Birmingham 2026: European Athletics Championships day two – live
Key events
Men’s hammer throw: Hungary’s Bence Halasz has thrown down the gauntlet in the opening stages of this final by posting 80.96m with his first attempt. Britain’s Jake Norris is 5th on 74.61m.
Women’s pole vault: The action on the infield has started and there have been no failed attempts yet in qualification. Britain’s Gemma Tutton is one of six athletes to have cleared the first height of 4.10m.
Ticket prices: It’s a shame that, after the type of performances we had from Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Amy Hunt last night, this morning much of the talk was about empty seats.
I don’t think you can blame British athletics fans for not turning up when the ticket prices appear to be the main hurdle. It costs £110 to sit on the home straight this evening – it was £150 last night – with no junior prices in that part of the stadium. A lack of advertising of the event around Birmingham also appears to be an issue.
Here’s Sean Ingle …
Keely Hodgkinson’s coach, and the BBC commentator Steve Cram have led a chorus of concern about high ticket prices causing low attendances at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Fans have also criticised the high food prices at the Alexander Stadium, with a barbecue pork roll costing £18.50, a bratwurst hot dog £15, and a bottle of water £3.95.
Officially there were more than 13,000 fans in the stadium on Monday night to see Amy Hunt’s 100m gold medal. But to most observers the 23,000-capacity venue looked barely half-full. The timing is also more than a little awkward given that London’s bid team for the World Athletics Championships in 2029 is due to make its final presentation on Friday.
In Birmingham city centre there is also little sign that this prestigious event is taking place, and the empty seats in the £60 and £40 areas have led some to question whether Birmingham 2026 had done enough to attract casual supporters. Fans are being charged £22.50 to use the park‑and‑ride scheme – although there is a cheaper £17.50 park‑and‑walk option which is a 45‑minute stroll away.
Session schedule
Here’s what’s coming up this evening in Birmingham, with medal events in bold. All times BST.
-
7.05pm – pole vault (women) qualification
-
7.10pm – hammer throw (men) final
-
7.25pm – 5,000m (women) final
-
7.55pm – 100m hurdles (women) semi-finals
-
8.16pm – long jump (men) final
-
8.32pm – 100m (men) semi-finals
-
9pm – 400m (men) semi-finals
-
9.30pm – 100m hurdles (women) final
-
9.47pm – 100m (men) final
What happened this morning? The early session saw the fight for women’s 800m glory crank into gear. The three standout names – Keely Hodgkinson, Audrey Weero and Femke Broeders-Bol – all won their separate heats to progress to the semi-finals on Thursday.
Read more in Sean Ingle’s report from Alexander Stadium …
There were also impressive performances from Great Britain’s Joshua Faulds and Turkey’s Berke Akcam in the men’s 400m hurdles heats, plus Ayomide Folorunso and Paulien Coukuyt in the women’s semi-finals. Britain’s Samuel Bennett is through to the semi-finals of the 110m hurdles after winning his heat while Joel Clarke-Khan and Kimani Jack made it two Britons through to the men’s high jump final.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the evening session on day two of the European athletics championships in Birmingham. After a coming-of-age victory for Amy Hunt and a comeback win for Jakob Ingebrigtsen last night, let’s hope for more drama on the track – and in the field – over the coming hours at Alexander Stadium.
The main event this evening is the business end of the men’s 100m. After the lower-ranked athletes went in the heats this morning, the big names enter the fray in the semi-finals and the final. Italy’s Marcell Jacobs is here to defend his titles from 2022 and 2024 and he’s on fine form, having clocked a ridiculous 9.67sec in Austria last month thanks to a lot of wind assistance. Hosts Great Britain have representation in Jeremiah Azu, Louis Hinchliffe and a real medal chance in Romell Glave.
Sticking with Britain, Matt Hudson-Smith has a stand named after him at Alexander Stadium. He goes in the men’s 400m semi-finals this evening – he is the fastest in the world this year with a time of 44.09sec but missed the last European championships after winning in 2022. Other stars to look out for are Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji in the women’s 100m hurdles semi-finals and final, Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou in the men’s long jump final and Hungary’s Bence Halasz in the men’s hammer final.
The first track event of the evening is the women’s 5,000m final, where Italy’s Nadia Battocletti is aiming to defend her crown against a field that includes Ireland’s Sarah Healy and the emerging British talent of Innes FitzGerald.
You can get in touch with me via email throughout the evening with your thoughts on the action.
