Ewa Swoboda is in the mix as the European Athletics Championships begin at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, the first time the event has been staged in Great Britain. The six-day championships run from 10-16 August, with Great Britain trying to finish top of the medals table at home for the first time in the championships' 92-year history.
Great Britain has named 94 athletes for the championships, which bring together competitors from 49 nations for 50 gold medals. The mixed 4x100m relay is being contested for the first time, adding one more medal race to a programme already carrying 10 world champions and seven Olympic champions.
Dina Asher-Smith and Rome 2024
Dina Asher-Smith is among the names carrying British hopes after winning gold in the 100m at Rome 2024. She has six European golds and two silvers from four championships, leaving her within reach of the record haul of seven golds held by Sandra Elkasevic and the broader all-time mark associated with Irena Szewinska's 10 medals from 1966-1978.
Keely Hodgkinson also arrives as a defending champion after winning gold in the 800m at Rome 2024. Great Britain also took gold there in the women's half marathon and women's 4x100m relay, but still finished third in the medal table behind Italy, which won 11 golds and 24 medals overall, and France, which took four golds and 16 medals overall.
coverage across platforms
The will show the championships across One, Two and iPlayer, with Radio 5 Live also carrying coverage. Sport will add coverage through its website, app and social media channels, including YouTube, giving viewers and listeners multiple ways to follow the same programme during the week.
Great Britain has topped the medal table in Brussels in 1950, Budapest in 1998, Zurich in 2014, Berlin in 2018 and Munich in 2022, but not on home soil. The chance to change that record now runs alongside the new relay event and a field that also includes European champions such as Armand Duplantis, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Miltiadis Tentoglou, Marcell Jacobs, Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Sandra Elkasevic and Femke Broeders-Bol.
The open question is whether Great Britain can turn home advantage into a first-place finish before 16 August. The medals table will answer that in Birmingham, with Swoboda and the rest of the field already into the first races.
