European Athletics Championships in Birmingham - Day 2 (11-08-2026)

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Only eight years ago, what would I have thought if they had told me that one day I would leave the stadium feeling sad after an evening in which we had won a gold and a bronze? In 2018, in stadia events, we had won two bronzes in total. Now, after two days, we are up to four medals, including two golds: a tally that for a long time we would have considered at least acceptable for an entire European Championships (and excellent if referring only to stadia events). Today, instead, the disappointment over Jacobs outweighs the satisfaction for Nadia Battocletti’s victory, which we had taken for granted.

The 5000 had been a very tactical race for the first 3 km, run in almost 10 minutes, then Nadia took the initiative for 300 metres and thinned the field out a bit, but then slowed and the group came back together. With 3 laps to go, Dotker made a move and half the group was dropped, but the three Italians stayed with the leaders. At the start of the last lap there were still at least eight of them all close together; when they reached the straight in front of me, Battocletti was still fourth: I had just enough time to wonder whether she was really in control when, 250 metres from the finish, she went and left everyone standing. On the final straight someone who looked to me like Micol Majori moved up to third, but until I read it on the scoreboard I couldn’t believe it. Let’s remember that in other times she would have risked not even being selected.

 

 

Jacobs had won his semi-final with monstrous ease, despite not getting off to the best start: 10.08, the fastest time of the round, easing up at the end. Gold really seemed a formality. Instead, this time he started badly and after halfway he was still behind, until he stopped. I would later read that he had been injured in the warm-up. The British athlete Glave won clearly; 10.19 was enough for third (with the 10.08 with which Tortu finished fifth in 2018, one would have won silver), Ali sixth.

But let’s start from the beginning. In the morning, I arrived by shuttle. This time there were a few people taking it, but certainly not the kind of queue that would justify the zigzag barriers they made us go through. There was also a small queue at security, 3–4 people: I lost a bit of time because the person in front of me had a sewing kit confiscated. My seat was in the same block and row as yesterday, but there were plenty of empty seats anyway: I moved to the row behind. There were not that many fewer spectators than yesterday (they would not announce the number), and in any case not very few for a morning session. Near me there was a group of Swedes; in the bend you could see many Finns, as well as the usual Irish fans.

The men’s discus and high jump qualifications had just begun. In the former, the two Italians had already thrown (badly). In the second round, Musci threw close to 60 metres (58.35) and seemed as happy as if he had qualified. Also in the second round, Stahl seemed to qualify, but when I saw him again for his third attempt I realised the previous one had been a foul. No automatic qualifiers in the first group; there would be two in the second. The Italians were far off. In the high jump, Stronati and Falocchi cleared 2.10, while Tamberi and Sioli passed. At 2.15, Tamberi (with difficulty), Stronati and Sioli cleared it at the first attempt, Falocchi at the third. At 2.19, however, they all cleared it at the first attempt, Sioli by a huge margin. After much of the second round of attempts, fewer than 12 had cleared it, so for a while it seemed that 2.19 might be the final height (2.23 and 2.26 were still scheduled), but then 16 remained, though for Tamberi, Stronati and Sioni it seemed done. They went to 2.23 and 10 cleared it, including Tamberi and Sioli at the second attempt, while Stronati and Falocchi also advanced as non-automatic qualifiers. Only 2 finished without any misses, both British, but the crowd seemed much more excited for one of them, Clarke-Kahn.

 

 The first track event was the women’s 400m hurdles semi-finals. In the first, Folorunso went out hard and kept pushing more and more: she reached the straight with a huge lead, so much so that one wondered whether she would hold on. Only at the end did she slow a little, though it was not clear whether intentionally: she finished in 53.92, which would be the second-fastest time overall. The other Italians did badly. Then came the heats of the men’s 100m and 110m hurdles, all with a strong headwind (in the first 100m heat you could feel it even from my side) and with all the Italians eliminated. Things went better in the women’s 800m, with Coiro finishing second, not far behind Hodgkinson, and seeing the British athlete’s time, it was clear that hers had to be excellent too: in fact it was 1:57.56, breaking Dorio’s Italian record after 46 years! Bol really seemed to be strolling and then to make a slight acceleration at the end, winning her heat in 1:59.96. The session closed with the men’s 400m hurdles, with both Italians going through. I stopped to eat at one of the stadium kiosks (Chinese noodles), then went back by shuttle.

