Athletics: European Championships Recap

The European Athletics Championships in Birmingham have come to a close, bringing an end to a three-week stretch of championships that began with the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and continued with the World U20s in Eugene.

The championships highlighted the drawbacks of the "off year," where the best talent is divided across different meets, resulting in only a few truly titanic showdowns. However, the Euros did produce some impressive performances, including Andreas Almgren's dominant 10,000m victory.

## Andreas Almgren's Historic 10,000m Victory

Andreas Almgren's win in the men's 10,000m final was notable for its dominance. After a slow opening kilometer, Almgren decided to hammer the rest of the race, breaking the chasers at 7k and running the final 3,000m solo. His time of 27:23.44 broke the oldest championship record on the books, and his 19-second margin of victory was the largest since 1990.

Almgren's performance was all the more impressive given his background as a middle-distance runner. He has the fastest 800m pb in the field and was a World U20 medalist at 800m in 2014. However, a series of injuries in the middle of his career caused him to overhaul his approach and adopt double threshold training.

## Mark English's First Irish Men's Gold

In addition to Almgren's historic victory, the Euros also saw Mark English become the first Irishman to win individual gold in any event in the 92-year history of the championships. English's gold in the 800m was a long time coming, having earned bronze in his first Euros all the way back in 2014.

English's career has been rejuvenated since switching to coach Justin Rinaldi after the 2024 Olympics. He has dropped his pb from 1:44.51 to 1:42.97 over the last three years, making him the oldest man to win 800 gold at Euros, surpassing Russia's Yuriy Borzakovskiy (31 in 2012).

## Rivalry Reignited

The Euros also saw the reignition of a rivalry between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr. Ingebrigtsen criticized Kerr for not competing at the Euros, saying that it was "ruining the sport" if athletes chose not to participate in championships. However, Kerr had already competed at the Commonwealth Games earlier this month and was focusing on his world record attempt in London and Commonwealths in his home nation of Scotland.

The championships have come to a close, but the performances of Almgren, English, and Ingebrigtsen are sure to be remembered for a long time.

### Winners of Men's Track Events at NCAAs, USAs, and Europeans

| Event | NCAAs | USAs | Europeans | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 100m | | | | | 200m | | | | | 400m | | | | | 800m | | | | | 1500m | | | | | 5000m | | | | | 10,000m | | | Andreas Almgren (27:23.44) |

### Winners of Women's Track Events at NCAAs, USAs, and Europeans

| Event | NCAAs | USAs | Europeans | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 100m | | | | | 200m | | | | | 400m | | | | | 800m | | | | | 1500m | | | | | 5000m | | | | | 10,000m | | | |

### Largest Winning Margins in Men's 10,000m Finals Since 2000

| Year | Margin | Winner | Time | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2002 | 46.50 seconds | Paula Radcliffe | 30:01.09 | | 2017 | 46.37 seconds | Almaz Ayana | 29:17.45 | | 1990 | 22 seconds | Salvatore Antibo | 27:43.55 | | 2026 | 19.23 seconds | Andreas Almgren | 27:23.44 |

### Fastest 800m Times After 30th Birthday

| Time | Athlete | Age | | --- | --- | --- | | 1:42.55 | Peter Bol | 30 | | 1:42.97 | Mark English | 33 |