2026 is a European Athletics Championship year!
It will be the first European Athletics Championships since Berlin 2018 to not take place within the same year as a World Athletics Championships or Olympic Games.
It is also the first time in its 92-year-history that the continent’s biggest athletics event will be staged in Great Britain.
With record-breaking pre-sales and multiple Olympic, world and European champions set to compete in Birmingham on 10-16 August, it has all the characteristics of being a historic championships.
Olympic champion and pole vault world record holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, double world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands, Italy’s Olympic and world 10,000m silver medallist Nadia Battocletti, France’s world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier, Ukraine’s Olympic champion and high jump world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Germany’s world decathlon champion Leo Neugebauer are among the superstars targeting Birmingham 2026.
There will also be a keen domestic presence with Great Britain looking to the likes of Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, former world 1500m champion Josh Kerr, six-times European gold medallist Dina Asher-Smith and former world indoor pole vault champion Molly Caudery to thrill the home fans.
It is set to the be the highlight of a brilliant year for European athletics, which also includes:
European Athletics U18 Championships, Rieti, Italy, 16-19 July
The fifth edition of the European Athletics U18 Championships celebrates its 10th anniversary in Rieti, the Italian town rich in athletics history. Rieti is renowned for its record-breaking track, with several world records having been set at the intimate and atmospheric venue.
The event has quickly become established as an important stepping stone for some of Europe’s most talented athletes. For most it is their first experience of an international championships.
2024 Olympic champions Keely Hodgkinson and Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold in the women’s 800m and women’s high jump at Győr 2018 and Italy’s current world long jump champion Mattia Furlani won gold in both the men’s high jump and long jump at Jerusalem 2028.
Rieti 2026 is sure to see the first blossom of a new generation of superstars.
European Off-Road Running Championships, Ljubljana-Kamnik, Slovenia 5-7 June
The third edition of the European Off-Road Championships will take place in the stunning Kamnik–Savinja Alpine region in Slovenia.
With European athletes taking 23 of the 30 medals available at the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships and seven of ten possible gold medals, the continent dominates on the international scene.
With many world and defending European champions expected to return to Ljubljana-Kamnik 2026 - including double world and European mountain running champion Nina Engelhard of Germany – it is expected to be another brilliant spectacle.
Big throws and big performances at European Athletics events
The annual European Throwing Cup will return to Nicosia in Cyprus on 14-15 March, the European 10,000m Cup will take place in La Spezia, Italy on 23 May and the SPAR European Cross Country Championships will take place in Belgrade, Serbia on 13 December.
The 2025 European Throwing Cup saw three world leads from Sweden’s Vanessa Kamga (women’s discus), Finland’s Silja Kosonen (women’s hammer) and Serbia’s Adriana Vilagos (women’s javelin).
Last year’s European 10,000m Cup in Pacé, France saw Efrem Gidey and Jana van Lent record historic first-time event victories for Ireland and Belgium respectively. More excitement is guaranteed in competitions that are supporting and driving European development in these disciplines.
The SPAR European Cross Country Championships will, once again, be the annual climax of the international athletics year and could see Italy's Nadia Battocletti going for a third successive senior women's title.
Live streams via European Athletics
As well as all of the major European Athletics events streamed live via the Eurovision Sport platform, a rich programme of World Athletics Indoor Tour, World Athletics Continental Tour silver, bronze and challenger meetings will be streamed on European Athletics website and YouTube channel.
Plus expect a selection of other international meetings to be broadcast via European Athletics digital channels. Look out for details on which meetings will be covered early in 2026.
Global glory awaits
European athletes are also sure to be in the thick of the action in multiple global events in 2026. Three of which will take place on European soil. Watch out for European athletes competing at:
- World Cross Country Championships, Tallahassee, USA, 10 January
- World Athletics Indoor Championships, Torun, Poland, 20-22 March
- World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships, Brasilia, Brazil, 12 April
- World Athletics Relays, Gaborone, Botswana, 2-3 May
- World Athletics U20 Championships, Oregon, USA, 5-9 August
- World Athletics Ultimate Championships, Budapest, Hungary 11-13 September
- World Athletics Road Running Championships, Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-20 September