 

 

In the evening there were many more people than yesterday taking the shuttle, at the entrance, but especially at the kiosks, where there were queues everywhere: I thought about giving up, but then stopped again at the German one, which is quicker than the others. Inside the stadium, though, there was a little more of a crowd than yesterday, but not that much more: they would announce 16,200 people (compared with 13,600). Both in Berlin and in Rome, where they seemed very few in such large stadiums, there were actually more. I have just seen a BBC report on the low attendance: among the causes they mention ticket prices (but I see lots of empty seats even in the cheaper sections) and transport costs (but they talk about £25, whereas the shuttle costs 5). Next to me there was a group of Greeks; in my section you could also see Spaniards and Italians, around us the usual Finns, and towards the end there would also be Swiss and French fans.

I arrived in time for the start of the aforementioned 5000, while in the women’s pole vault qualification they were at 4.10 and in the men’s hammer they were on the first throw, with Halasz taking the lead by going beyond 80. In the pole vault, the three Italians cleared 4.10 and 4.25, but then went out at 4.40, with only Molinarolo giving the impression that she might be able to make it. At 4.40 many went out, including Svabikova, so much so that I wondered whether they would continue; instead, 15 remained and they went to 4.50, which stayed as the final height (4.55 had been planned) because only 7 cleared it: Sutej was also out. After the end of the 5000, I started following the hammer properly, where behind Halasz there were 4 athletes within 70 cm. While I was going to the toilet, I saw Kokhan move from fifth to second with 79.49, but I missed the 81.30 with which Germany’s Hummel moved back into second and, above all, Halasz’s 84.25. All sixth-round throws were fouls.

 The track events continued with the 100m hurdles semi-finals. Polzonetti found herself in the fastest one, the first, and finished fourth in 12.93: in the end she was out by 4/100, and in the third Kambundji passed with a slower time. Then came the semi-finals of the men’s 100m and 400m. In the first 100m semi-final there was someone who won by a mile: I cheered thinking it was Ali, but instead it was Glave (the British athletes are sometimes in white, sometimes in blue; Galve himself would change vest between the semi-final and the final). In the first 400m, Hudson-Smith seemed to be controlling things with great ease, even though he slowed at the end and finished second; in the second, Scotti went out hard and reached the straight clearly in the lead, but then faded and was caught: he was still third, but it was not enough for a non-automatic qualifying spot.

 There was, however, another field event in which we still had hopes, though fewer than on the eve: the men’s long jump. I had taken a seat towards the middle of the back straight thinking of this event and not knowing in which direction the runway would be set up: I could see the run-up and take-off well, less so the landing, and I couldn’t really get an idea of the distance. Not only did the perspective on the measuring bar make them all look extremely long (Tentoglu’s opening 8.27 looked well over 9 metres), but I struggled to understand which were the longest. It began straight away with Tentoglu 8.27, Saraboyukov 8.10, while Inzoli jumped 7.80, taking off early, with a -2 wind and leaning to the right (something he often tends to do), thus suggesting he had great potential. In the second round, Ehammer moved into the lead with 8.29 (to me the jump looked long, but not as long as Tentoglu’s), while Inzoli improved to 8.04, but I missed it. After the first 3 jumps, 7 remained, as the eighth had withdrawn: in the fourth, Tentoglu fired out 8.44, to the delight of my neighbours. In the fifth, nobody improved: Inzoli’s jump looked good, but it was a foul. I saw Baldé’s sixth jump and it didn’t seem exceptional, so I switched to following the 100m hurdles and did not watch the measurement: only when the Serbian Boskovic improved to 8.08 did I realise that Baldé had moved into third place with 8.18. Now the long jump was the only event still in progress, between the 100m hurdles and 100m finals. The Bulgarian took back the bronze with 8.26. Ehammer fouled, and Tentoglu, already assured of gold, passed.

 

 

As mentioned, there had also been the 100m hurdles final. They all remained very close; my impression was that Visser had won, but they took quite a while before announcing the first 4 positions: in the end they confirmed the Dutch athlete’s victory.

On the way out I decided to get myself a crêpe, and while waiting I managed to watch Battocletti’s medal ceremony. Naturally I sang the anthem, even though I was the only to do it. This time the queue for the shuttle filled the whole zigzag barrier area and even went beyond it, but it moved fairly quickly. And tomorrow there are two more medal chances with Folorunso and Fantini, and my beloved decathlon also begins.