. Applications for the competitions to be held in 2027 will open later in the year. In future, only students from OLL’s member institutions may participate in the European Student Championships.
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Page last updated 29.9.2026