France closes European Athletics Championships with two bronze medals in Birmingham
Hilary Kpatcha and Baptiste Thiery earned bronze in long jump and pole vault on Sunday 16 August, bringing France's tally to 11 medals at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, with no gold titles.
Kpatcha breaks through in long jump
Hilary Kpatcha won France's 10th medal of the championships with a 6.98m jump on her second attempt in the women's long jump final, held on Sunday 16 August in Birmingham. The 28-year-old finished behind Italy's Larissa Iapichino, who took gold with 7.00m, and Britain's Jazmin Sawyers, who claimed silver with 6.99m. The competition was unusually tight, with five athletes clearing 6.90m. Kpatcha's mark came close to her personal best of 7.02m and was achieved with a wind reading of 2.5 m/s.
The bronze is Kpatcha's first senior international medal. She had finished 4th at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo and placed 11th at the 2024 Olympics with 6.56m, after which she left her training group in Toulouse without a plan for the future. A former European U20 champion in 2019, she had been hampered by injuries in the intervening years. Her medal is the first for a Frenchwoman in long jump at the European Championships since Eloyse Lesueur in 2014.
- Larissa Iapichino (ITA)
- 7 m
- Jazmin Sawyers (GBR)
- 6.99 m
- Hilary Kpatcha (FRA)
- 6.98 m
Thiery rises to pole vault bronze
Baptiste Thiery delivered France's 11th podium by taking bronze in the men's pole vault. The 25-year-old cleared 5.55m, 5.70m and 5.85m, all on his first attempts, before failing at 5.95m, a height two centimetres above his personal best. The competition was won by Sweden's Armand "Mondo" Duplantis with 6.15m, securing his fourth European title. Greece's Emmanouil Karalis took silver with 6.00m.
- Armand Duplantis (SWE)
- 6.15 m
- Emmanouil Karalis (GRE)
- 6 m
- Baptiste Thiery (FRA)
- 5.85 m
- Mathieu Collet (FRA)
- 5.7 m
Thiery's bronze is also his first senior continental medal. His brother Thibault watched from the stands. The other French finalist, Mathieu Collet, finished 4th after clearing 5.70m on his first attempt.
French campaign ends without a title
France's delegation closed the championships with 11 medals in total. One article specifies the breakdown as 3 silver and 6 bronze, with no gold titles, though that tally sums to 9 rather than 11, suggesting the count may not include the final two bronzes. No French athlete topped a podium in Birmingham.
The other Frenchwoman in the long jump final, Yanis Esmeralda David, was forced to withdraw after a single jump. The 28-year-old left the stadium limping, having carried a muscle injury for several days prior to the competition.
