European Athletics Championships 2026: Hodgkinson chases gold in 800m, men’s 200m final, and more – live
Key events
The empty seats at Birmingham this week have raised a few eyebrows – though I’m not sure how many people would volunteer to watch an afternoon of anything in 30 degree heat and with little shelter.
Sean Ingle digs deeper into whether the gaps will damage London’s chances of hosting the 2029 world champs.
Friday evening session schedule
All times BST
7:35pm Women’s heptathalon shot put
7:45pm Women’s 10,000m final
8pm Men’s high jump final
8.30pm Men’s Discus final
8.40pm Men’s 400m hurdles final
8.55pm Women’s heptathlon 200m heats
9.25pm Men’s 200m final
9.46pm Women’s 800m final
All hail academic badass and track goddess Amy Hunt, who gets a day off today with the 100 and 200m in her back pocket. Sean Ingle sums up yesterday evening’s race.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to evening five of these sweltering Championships. The ambassador is really spoiling us tonight, so crack open something cold and stretch out that quad.
There are six finals on offer, starting with the women’s 10,000m and finishing with the week’s blue riband event – the women’s 800m. Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson, Olympic champion over this distance, takes on Femke Broeders-Bol, the 400m hurdles World Champion who has doubled her distance this year, and youthful Audrey Werro, who ran the third fastest time in history in June and was reinstated after being tripped and trailing in last in the heats on Thursday.
Birmingham will also be treated to the finals of the men’s high jump, women’s discus, men’s 400m hurdles and women’s 200m, with the shot put and 200m rounds of the women’s heptathlon interwoven through the evening. Let’s dive in!
