Sweden’s Andreas Almgren smashed the longest-standing championship record on the books with a 27:23.44 clocking to win the 10,000m title at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
And it all began with a dawdling opening kilometre of 3:16.93!
In summary
- Andreas Almgren breaks a championship record which had stood since 1978
- Almgren wins by almost 20 seconds from reigning champion Dominic Lobalu
- Jimmy Gressier wins a ferocious sprint for bronze
What began as a Sunday jog turned into a demolition job. Andreas Almgren delivered a front running demonstration per excellence, covering the second 5000m in a sizzling 13:17.74 to lap almost the entire field.
Only reigning world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier and the last two European 10,000m champions Dominic Lobalu and Yemaneberhan Crippa dared to follow Almgren but even this credentialed triumvirate were reduced to mere spectators.
After a painfully slow first three laps of 83.23, 75.56 and 78.12, Martti Vainio’s championship record of 27:30.99 from Prague 1978 looked safe for another two years but Almgren had other ideas, taking the initiative with a fourth lap of 65.25 before breaking the majority of the 25-man field over the course of the next 14 laps which Almgren covered in 63-64 seconds.
Crippa, Lobalu and Gressier were clinging on grimly in single file that order but Almgren's attritional game-plan eventually paid dividends. He broke this trio with subsequent laps of 63.07, 62.18 and 61.22. The gold medal was all but secured. But could he take down the longest standing championship record on the books?
With a performance which brought back memories of Paula Radcliffe's victory in the women's 10,000m at the 2002 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Almgren lapped a massive group who were contending for fifth-place and he even had Gressier and Crippa, who played a game of cat-and-mouse over the closing laps, almost in his sights on the long straights of the Alexander Stadium.
Almgren said he "felt like I was dying" in the last five laps and having lapped the sizeable group who were contending for the minor places, the Swede dropped his pace and ended up acting as an unofficial pacemaker for this group. Despite slowing to a 65.42 last lap, Almgren had the title sown up by a significant margin in 27:23.44 and he also took seven seconds off the longest-surviving championship record: 27:30.99 set by Vainio in 1978.
Incidentally, Vainio's compatriot Lasse Viren, the four-time Olympic champion from the 1970s, was among those watching proceedings in the Alexander Stadium where Almgren added another glorious chapter of Nordic distance running history.
Lobalu ran the last two kilometres in sheer isolation but he was still rewarded with a silver medal in 27:42.67, a big improvement on his seventh-place finish in the 5000m on the first day of the championships.
Gressier produced the same calibre of sprint finish he delivered to win the 10,000m title at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September although on this occasion, this was for a bronze medal and some 250 metres behind Almgren who was already draped in a Swedish flag at the finish-line.
After finishing fourth in the 5000m, Gressier covered the last 200 metres in a thunderous 25.6 to burn off Crippa for his first medal at the European Athletics Championships in 28:07.90 with Crippa, who has won gold medals at the last two editions of these championships, an unlucky fourth in 28:08.56.
What they said
Andreas Almgren (SWE)
"It was quite amazing, I really wanted to go for it today. There was such a good atmosphere around this whole stadium, so I thought I might as well go for it, for that record. I really needed that support, as during the last five laps, I felt like I was dying."
Dominic Lobalu (SUI)
"I obviously wanted to defend my title but Almgren was too strong. I couldn't hold that pace any longer. I am very happy for him, he always fights a lot and makes the races hard. The faster pace suited me. I wasn't sure how fast it would be but I was less confident of doing well if it was a slower race."
Jimmy Gressier (FRA)
"I am very happy for my first European medal today. To win I would need stronger legs. Andreas is just too strong and he had good tactics, so I am very happy with this medal.I guess he went from the front because he knew many of us were tired from the 5000m. So it was very tactical from him.
"This result is good redemption for Munich and Rome - I finished fourth in Munich and fifth in Rome - so now it is my first medal and I think it is a reason to celebrate it."