Audrey Werro on her way to winning the European 800m title (© Getty Images)
Audrey Werro delivered on the considerable expectations surrounding the women’s 800m at the European Championships in Birmingham, producing a championship record of 1:54.81 to defeat Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson on Friday (14).
Karsten Warholm also broke the championship record to claim his fourth successive 400m hurdles crown, while Gianmarco Tamberi won a fourth European high jump title and Nadia Battocletti completed her second consecutive European distance double.
But the eagerly anticipated 800m provided a fitting conclusion to the evening.
Werro’s place in the final had briefly been in doubt after she fell in her semifinal, eventually being reinstated after an appeal. Less than 24 hours later, the Swiss world leader showed why she had arrived in Birmingham as the woman to beat.
Hodgkinson initially moved to the front, but Werro soon took control and had the Briton on her shoulder for much of the race.
As Femke Broeders-Bol tracked them in third, Werro continued to dictate the pace before beginning to stretch away from Hodgkinson approaching the final 100 metres.
Hodgkinson attempted to respond down the home straight, but could make up only a small amount of ground as Werro powered to victory in 1:54.81, breaking a championship record that had stood since 1982.
Broeders-Bol’s challenge for the top two places faded over the final 150 metres, but she held on for bronze in 1:55.54, equalling the Dutch record set by Ellen van Langen when winning the 1992 Olympic title.
Warholm and Tamberi win fourth European titles
Karsten Warholm produced another commanding performance to win his fourth consecutive European 400m hurdles title.
The Norwegian took control early and was never seriously threatened, pulling further clear through the second half of the race before crossing the line in 46.63.
His winning time broke his own championship record and gave him victory by more than a second. Germany’s Emil Agyekum was the closest of his rivals, taking silver in 47.87.
Having first won the European title in Berlin in 2018, Warholm has now followed up with victories in Munich, Rome and Birmingham to extend his unbeaten run at the championships. It was also his second gold of the championships, having contributed to Norway’s mixed 4x400m victory earlier in the week.
Gianmarco Tamberi provided Italy with another golden moment by claiming his fourth European high jump title, 10 years after winning his first.
The Olympic and world champion had endured a difficult period since 2024 and had not cleared higher than 2.23m in either 2025 or 2026 before arriving in Birmingham, but he rediscovered some of his best form when it mattered most.
Tamberi and Ukraine’s Oleh Doroshchuk both cleared 2.30m, before the Italian went over a season’s best of 2.32m to take the title. Doroshchuk secured silver with 2.30m, while Tamberi’s compatriot Matteo Sioli took bronze with 2.27m.
Tamberi’s latest triumph added to the European titles he won in Amsterdam in 2016, Munich in 2022 and on home soil in Rome two years ago.
Italy had further cause for celebration as Battocletti added the 10,000m crown to the 5000m title she had won earlier in the week.
The Olympic and world medallist remained patient during the early stages before asserting herself in the closing laps. Once she moved clear, there was little her rivals could do to respond. Battocletti went on to win in 31:41.17, finishing more than four seconds ahead of the Netherlands’ Maureen Koster, who took silver in 31:45.76.
It completed a second successive 5000m-10,000m double for Battocletti, who had achieved the same feat at the European Championships in Rome in 2024.
Jorinde van Klinken turned years of European near misses into gold in the women’s discus.
The Dutch thrower had earned shot put bronze in 2022, silver in the discus and shot put in 2024, and added another shot put silver in Birmingham earlier in the week.
This time there was no one ahead of her. Van Klinken took control of the discus final with 67.67m and that mark held up to give her a first senior European title.
Elsewhere, Germany’s Owen Ansah claimed the final men’s sprint title of the championships with a wind-assisted 19.95 (2.5m/s) in the 200m. Britain’s Zharnel Hughes entered the straight in contention for victory, but Ansah powered past him during the closing stages to take gold. Hughes secured silver in 20.16.
