After missing almost the entire 2025 summer season, Czechia’s world and European U20 400m champion Lurdes Gloria Manuel is turning her focus to a strong comeback in 2026, with the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships firmly in her sights.
The young sprinter appeared poised for a breakthrough at senior level after finishing fourth at both the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships and the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships, where she ran a brilliant final leg to earn Czechia 4x400m bronze.
But injury halted her progress, restricting her to just one low-key 100m race in May, as far as the summer season went.
She told the Czechia Athletics Federation website: “I have to admit that I cried a lot during the summer season, because I always run better outdoors. When I saw how I performed indoors this year, it made me even more upset that I couldn’t compete outside.
“But I still believe I have a lot ahead of me. Every athlete feels sad and angry when they get injured and can’t compete, but I told myself this isn’t my last season, and hopefully I’ll make up for it in the next one.”
Training with Bol and preparing in South Africa
Since February, Manuel has been coached by Laurent Meuwly, training alongside 400m indoor world record-holder Femke Bol and European indoor 400m champion Lieke Klaver.
She admits she came close to travelling to the World Athletics Championships before deciding to err on the side of caution. “Between July and August, I was already running faster things, which is why I believed I could make it to the World Championships. But a week before the Czechia Championships, my coach and I decided we would leave it and not take any risks,” she said.
Following a winter training camp in South Africa—where Czechia team-mates and 400m hurdles prospects Michal Rada and Nina Radová will join her—Manuel hopes to return to racing during the indoor season.
Still, next summer’s championships remain her primary target. “If everything goes well, I definitely want to show my best in Birmingham,” she says. “But I don’t have any ambitions yet regarding placing or times.”