Birmingham 2026: European Athletics Championships day one – live
Key events
Session schedule
What’s happening this evening? Here’s the full schedule of events, with medal events in bold. All times BST.
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7.03pm – shot put (women) final
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7.10pm – hammer throw (women) qualifying
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7.35pm – 100m hurdles (women) heats
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7.55pm – triple jump (women) qualifying
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8.10pm – 100m (women) semi-finals
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8.33pm – shot put (men) final
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8.40pm – 5,000m (men) final
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9pm – 3,000m steeplechase (women) heats
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9.40pm – 4x400m relay (mixed) final
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9.50pm – 100m (women) final
Great Britain will hope to have at least two contenders in the women’s 100m final, with Amy Hunt and Dina Asher-Smith in the hunt for a medal. Asher-Smith is the defending European champion from Rome 2024 but Hunt beat her in the British championships here in Birmingham earlier this summer. Luxembourg’s Patrizia van der Weken is one to watch.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen has six European golds (and no other medals) to his name and goes in the men’s 5,000m final after a year spent battling injury and illness. France’s Jimmy Gressier, the world 10,000m champion from last year, and Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli will provide stiff competition.
Ireland’s 4x400m mixed relay team have not qualified to defend their title in Birmingham, leaving the door open for Great Britain, Norway and Belgium to have a crack at this event that sees each team field two men and two women.
In the field, Jessica Schilder and Italy’s Leonardi Fabbri are the strong favourites for gold in the women’s and men’s shot put finals.
What happened this morning? We’ve already had plenty of heats and qualification rounds on track and field today. The morning session kicked off with the men’s 400m heats, where the lower-ranked athletes got their chance to progress to the semi-finals. Ireland had good results in that, with Jack Raferty coming 2nd in his heat, and in the men’s 800m heats, where Mark English won his race. Max Burgin of Great Britain also progressed in the 800m as a heat winner.
There were three heats of the women’s 100m for lower-ranked athletes, with Imani Lansiquot ensuring there will be four Britons in the semi-finals this evening by coming 2nd in her race. “To run sub-11 and equal my PB, I’m very excited for later,” she said. Britain’s Lina Nielsen won her women’s 400m hurdles heat, while the Dutch women’s shot put favourite Jessica Schilder sailed through qualifying for tonight’s final, although Germany’s Yemisi Mabry threw further. Italy’s Leonardi Fabbri also progressed as best in the field in men’s shot put qualifying. Men’s long jump and men’s hammer throw qualification also took place.
The opening ceremony starts at a (for now) sparsely populated Alexander Stadium with everyone on their feet for God Save the King. This is, remarkably, the first time the European Championships have been held in Great Britain in their 92-year history.
Here is Sean Ingle’s preview of the week ahead …
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the first evening session of the European athletics championships. After Rome two years ago, it’s Birmingham’s turn to take centre stage as the Alexander Stadium hosts the best the continent has to offer, with plenty of British interest to keep the home crowd on the edge of their seats.
Tonight we kick off in style with two blockbuster finals. Norway’s superstar long-distance specialist Jakob Ingebrigtsen attempts to put injury and illness worries behind him in the men’s 5,000m final at 8.40pm (BST). He’ll have competition in the form of France’s world 10,000m champion, Jimmy Gressier. The session culminates in the women’s 100m final at 9.50pm as Dina Asher-Smith goes out to defend her title from two years ago against GB teammate Amy Hunt, who won Commonwealth silver in Glasgow last month. There’s also the fun and games of a mixed 4x400m relay.
We’ll kick off with an opening ceremony in a few minutes’ time and then the action on the field begins just after 7pm, with the first track event just after 7.30pm. A full schedule is coming up.
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