European Athletics Championship 2026: Hunt Beats Adeleke and Asher-Smith to Win Women's 200m Gold - Live
Amy Hunt sprints to gold, a German collapses across the finish line to win the decathlon, and everyone agrees the steeplechase fall was a bummer - but hey, athletics is never boring.
In a race that had everyone on the edge of their seats - and reportedly 19,000 people in the stands - Amy Hunt delivered a superb performance to take the women's 200m gold in 22.19 seconds. Rhasidat Adeleke snuck in for silver with 22.28, while Dina Asher-Smith had to settle for bronze at 22.29. Hoenke (22.55) and Joseph (22.63) rounded out the top five, but let's be honest, they were just there to make the podium look crowded.
Earlier, the men's discus final saw Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia nail a championship record of 70.83m with his opening throw, making it look almost too easy. Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania took silver, and Henrik Janssen of Germany got bronze. Meanwhile, in the men's 800m, Mark English made history as the first man to win gold for the Republic of Ireland at a European Athletics Championships. Ben Pattison, who represented Great Britain, was 'gutted' after finishing fourth, saying, "I gave myself too much to do, and the legs weren't there. Just disappointed. Gutted." The final results: English 1:45.26, Bloudek 1:45.62, Attaoui 1:45.71 - but the favourite delivered a sensational run for victory.
In the women's 3,000m steeplechase, Gesa Krause took gold in 9:12.69, with Finot (9:14.24) and Gürth (9:15.33) taking silver and bronze. The race was marred by a fall from Germany's Lea Meyer, who tumbled into the water jump while in medal contention. Poor Lea - let's hope she isn't hurt. GB's Thorner, who faded to fourth, was having none of the excuses: "That had nothing to do with it. I tried to make a push with 600 to go, and I got gapped... Honestly, I loved being out there." She's a class act, that one.
And who could forget the men's decathlon? Leo Neugebauer, the Olympic silver medallist from Paris, collapsed over the line after a gut-wrenching 1,500m, securing the title with 8611 points. His compatriot Kaul took silver with 8573, and Skotheim got bronze with 8433. Neugebauer was flat on his back, arms raised, too knackered to get up - but he did it. As Andrew Cotter put it, "The vast majority of Leo Neugebauer is over the line." Close, but a win's a win.
Also worth a mention: Saliyya Guisse of Belgium produced three consecutive personal bests to grab silver in the women's triple jump, with Dariya Derkach leading for Italy at 14.53m. And Max Burgin pulled out of the men's 800m due to injury, which is never good news. But hey, at least the pole vault error didn't affect the final result - small mercies.
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