Jakob Ingebrigtsen wins the European 5000m title in Birmingham (© Getty Images)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen made a triumphant return to racing by successfully defending his 5000m title at the European Championships in Birmingham on Monday (10), while Amy Hunt delighted the home crowd by taking the 100m crown on the opening night of action.
Ingebrigtsen had not raced at all in 2026 following an achilles injury and surgery in February, but the two-time Olympic champion showed little sign of rust as he produced his trademark finishing kick to win in 13:15.29.
The Norwegian had also endured a disrupted 2025 season, with the World Championships in Tokyo – where he contested the 1500m and 5000m – his only outdoor competition of the year.
Despite that lengthy absence, he appeared content to bide his time in Birmingham. World 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier was prominent towards the front in the closing stages, with Germany’s Florian Bremm also moving into contention.
Ingebrigtsen remained within striking distance and, after briefly finding himself boxed in approaching the home straight, found the space he needed and accelerated past his rivals to secure a fourth consecutive European 5000m title.
Bremm came through strongly to take silver in 13:15.60, while Etienne Daguinos won an all-French battle for bronze, clocking 13:16.09 to finish ahead of Gressier.
“I doubted myself every day, and every minute leading up to the last lap,” said Ingebrigtsen. “But I’m always hoping. You can only do your best and only prepare as well as you think you can, and in the past couple of weeks I’ve managed to do that. I’ve been just on the limit of what I think my body can handle. Everything in the past three weeks has been pretty smooth; everything before that has been not so smooth. But I’m very happy to be back here and to win again.”
The victory extended Ingebrigtsen’s remarkable record at the championships. He had completed the 1500m and 5000m double at each of the previous three editions – Berlin in 2018, Munich in 2022 and Rome in 2024 – and his latest triumph took his tally to seven European outdoor titles. It was also his 17th European gold medal across track and cross country.
Just 45 minutes after Ingebrigtsen’s victory, Norway doubled their gold medal tally with a dramatic win in the mixed 4x400m.
Karsten Warholm got them off to a strong start with a 44.5 opening leg, but Lieke Klaver propelled the Netherlands into the lead on the second stage.
The Dutch maintained their advantage deep into the anchor leg, but Norway’s Henriette Jaeger and Britain’s Yemi Mary John began to close on Myrte van der Schoot around the final bend.
With all three teams battling for gold down the home straight, Jaeger proved strongest. She moved past John and Van der Schoot in the closing metres to bring Norway home in 3:09.62, breaking both the national record and championship record.
Great Britain took silver in 3:10.47, with the Netherlands securing bronze.
Hunt delivers home victory, Schilder and Fabbri dominate shot put
The evening then ended on a high for the hosts as Hunt held off a strong field to win the women’s 100m.
The world 200m silver medallist had underlined her form by winning her semifinal in 10.99, but she was made to work hard for gold in the final.
Hunt trailed her faster-starting rivals through the opening stages, with Poland’s Ewa Swoboda particularly prominent, but the Briton gathered momentum through the second half of the race.
She caught Swoboda in the closing metres and crossed the line in 11.00 to secure her first senior European title.
Swoboda was rewarded with silver in 11.02, while Belgium’s Delphine Nkansa took bronze in 11.06.
The two shot put finals followed a similar pattern, with the defending champions producing commanding victories and leading their respective nations to gold-and-silver finishes.
World champion Jessica Schilder dominated the women’s contest as the Netherlands repeated their one-two finish from Rome two years ago.
Schilder took control early and improved to 20.52m in the third round. None of her rivals came close to threatening her lead and all five of her valid throws would ultimately have been enough for victory.
She nevertheless saved her best for last, sending the shot out to 20.73m in the sixth round to complete a comprehensive title defence.
Her compatriot Jorinde van Klinken produced a PB of 19.64m to secure silver, while Germany’s Olympic champion Yemisi Mabry took bronze with 19.50m, meaning the podium featured the same three women in the same order as in Rome.
Leonardo Fabbri was similarly dominant in the men’s event.
The Italian moved ahead with 21.78m in the second round before extending his lead to 22.31m. That put him more than a metre clear of the rest of the field and proved comfortably sufficient for a second successive European title.
Zane Weir made it an Italian one-two with 21.12m, while Sweden’s Wictor Petersson claimed bronze with 20.97m.
