M. Tentoglou is once more the king of the long jump. After a 2025 season plagued by injuries, he is back in great shape and proved this in Birmingham, winning his fourth continental title. The wind was a major perturbation for the jumpers, and I remember Tentoglou commenting that in his first jump, with a head wind, he was having trouble reaching the board. He qualified in third position, in an event that saw the exit of M. Furlani, who has not recovered from his injury, retiring after just one jump at 7.73 m. The final was a totally different affair (but not as far as the wind was concerned). Tentoglou opened with 8.27 m, but S. Ehammer riposted with 8.29 m (both jumps against a strong head wind). Then Tentoglou jumped 8.44 m on his fourth attempt, and that was that (he passed the remaining two, deeming that the opposite wind would preclude a good performance). The bronze medal went to B. Saraboyukov with 8.26 m on his last attempt.
The women’s event, both qualification and final, took place under a strong tail wind. M. Mihambo had the longest jump in the qualifiers with 7.10 m (+3.3 m/s wind), and A. de Sousa jumped 7.00 m under regular conditions. However, in the final, they both finished just outside the medals. L. Iapichino won with a single jump at 7.00 m, just 1 cm ahead of J. Sawyers, 2 cm ahead of H. Kpatcha, 4 cm ahead of de Sousa and 6 cm ahead of Mihambo. It was an incredibly interesting event, where the spectacle was won by Sawyers (a jumper I have been following over the years) and her blanket. Given the consistency of Sawyers (6.95, 6.96, 6.99, 6.92 and two marginal fouls over 7 m), she would have merited the gold medal. The women’s long jump was one more example of finalist replacement. A. Halberg Hossain was injured during the qualifiers and was replaced in the final by F. Fotopoulou, who profited to grab 8th place.
A. Díaz Hernández and P. Pichardo were the only ones over 17 m in the men’s triple jump qualifiers. In the final, the latter opened with 17.76 m, but Díaz riposted with 18.15 m, which places him fourth on the all-time best list, and backed this with a 17.78 m on his third attempt. And I must point out the 8th place of D. Tsiamis, who, at 44 years of age, reached a European final, in a discipline where he won bronze eight years ago.
The women’s triple jump saw two Italians dominate the qualifiers: E. Saraceni with 14.50 m and D. Derkach with 14.42 m. They were going to meet different lots in the final. Saraceni finished 12th with 13.48 m, while Derkach won with 14.60 m. But the real surprise came from a hitherto unknown athlete, S. Guisse. With 14.07 m, she jumped over 14 m for the first time in the qualifiers. And in the final (where all eight finishers jumped over 14 m, with the great I. Španović in 8th place), she showed her intentions with a 14.37 m on the third jump, that did not suffice for a medal, but a 14.46 m (+2.4 m/s wind) did suffice for silver. I will keep an eye open for her next year (despite her below-par performance in the Diamond League of Silesia). And I must say that I was impressed by the concentration of D. Derkach when she had already won the event and had one last jump. She was focused as if all depended on it, and only when it was over (she fouled it) did she allow herself to explode in joy.
G. Tamberi sits in 17th position on the all-time high jumpers’ list. But, for me, he is number one. He would have gone much higher than his 2.39 m personal best had he not had the injury he sustained in 2016. But he fought back and returned to win Olympic and World titles. He did not arrive in Birmingham as the favourite for the event. In fact, his 2.23 m at the qualifiers was his best season performance. But when it came to the final, he showed his unique class. He jumped successively 2.18, 2.23, 2.27 and 2.30 m, trailing Doroshchuk on count-back, but when the bar was raised to 2.32 m, he was the only one to go over, winning his fourth European title. The women’s high jump was a low-key event. A. Topić had some back problems and bowed out at 1.87 m. I. Gerashchenko could not go higher than 1.92 m, and the medals went to jumpers who could master 1.95 m or higher. M. Vuković won her first major medal, a bronze, losing silver on count-back to M. Zodzik. Y. Mahuchikh, clearly not in top shape, still managed to win, clearing 1.97 m.
