It's all a question of perspective. Looking at the glass half full, the results of the French team at the European Athletics Championships can be read encouragingly with 11 medals. A total certainly lower than the 16 gleaned in Rome in 2024, but richer than the editions from 2016 to 2022.
“In terms of the number of medals, we are the fifth nation. And 55% of our delegation is in the top 8,” said Frank Bignet, the national technical director of the French Athletics Federation. Looking at the half-empty glass, we will notice the glaring absence of a European title: only two other campaigns have seen this result, in 2022 and 1982. "It is neither a radiant sun, nor a total eclipse", poetically summed up Frank Bignet, who specified that the athletes would be debriefed cold to "find solutions".
The consultant for France Télévisions points to the "monstrous international context" as an explanation, with the incredible performance of hammer thrower Bence Halasz (84.25 m) as an example. “Certain events had the taste of a world championship,” corroborated Frank Bignet.
“It's not a positive result either in terms of the number of medals, but also in terms of titles. We are rather in difficulty even though we moved forward with a team that suggested better.”
Stéphane Diagana, consultant for France Télévisions
at franceinfo: sport
Placed in a mediocre 19th place in the medal table, due to the absence of a title, France is in 4th position in the "placing table", which counts the finalist places (top 8). “Athletes who know how to enter the final and who go there to seek the best of themselves, we have them. But people capable of seeking the best with the potential to be able to get on the box, we don't have that many,” explains Stéphane Diagana.
The champions of Rome are struggling
Of the four heroes of Rome, only Alice Finot fully responded in Birmingham. “The Paris 2024 context played a role. We saw a decompression in 2025 and it has not completely passed. If Alice manages to come back, it is at the last moment because it was still complicated in this 2026 season,” observes Stéphane Diagana. The French steeplechaser indeed went for a silver medal with a taste of gold as the Habs are coming back from a complicated year 2025.
The other three – Alexis Miellet, Cyréna Samba-Mayela, and Gabriel Tual – did not even see the final of their discipline. The hurdler had to forfeit due to injury after already a blank year in 2025 - she would, according to L'Equipe, also risk a suspension for three failures to meet her whereabouts obligations, information that Frank Bignet refused to comment on.
Having come to honor his invitation, the steeplechaser Alexis Miellet ultimately did not have the legs to escape from the series. Half-distance runner Gabriel Tual finally stopped in the semi-finals, lacking his kick.
The record for chocolate medals
In these championships, France is the nation with the most 4th places (7). Some cannot be classified as failures, like that of pole vaulter Margot Chevrier, who returned to the French team two and a half years after her serious ankle injury. Or even the pole vaulter Mathieu Collet, who honored his first selection for the France A team after several seasons spoiled by mental blockages. Thomas Wilkes, 4th in the 110m hurdles, can also be satisfied with his first cap in a major championship.
Others are frustrating, like Pauline Stey, who missed five seconds in the half-marathon walk to get on the podium. Or for Thomas Gogois, 16 centimeters from the box. And finally the last ones are disappointing, for Jimmy Gressier and Agathe Guillemot, who came for much better.
“When we make a finalist, fourth or get on the podium, every day that follows, each training session will be done with this intensity and this different vision of who they are. This is where we will start to learn this winner’s morale,” insisted Jean Galfione, director of high performance.
Jimmy Gressier, a harvest not up to expectations
The French leader announced it loud and clear: he was coming to English soil to win his first European track medal. Or rather his first achievements, because the Northerner was aiming for the 5,000 and 10,000 m double. But after his 4th place in the 5,000 m on Monday, because of "a tactical error", Jimmy Gressier settled for bronze in the 10,000 m. The Boulonnais went to get it, in a sprint, to save his season.
Far from being ridiculous, this assessment illustrates a year of ups and downs full of changes for Jimmy Gressier, who left Paris for Boulogne. Nothing worrying but adjustments may be necessary in the future for the Frenchman to regain his 2025 level.
The French march finally converts
At each championship, the French walkers kept getting closer to the podium, without succeeding in following in the footsteps of Yohann Diniz. It is now done with the bronze medal of Aurélien Quinion, in bronze at the end of the suspense in the marathon walk.
In the half-marathon walk, Pauline Stey came very close to winning the first French women's walking medal. With the 6th place of Ana Delahaie, and the 7th place of Clémence Beretta, in the half-marathon, as well as the 8th place of Camille Moutard, the French women's walking team stands out with as many finalist places as entries.
The reward for perseverance for Muhammad Abdallah Kounta and Laëticia Bapté
Will their examples serve as a source of inspiration for all those who accumulate selections for the French team without managing to return the medal around their neck? A pillar of the 4x400m relays for years and making full progress this season, Muhammad Abdallah Kounta won a superb silver medal in the 400m in his first major individual championship over this distance.
Another example of resilience: Laëticia Bapté, bronze medalist by two hundredths in the 100m hurdles. At 27, for her third outdoor European Championships, the Martinican won her first final in this competition and won her first career medal. She confirms the French tradition on the hurdles, just like Just Kwaou-Mathey, silver medalist in the 110m hurdles.
Pitchers in difficulty
If the observation is not new, it will have been particularly clear in Birmingham. The French launchers have largely made it through. The leader of this athletics family, Yann Chaussinand arrived with the best European performance of the season in the hammer throw. And he was one of the French delegation's biggest medal chances. However, after laborious qualifications, the Clermontois passed through his final like a ghost. Wanting to do too much, he sent his machine twice into the cage, before throwing it an insufficient distance to enter the top eight.
Others remained far too far from their level to reach a final: javelin thrower Felise Vahai Sosaia finished last in qualifications with a throw of 70.95 m, almost 12 m from his record. Same incomprehension on Rose Loga's side: the hammer thrower was unable to explain her failure with a throw of 63.80 m, compared to more than 75 m this season.
As for the eldest of the Blues, Mélina Robert-Michon once again reached the final of the discus throw but remained far too far from her standards (9th at 60.58 m). His male counterpart, Lolasson Djouhan, finally had the satisfaction of qualifying for his first final of a major championship, after his 7th qualifying session in major championships. But once in the final, he failed to raise his level to play with the best.
