The outdoor track season is veering into view again and the first big fixture on the European Athletics calendar is the 2026 European 10,000m Cup which takes place in the Italian town of La Spezia on 23 May.
This will be the fourth time that Italy has held the European 10,000m Cup, an event which was added to the European Athletics calendar back in 1997 until its initial alias of the European 10,000 Metres Challenge. The last time the event came to Italian soil was in 2015 when the hosts won team gold in the men’s race in Cagliari.
The Italian ranks on the men’s side could be fortified considerably by the selection of Yemaneberhan Crippa and Iliass Aouani, both of whom have expressed their intentions to compete.
Both Crippa and Aouani have excelled at the marathon this spring. Crippa won the Paris Marathon in early April in 2:05:18 - the first win of his marathon career thus far - while Aouani smashed the Italian marathon record with a 2:04:26 clocking in the Tokyo Marathon, the same city in which he won bronze at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Crippa has a particularly distinguished record at the European 10,000m Cup. He won the individual title in both 2019 and 2023, also leading Italy to team gold in 2019. Can he kick to his third European 10,000m Cup victory next month?
The European 10,000m Cup is also a key fixture with qualifying times and ranking points on offer on the road to the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships from 10-16 August. The qualifying times for Birmingham 2026 are 27:50 and 32:00 for men and women respectively.
What happened last year?
At the last edition of the European 10,000m Cup in Pacé last May, Jana Van Lent made event history by becoming the first Belgian winner of an individual title.
Van Lent took the plaudits in 31:32.28 and with Chloe Herbiet and Hanne Verbruggen finishing third (31:54.06) and tenth (32:35.78) respectively, Van Lent also led Belgium to the team title, a feat which they would repeat at the end of the year at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa.
Efrem Gidey also achieved a notable first for Ireland as he took victory in the men’s race in 27:40.47. Gidey made a decisive break on the penultimate lap to turn the tables on France’s Valentin Gondouin who outsprinted Gidey for bronze in the half marathon just six weeks prior at the 2025 European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven.
And despite the absence of world champion-in-waiting Jimmy Gressier and European 10km record-holder Yann Schrub, Gondouin led France to team gold on home soil for the third time in four editions.
A brief history of the European 10,000m Cup
1997
At the first ever European 10,000m Cup in Barakaldo, Julia Vaquero took a commanding victory on home soil in the women’s 10,000m in 31:14.51 while Germany’s 1992 Olympic 5000m champion Dieter Baumann won the men’s title in 27:21.53.
1998
The enduring championship record of 27:14.44 was set at the 1998 European 10,000m Cup by Spain’s Fabian Roncero who defeated Portugal’s Antonio Pinto on home soil in Lisbon.
However, Portuguese heroine Fernanda Ribeiro was a popular winner of the women’s race. The 1996 Olympic 10,000m champion won in 30:48.06, outsprinting Paula Radcliffe in what would be a familiar theme at major championships over the next three seasons.
1999
Radcliffe would take individual victory one year later in Barakaldo in a championship record of 30:40.70, winning by almost one minute from Germany’s Irina Mikitenko in 31:38.68.
Alberto Garcia won the men’s race in 27:46.12, leading a Spanish clean sweep of the podium and the team title with it.
2006
Türkiye’s Elvan Abeylegesse lapped the entire field on home soil at the 2006 European 10,000m Cup in Antalya. Her championship record of 30:21.67 remains untouched some two decades later.
2010
Mo Farah took his one and only victory at the European 10,000m Cup in Marseille in 2010. He won in 27:28.86 by more than 40 seconds. Portugal’s Ines Monteiro won the women’s race in 31:13.58.
2019
Twinned with the Night of the 10,000m PBs in Highgate in north London, Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa kicked to his first of two titles in the men’s race in 27:49.79 and led Italy to team gold.
But in one of the quirks of the event, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter retained her title in the women’s race despite finishing second to Great Britain’s Stephanie Twell - 31:08.13 to 31:15.78 - who wasn’t running as part of the British team.
2022
In his only appearance at the European 10,000m Cup so far, Jimmy Gressier ran away with the title in 2022 on home soil in Pacé. Gressier won in 27:24.51 by almost half-a-minute from Spain’s Carlos Mayo in 27:53.12 and also led France to the team title.
Türkiye’s Yasemin Can also dominated the women’s race in 31:20.18. She won the individual title ahead of Alina Reh and Katharina Steinruck who led Germany to the team title.
Photo credit: Commune della Spezia