Key events
Men’s pole vault: Mondo Duplantis is one of nine athletes of the 14-strong field to have cleared the first height of 5.55m. Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis – runner-up to Duplantis at the last worlds and Euros – and Great Britain’s Owen Heard also cleared it first time.
Great Britain won double gold in the 4x100m relays last night but the evening was tempered by a security scare. Dozens of athletes, including Britain’s Amy Hunt, and thousands of spectators were caught up in a massive security operation involving armed police at Alexander Stadium.
One coach reported there were armed guards around the warm-up track and bus terminals, while police were seen searching buses. Another leading British coach said they got on a 10.15pm bus that only left at 11.45pm and arrived back at 12.30am. “Fortunately they kept the kitchens open for the athletes,” a team official said.
The West Midlands police said a man in his 30s was arrested and remains in custody for questioning following suspicious behaviour.
Sean Ingle was there and has more …
What happened this morning? Germany’s Amanal Petros and Finland’s Alisa Vainio won the men and women’s marathons in Birmingham. Petros, the Olympic silver medallist, claimed victory in a championship record of 2hr 09min 11sec, beating by 40sec Belgian Koen Naert’s previous best, set in Berlin in 2018. Italy’s Pietro Riva, who took European silver in the half-marathon in Rome two years ago, claimed silver in 2:09.18, just 3sec ahead of Ethiopian-born Israeli Gashau Ayale.
Vainio, who finished fifth at last year’s world champs in Tokyo, clocked a dominant winning time of 2:22.26, her long solo effort beating by almost three minutes the previous championship record set by France’s Christelle Daunay in Zurich in 2014. Hungary took silver through Lili Anna Vindics-Toth, in a personal best of 2:27:21, while Britain’s Abbie Donnelly picked up bronze (2:27:33).
Donnelly became the first British woman to win a marathon medal at the European championships – all while also studying for a PhD in Victorian Imperialism at Loughborough University which is due in just six weeks’ time.
After adding bronze to her European cross-country third place in 2023, Donnelly said: “I really hoped (I could get a medal today), but it was an optimistic goal.
It got tough with about three laps to go because you know the hills by that point and know where the hard points are so it was a proper rollercoaster. The crowd literally did get me to the end. I think I had a bit of an out of body experience, I was just being screamed at which I love.
These two events did not come in a well-timed place in the year so I might give myself tomorrow and then I’ve got a lot of writing left to do.
Israel won the men’s team gold thanks to having four runners in the top 12, ahead of Germany and France. Britain topped the podium in the women’s team event ahead of Italy and Spain. AFP and PA Media
Session schedule
Here’s what’s coming up at Alexander Stadium (all times BST) …
7.15pm – pole vault (men) final
7.55pm – long jump (women) final
8.35pm – 4x100m relay (mixed) final
8.50pm – 3,000m steeplechase (men) final
9.13pm – 1500m (women) final
9.33pm – 4x400m relay (women) final
9.48pm – 4x400m relay (men) final
Top of medal table
1. Italy 🥇8 🥈6 🥉5 (21)
2. Great Britain 🥇7 🥈5 🥉2 (14)
3. Germany 🥇5 🥈8 🥉4 (17)
4. Netherlands 🥇4 🥈3 🥉5 (12)
5. Norway 🥇4 🥈0 🥉2 (6)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the final session of the 2026 European athletics championships from Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. It’s been a dominant week for Great Britain’s sprinters, who won both 4x100m relays last night and can complete the set with the mixed 4x100m event this evening. Amy Hunt set her sights on four goals at the start of the week and, after winning in the 100m, 200m and women’s 4x100m relay, she is well on course.
The session starts with the men’s pole vault, which is just as well because Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis tends to be the last person performing at the end of a session. He has broken the world record this year but that was back in March and he was beaten at his home Diamond League in Stockholm by Australia’s Kurtis Marschall in June. Surely he won’t suffer another shock?
A lot of attention will be on the women’s 1500m as Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell goes for her first European title, but she could be pushed all the way by France’s Agathe Guillemot. Sarah Healy is in with a shout of Ireland’s fifth medal of these championships. We’ve also got men’s and women’s 4×400 relays to finish the night.
There is plenty more to keep an eye on with javelin, long jump and steeplechase finals too. You can be involved by getting in touch.