A height of 5.60 m was enough to gain access to the men’s pole vault final, but was too high for T. Collet, E. Sasma and M. Vloon, who were expected to play some role there. The Collet family was not totally frustrated, since the younger brother, Mathieu, did manage to qualify and went on to finish 4th, just behind another frenchman, the talented B. Thierry, who obtained bronze with 5.85 m. S. Guttormsen had a below-par competition, failed twice at 5.85 m, gambled unsuccessfully with his last jump at 5.95 m and had to content himself with 6th place. As for the first two, well, by now the scenario is familiar. Both Karalis and Duplantis jumped 6 m. And when Duplantis jumped 6.10 m and 6.15 m, Karalis tried to go higher, but 6.20 m turned out to be too high for him. (Not for long. In the Zürich Diamond League, Duplantis, Karalis and Guttormsen staged the highest pole vault competition ever, with 6.25, 6.20 and 6.00 m respectively, the first two making three attempts at a would-be world record 6.32 m). The women’s pole vault was not of the same calibre as the men’s. (In fact, this is a remark that applies to this event at a global, world, level). A. Moser won with 4.80 m, ahead of W. Heltelä (Murto) with 4.75 m. M. J. Bonin had a so-so competition but managed to pass over 4.70 m on her second attempt, snatching bronze from her team-mate M. Chevrier, who could not go higher than 4.60 m. And I must, once more, share my admiration for K. Stefanidi, who came with a season best of 4.40 m and improved it twice, finishing sixth with 4.60 m. One could imagine that, having won everything, she would retire, devoting herself to her newborn son. But it is clear that she loves jumping, and so she is back, giving us another proof of her immense talent.
L. Fabbri won the men’s shot put easily with 22.31 m. In fact, all his valid throws would have sufficed for victory, Z. Weir, who placed second, having thrown just 21.12 m. The women’s event was dominated by J. Schilder, who had four valid throws over 20 m, culminating at 20.73 m. J. van Klinken obtained silver with a 19.64 m personal best, while Y. Mabry (Ogunleye) had to content herself with bronze at 19.50 m. And I must salute the arrival in the big girls’ league of N. Ndubuisi, who was 8th with 18.21 m. Germany had three finalists among the first eight (but only one medal).
The men’s discus throw was, for M. Alekna, a bis repetita (non) placent of the Olympics. He started by throwing a championships record 69.89 m, only to see K. Čeh surpass him first with 70.83 m and then 72.51 m (at just 10 cm from his personal best in Ramona, from April this year, one can only wonder what he can do if he returns to Throw Town in his present top shape). Van Klinken added discus gold to her shot silver with a first-attempt throw of 67.67 m. Only S. Craft could react to this, throwing 65.72 m for silver, with V. Kamga having to settle for bronze with 64.61 m. M. Robert-Michon was, at 47 years of age, making her eighth appearance at a European Championship. This time she finished 9th with a more than honourable 60.58 m. (Let’s point out that S. Elkasević (Perković), “listening to her body”, is taking a year off).
The men’s javelin throw (where T. Röhler was eliminated in the qualifiers) was a curious affair. J. Weber took command of the event with a throw of 83.71 m, and then his compatriot N. Thumm edged him by just 5 cm at the fifth attempt. One throw remained, and J. Weber (who has already performed a last-throw feat) unleashed a humongous 90.40 m, winning the competition with a championships record. And what was Thumm’s puerile riposte? He threw the javelin 5–6 metres and collapsed on the runway. I don’t understand: hasn’t anybody explained to him that an event is not over until everybody has thrown? Did he see himself already crowned European champion with a (let’s be fair, more than mediocre) 83 m performance? I have real trouble understanding such spoiled-brat behaviour.
