European Athletics Championships Day 1 Preview: Ingebrigtsen Returns, Schilder and Fabbri Chase Gold
The 2026 European Athletics Championships get underway in Birmingham on Monday, August 10, with a packed opening day featuring three individual finals and the mixed 4x400m relay final, while the women’s 100m title will also be decided at the end of the evening.
The morning session will begin at 10:35 with qualification in the women’s shot put, followed by the opening rounds of the men’s 800m, women’s 100m, men’s 400m and women’s 400m hurdles, alongside qualification in the men’s hammer throw, long jump and shot put.
Attention will then turn to the evening programme, where Jessica Schilder will chase a third consecutive European women’s shot put title, Leonardo Fabbri will defend his men’s crown and Jakob Ingebrigtsen will make his long-awaited return to competition in a star-studded men’s 5000m final. The mixed 4x400m relay and women’s 100m will provide the final two medal races of the opening night.
Men’s 800m – Round 1
The men’s 800m gets underway with the first round at 10:45 and brings together several athletes capable of challenging for medals later in the championships.
Ireland’s Mark English enters Birmingham after an excellent season that included a 1:43.85 Diamond League victory in Keqiao and a personal best of 1:42.97 in London. The two-time European bronze medallist will be looking to put himself in contention for another continental podium.
Great Britain also brings major strength through Max Burgin and Ben Pattison. Burgin, eighth in the Olympic final in Paris and sixth at the 2025 World Championships, produced one of the biggest performances of his career when he beat Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in 1:42.98 at the Rabat Diamond League. Pattison, the 2023 world bronze medallist, has a 1:42.27 personal best and ran a season’s best of 1:43.70 in Stockholm.
Spain’s Mohammed Attaoui, the European record holder indoors over 1000m and world indoor 800m bronze medallist, is another major name to watch, while Italy’s Francesco Pernici arrives after breaking Marcello Fiasconaro’s long-standing Italian record with 1:43.60. Norway’s Tobias Grønstad has also moved into medal contention after improving to 1:43.61.
Women’s 100m – Round 1, Semi-Finals and Final
The women’s 100m will be one of the busiest events of Day 1, with athletes progressing from the opening round at 11:25 to the semi-finals at 20:10 before the European champion is crowned at 21:50.
Home hopes will be led by Amy Hunt, who won the British title in Birmingham in 11.01 and has broken the 11-second barrier twice this season. Hunt clocked a personal best of 10.97 in Stockholm before taking silver at the Commonwealth Games in 10.98.
Dina Asher-Smith returns as the defending champion after winning the European title in Rome in 10.99. The former world 200m champion will attempt to add another European medal in front of the British crowd, while Daryll Neita adds further depth to the home challenge.
Switzerland’s Geraldine Frey Di Tizio arrives with the European seasonal lead after clocking 10.96, while Italy’s Zaynab Dosso brings the confidence of becoming world indoor 60m champion earlier this year. Poland’s Ewa Swoboda, the European silver medallist from Rome, has also run 10.98 this season, setting up what could be a wide-open battle for the first major sprint title of the championships.
Men’s 400m – Round 1
European record holder Matthew Hudson-Smith will be one of the headline British athletes beginning his campaign in the opening round of the men’s 400m at 11:55.
The Olympic silver medallist has consistently run in the low-44-second range this season and won the British title in Birmingham in 44.45. He will face a rapidly improving European field that includes France’s Samuel Vessat, who broke the French record with 44.24 in July, and Hungarian star Attila Molnar, who lowered his national record to 44.47 in Monaco.
Germany’s Jean Paul Bredau, Belgium’s Daniel Segers and Italy’s Edoardo Scotti are among the other athletes looking to establish themselves as medal contenders during Monday’s opening round.
Women’s 400m Hurdles – Round 1
The women’s 400m hurdles begins at 12:35 with Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalova carrying outstanding form into Birmingham.
Zapletalova has won four Diamond League races this season and produced a Slovakian record and world-leading 52.30 in Doha. The 2025 world bronze medallist therefore enters the championships as one of the clearest favourites for gold.
British hopes include Commonwealth silver medallist Emily Newnham, while Belgium’s Paulien Couckuyt, France’s Louise Maraval, Norway’s Amalie Iuel and Italy’s Ayomide Folorunso are among the other leading European contenders.
Women’s Shot Put Final – Schilder Targets European Hat-Trick
The first gold medal of the evening session will be awarded in the women’s shot put at 19:03, following qualification in the morning.
Jessica Schilder enters as the athlete to beat as she targets a remarkable third consecutive European outdoor title after victories in Munich 2022 and Rome 2024.
The Dutch star has since added the world title, winning in Tokyo with 20.29m, and has moved to another level in 2026. Schilder threw a Dutch record and world-leading 21.09m in Keqiao before producing 20.89m to win in Stockholm.
Her compatriot Jorinde van Klinken, the European silver medallist in Rome, provides another Dutch medal threat. Olympic champion Yemisi Mabry of Germany is also among Schilder’s biggest challengers after throwing a season’s best of 19.93m in Paris, while Sweden will look to Axelina Johansson and Fanny Roos.
