European Athletics Championships open in Birmingham with Hodgkinson chasing third 800m title against Werro

Hodgkinson chases third European title on home soil

The 27th European Athletics Championships will open at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium on Monday, the first time in the event's 92-year history that Britain has hosted. Seven days of competition will follow, with the women's 800m on Friday night shaping up as the headline race. Britain is targeting a possible 20 medals, an improvement on the 13 won in Rome in 2024, where Italy topped the table with 24 medals including 11 gold.

Keely Hodgkinson, the 24-year-old Olympic champion, will pursue a third consecutive European 800m title. Her 2026 season began brightly with a world indoor 800m record in March and her first outdoor world title, but the summer has been disrupted. She fell onto a metal grate in late June, cutting both knees, and competed with heavy bandaging at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, where she finished second to world champion Lilian Odira. A hamstring twinge then forced her withdrawal from the 400m final at the British Championships in June. She returned to winning ways at the London Diamond League last month.

Werro and Broeders-Bol raise the standard

Switzerland's Audrey Werro, 22, has become the outright favourite after running 1:53.98 at the Stockholm Diamond League in June, the fastest time since the outdoor world record was set 43 years ago, making her the third-fastest woman in the event's history. Werro has gone even faster since and has beaten Hodgkinson resoundingly twice. The world's four fastest women in 2026 will all compete in Birmingham. The field also includes Femke Broeders-Bol of the Netherlands, a two-time world 400m hurdles champion who has switched to the 800m this season and has run 1:55 this year.

Hodgkinson confirmed her knees have healed, leaving only scars, and said she still believes she is the best in the world over two laps.

I've got some fat scars but they're all fine. It was just a sticky one. I didn't miss any training or anything. It was more just a lot of pain and inflammation. I'm looking forward to putting that behind me.

She described the prospect of a home European title as nearly equal to her Olympic gold in Paris.

It would mean as much to me, almost, as winning in Paris.

Ireland sends largest-ever squad

Ireland's 46-strong team is its largest ever representation at the European Championships. According to the Birmingham organisers, 12 per cent of all tickets sold were registered to Irish addresses. The Irish Athletics Supporters Club has between 1,200 and 1,300 members travelling, depending on the source, compared with 74 from the same group in Rome in 2024. Ireland won four medals in Rome (two gold, two silver), a tally described as a realistic target again.

Rhasidat Adeleke, Kate O'Connor, Mark English and Sarah Healy headline the Irish team. English, 33, enters the men's 800m with the fastest time in Europe this year, 1:42.97 clocked at the London Diamond League last month. He will compete in Monday's morning heats alongside Cian McPhillips, 24, who ran 1:42.15 at the World Championships last September. The men's 800m final on Thursday evening could threaten the championship record of 1:43.84 set by Olaf Beyer of East Germany in 1978, with seven European men under that time this season.

Absences and opening events

Sharlene Mawdsley has withdrawn with a hamstring injury sustained a fortnight ago, a blow to the women's 4x400m relay squad, leaving Sophie Becker as Ireland's only representative in the individual 400m. Ciara Mageean, the European 1,500m champion from Rome, is also absent. The Irish mixed 4x400m relay team, which won gold in Rome two years ago, dropped to ninth in the European rankings and missed qualification. In the women's 100m on Monday, Amy Hunt is the favourite for gold, ahead of defending champion Dina Asher-Smith. Forecasts predict highs of 31 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday.