Key events
Men’s 400m: There are a few people seated in the Matthew Hudson-Smith stand, though, to see the man himself. The only Birmingham native in the British team, a two-time individual European champion, lines up for the first semi-final. Dutchman Jonas Phijffers and Belgian champion Daniel Segers will hope to give him some competition.
Some emails on the ticket issues – the crowd tonight is far from a sellout again tonight.
Mason says …
It is astonishing the prices at the athletics. The food prices are eye watering for snacks that aren’t exactly mouth watering. We were at the World Athletics in Tokyo last year and paid 2500 Yen (around £12). They were the cheapest tickets which are a bit more than half the price of the cheapest tickets in Birmingham. Why have events such as this, the WC and concerts suddenly got so much more expensive?
Robert is more succinct …
What a pathetic attendance!
Men’s 100m: Jacobs motors through to post the fastest time of all three semi-finals of 10.08sec. There’s a bit of a headwind. It’s a fast race with Hinchliffe progressing as a fastest loser in 4th – that means Britain have three athletes in the final later on. Elvis Afrifa of the Netherlands and Simon Verherstraeten of Belgium are through too.
Men’s 100m: It’s the turn of Italy’s two-time European champion and the 2020 Olympic champion, Marcell Jacobs. Britain’s Louis Hinchliffe is looking cool in some shades in lane 6.
Men’s long jump: This final is bubbling along nicely. We have a new leader – Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer, who goes 2cm further than Tentoglou’s first jump with his second attempt. Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Saraboyukov is 3rd on 8.10m – 19cm off the lead.
Men’s 100m: Azu makes it two from two for GB after bursting out of the blocks and finishing in 10.17sec. He is joined in the final by Ansah, who eased off a little in the last few metres. Poland’s Dominik Kopec and Switzerland’s Timothé Mumenthauler are the new occupants of the comfy chairs. Larsson was 5th.
Men’s 100m: Sweden’s Henrik Larsson (!) lines up in lane 2 for the next semi-final. He’ll do well to match the likes of Jeremiah Azu and Owen Ansah, who is a controversial figure back home in Germany for allegedly missing a doping test. That’s still under investigation.
Men’s 100m: Glave’s rapid start gives him a platform to go on to dominate the race, finishing in 10.13sec. Italy’s Chituru Ali also progresses in 10.34, with Germany’s Heiko Gussmann and Ireland’s Toluwabori Akinola heading for those comfy fastest-loser chairs. Burnet tailed off at the end and finished last.
Men’s 100m: Right, semi-final time. There’s three of them – the top two in each progress to tonight’s final, along with the two fastest losers. Great Britain’s Romell Glave goes in the first semi alongside Taymir Burnet.
🏅 Bence Halasz (Hungary) wins the men’s hammer throw
Halasz smugly applauds as Hummel and Kokhan both fall short with their final attempts. The Hungarian chucks his last throw into the netting but he won’t mind. After bronze in 2018 and silver in 2022 and 2024, it’s European gold at last for him.
Final standings
1. Bence Halasz (Hun) 84.25m
2. Merlin Hummel (Ger) 81.30m
3. Mykhalyo Kokhan (Ukr) 79.49m
Men’s hammer throw: Halasz produces something special! And you’d know it in Budapest, let alone Birmingham, as he roars his head off after his fifth throw. It’s a world lead and a national record for the Hungarian – 84.25m. Germany’s Merlin Hummel and Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan will win medals – Myslyvcuk and Fajdek fail with their final throws.
Men’s long jump: Can anyone challenge Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou? The 28-year-old is bidding to win his fourth European title. Great Britain’s Archie Yeo has won medals in Birmingham in long and triple jump in the last couple of years.
Tentoglou posts an opening jump of 8.27 metres. Good luck, everyone else.
Women’s 100m hurdles: Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambunji, the reigning world champion, is made to sweat for automatic qualification, beating Germany’s Rosina Schneider to 2nd in the last semi-final by just two hundredths of a second. Nadine Visser of the Netherlands breezed through in 1st. The final comes later on.
Men’s hammer throw: Myslyvcuk stubs his toe on the outside of the circle and slowly brings his spin to a stop. The knarly Czech, wearing his cap on backwards, winds up for another effort and can’t improve on his best throw of 79.42m and stays 2nd behind Halasz. Two throws to go in this final.
Women’s 100m hurdles: The second semi-final sees Hungary’s Luca Kozak and Belgium’s Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck book their spots in the final. France’s Sacha Alessandrini was with them until the last couple of hurdles and will wait in those comfy, comfy trackside chairs as a fastest loser.