Women’s 100m Hurdles – Round 1
Nadine Visser begins her bid for the women’s 100m hurdles title at 19:35 after putting together one of the strongest seasons of any European hurdler.
The Dutch athlete, world indoor silver medallist earlier this year, has run as fast as 12.41 outdoors and recorded several podium finishes on the Diamond League circuit.
Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska, the 2022 European champion and 2024 bronze medallist, has run 12.44 this season, while world champion Ditaji Kambundji remains one of the most accomplished athletes in the field. France’s Sasha Alessandrini, Hungary’s Luca Kozak and Italian youngster Celeste Polzonetti add further depth to the event.
Women’s Triple Jump – Qualification
The women’s triple jump qualification begins at 19:55 with Romania’s Diana Ana Maria Ion leading the European seasonal list at 14.56m.
Belgium’s Ilona Masson has improved to 14.52m, while Italy brings two strong contenders in Dariya Derkach and Erika Saraceni. Derkach has jumped 14.51m this season, while Saraceni improved to 14.41m to win her second consecutive Italian outdoor title.
Former world long jump champion Ivana Spanovic has also turned her attention to the triple jump and owns a 14.41m personal best.
Men’s Shot Put Final – Fabbri Defends His Crown
Leonardo Fabbri will attempt to defend his European shot put title when the men’s final gets underway at 20:33.
The Italian won gold on home soil in Rome two years ago with 22.45m and has been dominant during the 2026 outdoor season, winning 10 of his first 12 competitions. His campaign has included Diamond League victories in Rome and Eugene, where he produced a world-leading 22.74m. He also won the Italian title in Florence with 22.43m.
Fabbri will lead a deep Italian squad that also features training partner Zane Weir, Nick Ponzio and Riccardo Ferrara. Weir sits second on the European seasonal list with 21.42m, while Sweden’s Wictor Pettersson has reached 21.38m this year.
With qualification taking place at 12:40 and the final only hours later, the leading throwers will need to navigate a demanding opening day before fighting for medals in the evening.
Men’s 5000m Final – Ingebrigtsen Returns Against Almgren, Gressier and Lobalu
One of the most anticipated races of the entire opening day comes at 20:40, when Jakob Ingebrigtsen makes his seasonal debut in the men’s 5000m.
The Norwegian returns to competition following Achilles tendon surgery and will race only the 5000m in Birmingham. Ingebrigtsen has dominated the distance at recent European Championships, completing the 1500m-5000m double in Berlin 2018, Munich 2022 and Rome 2024. He is also the reigning Olympic 5000m champion.
His return, however, comes against an exceptionally strong field.
Sweden’s Andreas Almgren owns the European 5000m record of 12:44.27 and has already run 12:48.61 in Oslo and 12:55.38 in Paris this season.
France’s Jimmy Gressier arrives as the reigning world 10,000m champion and world 5000m bronze medallist, while Switzerland’s Dominic Lobalu has already won a Diamond League 5000m in Monaco this season in 12:52.54. Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli, the world 5000m silver medallist, adds another major championship threat.
Ingebrigtsen's fitness after his layoff will provide one of the biggest questions of Day 1. If the Norwegian immediately returns close to his best, the tactical battle between his finishing speed and the strength of Almgren, Gressier, Lobalu and Kimeli could produce one of the highlights of the championships.
Women’s 3000m Steeplechase – Round 1
Defending champion Alice Finot begins her title defence in the women’s 3000m steeplechase heats at 21:00.
The French athlete won the European title in Rome before finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics with a personal best of 8:58.67.
Great Britain’s Elise Thorner has emerged as another major contender after running 9:05.45 to take Commonwealth silver, while Germany’s experienced Gesa Felicitas Krause has returned to strong form with a season’s best of 9:07.50. Krause is already a two-time European champion and two-time world bronze medallist.
Germany’s Lea Meyer and Finland’s Ilona Mononen are also among the athletes looking to secure comfortable passage into the final.
Mixed 4x400m Relay Final
The first track gold medal of the championships will be decided in the mixed 4x400m relay at 21:40.
With no preliminary round listed on the Day 1 programme, the event goes directly to the medal race and should provide an early indication of the relative strength of Europe's leading 400m nations.
The mixed relay has become an increasingly important championship event, with team selection and running order often proving as decisive as individual speed. With several countries possessing world-class men’s and women’s 400m runners, the race should provide a dramatic conclusion to the relay programme on opening night.
Women’s 100m Final Closes Day 1
Just ten minutes after the mixed relay, the focus will return to the straight for the women’s 100m final at 21:50.
Whoever reaches the final will already have negotiated two races during the day, making recovery and execution particularly important. Hunt will have the opportunity to challenge for a European title in front of a home crowd, while defending champion Asher-Smith will be attempting to extend her remarkable European Championships record.
Frey Di Tizio's 10.96 European lead, Hunt's 10.97 personal best and Swoboda's 10.98 season's best underline just how closely matched the leading contenders appear entering Birmingham. Dosso's championship pedigree and indoor speed add another dimension to a final that could be decided by hundredths of a second.
The women’s 100m will therefore provide a fitting finish to a loaded first day in Birmingham, following an evening that could already see Schilder and Fabbri successfully defend European titles and Ingebrigtsen complete a remarkable comeback with another continental 5000m crown.
