European Athletics Championships 2026: Birmingham hosts first British edition

The first European Athletics Championships to be held in Great Britain gets under way on Monday in Birmingham.

The Championships take place from 10-16 August at the revamped Alexander Stadium, with Britain's team of 94 athletes chasing top spot in the medals table.

Among the British stars on show are defending champions Keely Hodgkinson and Dina Asher-Smith, local boy Matthew Hudson-Smith, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Amy Hunt, Georgia Hunter Bell and team captain Jake Wightman.

Sweden's Armand Duplantis, Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou are all seeking to win their fourth successive European titles, while Hodgkinson, Italy's Marcell Jacobs and Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh are all targeting three in a row.

Athletes from 49 nations will compete for 50 gold medals, including a mixed 4x100m relay for the first time.

The BBC will bring you comprehensive coverage of the championships on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, Radio 5 Live, the BBC Sport website, the BBC Sport app and the BBC Sport social media channels including YouTube.

Asher-Smith (100m), Hodgkinson (800m), the women's half marathon team and the women's 4x100m relay squad all won gold as Great Britain came third in the medal table at Rome 2024.

Hosts Italy won 11 golds, and a total of 24 medals, to top the medal table followed by that year's Olympic hosts France with four golds and 16 medals overall.

GB topped the medal table in Brussels in 1950 and Budapest in 1998 before finishing first at Zurich 2014, Berlin 2018 and Munich 2022, with the championships being held every two years since 2010.

With home advantage for the first time, the British team will be hoping to get back on top of the podium.

Sprinter Asher-Smith has won six European golds and two silvers from four championships and could overtake the seven golds of Croatian discus thrower Sandra Elkasevic (formerly Perkovic) to become the most successful athlete in the history of the championships.

The 30-year-old could also overtake fellow sprinter Irena Szewinska of Poland as the most-decorated European athlete of all time. Szewinska won a total of 10 medals from 1966-1978.

Of other current athletes, Norwegian star Ingebrigtsen has six golds (no other medals) and Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol has five golds and a bronze from just two championships.

Meanwhile, Hudson-Smith, who has a stand at Alexander Stadium named after him, has four golds and seven medals in total.

One more medal and he will equal France's Christophe Lamaitre as the championships' most-decorated male athlete of all-time.

A gold medal would also bring him level with Roger Black and Sir Mo Farah as the British men to have won most European titles.

Arguably the most-anticipated event for British fans is Hodgkinson's 800m battle with Audrey Werro and Femke Broeders-Bol.

Hodgkinson, 24, sat out the Commonwealth Games and comes into the championships fresh from winning the London Diamond League meeting in July.

However, she faces two tough opponents in her quest for another title.

Swiss star Werro, 22, beat Hodgkinson in June and has twice run faster than the reigning Olympic champion this season, edging closer and closer to the 43-year-old world record of one minute 53.28 seconds.

Broeders-Bol, the 26-year-old world 400m hurdles champion, has moved up to 800m and finished just behind Hodgkinson at London Stadium as she gets up to speed in her new event.

The women's 800m heats take place on Tuesday morning, the semi-finals on Thursday morning and the final at 21:45 on Friday, 14 August.

You can watch live coverage of every session on either BBC One or BBC Two as well as iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app.

Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds will be in Birmingham to bring you daily live commentary, while the BBC Sport website and app will feature live text, reports, analysis, video clips and a medal table.

There will also be coverage on BBC Sport's social media platforms, including YouTube.

Gabby Logan and Jeanette Kwakye will present the BBC TV coverage with Steve Cram, Andrew Cotter, Steve Backley, Colin Jackson and Paula Radcliffe commentating on the action.

London 2012 Olympic champions Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford plus Hodgkinson's coach Jenny Meadows will also provide analysis.

Morning session

TV: 10:30-13:15 on BBC One

10:45: Britain's Max Burgin, the second fastest men in Europe over 800m this year, seeks to book his place in the semi-finals. Ben Pattison, the 2023 world bronze medallist, and Alex Botterill are also in action.

11:25: Imani Lansiquot is in the heat one of the women's 100m qualifying but team-mates Asher-Smith and Hunt both have byes to the semi-finals.

Other British athletes in qualifying events: Sarah Vincent in women's shot put from 10:35, Jake Norris in men's hammer from 10:40, Archie Yeo and Stephen Mackenzie in men's long jump from 11:30, Lina Nielsen in women's 400m hurdles from 12:35 and Scott Lincoln in men's shot put from 12:40.

Evening session

TV: 19:00-20:00 on BBC Two and 20:00-22:00 on BBC One

Radio: 21:00-22:00 on 5 Live & Sounds

Finals:

21:50: Reigning champion Asher-Smith, Amy Hunt and Daryll Neita will all be aiming to win medals in the women's 100m at 21:50 (semi-finals from 20:10). Poland's 2024 European runner-up Ewa Swoboda and Geraldine Di Tizio-Frey of Switzerland are their big rivals.

21:40: Great Britain will be among the favourites to claim the mixed 4x400m relay title, the first of six relay gold medals on offer this week

20:40: Jakob Ingebrigtsen makes his comeback after almost a year out through injury in the men's 5,000m final.

20:33: Men's shot put

19:03: Women's shot put

Other events:

19:10: Women's hammer qualification

19:35: Women's 100m hurdles first round

19:55: Women's triple jump qualification

20:10: Women's 100m semi-finals

21:00: Women's 3,000m steeplechase first round

Morning session

TV: 10:30-13:15 on BBC One

Hodgkinson is back on the track as the women's 800m reaches the semi-finals stage at 12:10, while the decathlon continues.

Evening session

TV: 19:00-20:00 on BBC Two and 20:00-22:00 on BBC One

Radio: 19:30-22:00 on 5 Live & Sounds

Finals:

21:50: Hunt and Asher-Smith will both be hoping to win gold in the women's 200m

21:28: Burgin will look to gain a first international title in the men's 800m

21:10: 1500m - decathlon's final event

20:45: Men's discus

20:30: Women's steeplechase

19:50: Women's pole vault

19:40: Women's triple jump

Morning session

TV: 10:30-13:15 on BBC One

Olympic silver medallist Johnson-Thompson starts her bid to win a first European heptathlon title.

World silver medallist Wightman is the one to watch in qualifying for the men's 1500m, while world record holder Duplantis begins his quest to win a fourth European pole vault title in a row.

Evening session

TV: 19:00-20:00 on BBC Two and 20:00-22:00 on BBC One

Radio: 20:30-22:00 on 5 Live & Sounds

Finals:

21:45: Hodgkinson hopes to retain her women's 800m title

21:25: Men's 200m

20:40: Karsten Warholm is aiming for his fourth European title in the men's 400m hurdles

20:30: Women's discus

20:00: Men's high jump

19:45: Women's 10,000m

Morning session

BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website: 07:30

The men's and women's half-marathon and marathon race walks take place around the city streets before BBC coverage starts

TV: 10:00-13:30 on BBC One

The women's heptathlon continues with the long jump and javelin, while Hunter Bell is in action in qualifying for Sunday's 1500m final. The sprint relay teams also take to the track for the qualifying rounds.

Evening session

TV: 19:15-22:00 on BBC One

Radio: 21:00-22:00 on 5 Live & Sounds

Finals:

21:48: Women's 4x100m relay

21:33: Men's 4x100m relay

21:07: Men's 1500m

20:25: Men's 10,000m

20:17: Men's triple jump

20:10: Women's 400m

20:07: Women's high jump

20:01: Men's javelin

19:45: Heptathlon 800m - final event