Germany’s Franziska Schuster has all my sympathy for hitting one hurdle, bashing into the next one and faceplanting because, well, I could only dream of getting over the first one.
Britain’s Emma Nwofor was down in 6th but, to be fair to her, she didn’t know she was racing until a couple of hours ago. She was advanced because of an injury to another athlete and was keen to rectify her bad start from the heats yesterday. “I had a cracking start this time!” she says in her BBC interview.
Women’s 100m hurdles: Skrzyszowska eases into the final with a clean run and a time of 12.60sec. Great Britain’s Marcia Sey pipped France’s Laeticia Bapté with a dip for the line to snatch the second qualifying spot. She can’t quite believe it!
Women’s 100m hurdles: The 2022 European champion, Pia Skrzyszowska of Poland, goes in the first of three semi-finals. The top two from each race go through to the final, with two fastest losers.
Men’s hammer throw: Hungary’s Halasz lets out an almighty roar as he releases his hammer through the gap in the netting and 81.84m down the infield, extending his lead at the top of the standings. Volodymyr Myslyvcuk of Czechia is in provisional silver on 79.42m and Pawel Fajdek of Poland holds the final medal place on 79.13m. Everyone has had three throws each.
Koster, the fastest in Europe this year, was blown away by Battocletti’s burst of speed down the back straight, proving that you can be the fastest around on paper but you still need to execute your tactics right. Battocletti always looked in control of the race but, really, she could’ve been half a lap back and still caught them at the end. Koster finished down in 6th.
It’s a familiar sight as Battocletti drapes herself in Italy’s tricolore having won her third European title after doing the double at Rome 2024. She’s joined by Majori, a surprise medallist it’s fair to say. Spain’s García upgrades on her bronze from two years ago.
🏅 Nadia Battocletti (Italy) wins the women’s 5,000m!
Battocletti starts kicking down the back straight and leaves the field for dead! Everyone else is almost out of shot as she bounds down the home straight towards gold again. García comes through for silver and Majori’s strong finish earns her bronze.
Final standings
1. Nadia Battocletti (Ita) 15:37.84
2. Marta García (Spa)
3. Micol Majori (Ita)
4. Sarah Healy (Ire)
5. Hannah Nuttall (GB)
Women’s 5,000m: Battocletti is in a perfect position off the shoulder of Koster to win this with her brilliant kick. García is not giving up on a medal up against Ireland’s Healy and GB’s Nuttall, who makes a move towards the front as the bell goes …
Women’s 5,000m: Koster hits the front with three laps to go, followed by Battocletti, Healy and Nuttall. 1km to go.
Women’s 5,000m: Battocletti, Koster and García decide to pick up the pace and the field strings out behind them. Battocletti puts on the breaks and the field bunches up again. Is she toying with them? 1,500m to go.
Women’s 5,000m: Koster starts to make a move towards the front and Britain’s 20-year-old Innes FitzGerald, a student at the University of Exeter, tries to go with her. Here comes García, who is joined at the front by her compatriot Idaira Ferrero. That has prompted Battocletti to move through the field too. 2,000m to go.
Women’s 5,000m: Bakraci is still leading the way but there is no gap to the rest of the field now. Healy is in a decent position on the shoulder of Koster near the front of the group. Battocletti, the best finisher in the field, is hanging around at the back. 3,000m to go.
Women’s 5,000m: After a very slow start, Kosovo’s Gresa Bakraci decides she’s going to make it interesting. Koster is just keeping an eye on her at the front of the main group. It must be fun to lead a major final for just a little bit. 4,000m to go.
Women’s 5,000m: Time for the first event on the track of the evening. Italy’s Nadia Battocletti is the favourite to defend her title from 2024 but she’ll face competition from the Netherlands’ Maureen Koster and Spain’s Marta García (bronze in 2024). British champion Hannah Nuttall and Sarah Healy of Ireland are also in with a shout of a medal.
They line up across those staggered start lines … and we’re off!
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.
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7.05pm – pole vault (women) qualification
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7.10pm – hammer throw (men) final
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7.25pm – 5,000m (women) final
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7.55pm – 100m hurdles (women) semi-finals
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8.16pm – long jump (men) final
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8.32pm – 100m (men) semi-finals
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9pm – 400m (men) semi-finals
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9.30pm – 100m hurdles (women) final
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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.