The women’s javelin was, alas, as expected, a mediocre affair. E. Tzengko and A. Villagos managed to qualify, something that was denied to M. Andrejczyk, who could not do better than 55 m. The final was settled at the first throw, with S. Kolak winning with 62.43 m. Villagos could grab bronze with a 60.93 m throw, just behind J. Ulbricht (61.53 m). And please don’t ask me about Tzengko. I have a real difficulty understanding what is happening with Tzengko, who is undeniably talented but has not managed a single 60+ m throw in a year where she does not have a serious injury (she has reported a minor shoulder discomfort in May, but not something incapacitating). The first surprise in the men’s hammer throw was the elimination in the qualifiers of W. Nowicki. The second, perhaps bigger, was the 9th place of Y. Chaussinand, who had thrown a European-leading 82.44 m in June. B. Halász totally dominated the event, taking the lead from the first throw and culminating in a world-leading performance of 84.25 m at his fifth attempt. M. Hummel did not offer much in the form of resistance, but secured second place with his fifth throw at 81.30 m. It is interesting to remark that all eight finalists fouled their last, sixth, throw. S. Kosonen won her first title in the grown-ups category with a 76.28 m throw in the women’s hammer. A. Włodarczyk, the indisputably greatest hammer thrower ever, was present in Birmingham at 41 years of age, making the final, where she finished fourth, missing the medal by just half a metre.
Usually I devote a special article to the combined events. But this year I was somewhat disappointed by the decathlon, and so I decided to lump the combined together with the field events. The decathlon was won by L. Neugebauer. But for me that was a minor deception. All along the event he gave an impression of heaviness that was not present in previous years. And then came the scandal of the pole vault. When the bar was raised to 4.80 m, both Neugebauer and M. Gletty missed three times. Then they started pestering the judges, pretexting that the umbrellas next to the runway, agitated under the strong wind (true), had hindered their efforts (I am skeptical about this). In the end, the judges caved and allowed them a fourth try. Gletty missed, but Neugebauer passed and went on to jump 4.90 m (for an extra 61 points).
That, and his 54.31 m discus throw, secured his victory over N. Kaul. The latter showed from the outset that he was in good shape, threw 48.88 m in the discus and jumped 4.90 m in the pole vault. However, his only throw in the javelin was “just” 73.54 m, and that was not enough to close the gap with Neugebauer. In the end, despite a 4:20.70 by Kaul in the 1500 m, Neugebauer carried the event 8611 to 8573 (the “extra” 60 points did make the difference). S. Skotheim was third with 8433. I was expecting him to play a major role in the event but that was not to be. The surprise came from J. Tesselaar, who, in the absence of S. Roosen (injured just before the championship), represented the Netherlands in the best way, finishing fourth with a personal best of 8378. If he manages to improve the technical events, he will be among the decathlon stars in the years to come.
The women’s heptathlon was much more interesting than the decathlon. K. O’Connor, on an ever-ascending trajectory, was the favourite and did not disappoint. On the contrary, she managed to excel in all events, winning with 6751 points. (And in a windy competition, she was lucky with a 1.3 m/s tail wind in the hurdles and exactly 2 m/s in the long jump, meaning that her record can be homologated). E. Oosterwegel returned to the places of honour, finishing second with 6713 points, just ahead of S. Dokter, 6664 points. A major disappointment was the 7th place of Adrianna Sulek-Schubert, who was among those vying for a medal and then foundered with a 36 m javelin throw. N. Vidts was also not up to her usual level, finishing in 11th place. And if one reads the classification carefully, one finds in last position K. Johnson-Thompson with 5790 points. At 33 years of age, she is definitely past her prime, but I would have understood her participation if she had given the impression of enjoying it. Unfortunately, her demeanour throughout the event suggested quite the opposite.
All in all it was a nice championship. I just hope that the famous "Ultimate Championship", the last invention of Sir Sebastian, will be at least of equal quality.
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