The paper describes cross-section measurements consisting of neutron activation using a 7Li(p,n) quasi mono-energetic neutron source and gamma-ray spectrometry performed at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Řež, Czech Republic. The analysis of the excitation functions of neutron-induced threshold reactions for the energy range from 17 up to 34 MeV is presented. The cross sections for the population of both ground and isomeric states were measured in yttrium and gold. A comprehensive comparison of the measured cross sections with earlier experimental data from the EXFOR database, TALYS calculations, and evaluated nuclear data libraries is presented.