Katerina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain waited on the track as a drone crashed into a hurdle during the women’s heptathlon 100m hurdles at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. Officials delayed the start while they cleared debris from the track, then sent the heptathletes forward once the lane was safe.
The incident came on Day 5, when the hurdles were set to open the morning session. Johnson-Thompson was among the athletes affected, and the disruption lasted only long enough for the damaged equipment and scattered pieces to be removed before racing resumed.
Birmingham morning session
The drone was being used to cover the race and struck the hurdle during a difficult maneuver. That left debris across the track at the exact moment the opening event was due to begin, turning a routine start into a brief stoppage before any athlete could leave the line.
Johnson-Thompson later clocked a season-best time in the 14 seconds to finish fifth in the hurdles. She moved into 10th overall with 1,994 points, a position that kept her in range of the standings as the heptathlon continued through the rest of the session.
Great Britain and Poland
Poland’s Adrianna Sulek-Schubert led after the morning session with 2,135 points, while Ireland’s Kate O’Connor sat one point back with 2,134 points. Their positions set the pace at the top of the heptathlon after the opening block of events in Birmingham.
The interruption also sat alongside a fuller championship schedule: Audrey Werro and Keely Hodgkinson advanced to Friday’s 800m final, and the final will feature 10 athletes after a successful protest and video review reinstated Audrey Werro and Gabija Galvydyte. The race delay therefore landed inside an already moving championship day, not before the event had started but after the morning session was under way.
European Athletics Championships and the 800m
For Johnson-Thompson, the immediate effect was a pause, a cleared track, and then a return to competition. For the championships, the next step is Friday’s afternoon session at 2 p.m. ET, where the heptathlon and the wider schedule continue after the drone incident has already been absorbed into the morning’s results.
