Switzerland’s Jason Joseph came roaring through the field to snatch gold in the men’s 110m hurdles at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships on Wednesday night, clocking a season’s best of 13.12 (-0.3m/s).
France’s Just Kwaou-Mathey took silver in 13.16, while long-time leader Jakub Szymanski of Poland had to settle for bronze in 13.26.
In summary
- Joseph adds the outdoor title to his European indoor gold from 2023
- Kwaou-Mathey upgrades his Munich 2022 bronze to silver
- World and European indoor champion Szymanski claims his first major outdoor medal
Indoor specialist Szymanski exploded from lane three and held his advantage through to the seventh hurdle, but Kwaou-Mathey and Joseph were closing fast.
By the penultimate barrier, the Frenchman and Swiss had swept past and were locked in a duel for gold.
Joseph’s trademark finishing speed proved decisive. He powered off the final hurdle and dipped for the line to take the title, improving on the bronze he won at Roma 2024 and adding outdoor European gold to the 60m hurdles title he claimed at the Istanbul 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
For Kwaou-Mathey, silver brought another major medal to add to his European bronze from Munich 2022, as well as bronze medals from the World Athletics Indoor Championships and two editions of the European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Szymanski, the reigning world and European indoor champion, held on for bronze and his first major medal outdoors.
British medal hope Samuel Bennett never really got into contention, and his challenge effectively disappeared when he clattered the third hurdle. He faded to seventh in 13.62.
In the semifinals earlier in the evening, Szymanski had impressed by winning heat 3 in 13.26 (-0.5m/s), with Bennett given the same time in second.
Belgian contender Elie Bacari saw his hopes disappear in dramatic fashion, crashing out at the seventh hurdle while leading heat 2.
What they said...
Jason Joseph: "I'm feeling great, feeling amazing. It was a tough race but I did what I had to do to win the gold so I'm super happy.
"I came here, managed my SB and was very close to a PB. It was a great night. My last couple of training sessions were really good, warm-up was great, so I knew all I had to do was what I had done in practice.
"I'm glad I was able to do that. It's been a pretty rocky road coming off that disappointing World Championships last year, where I wasn't too happy. It was a tough pill to swallow but I guess it was a lesson learned."
"Indoor practice (this season) was good and coming outdoors everything started to get really fast.
"I got a little injury in my hamstring a couple of weeks ago, so I tried to get fit and stay fit for European Championships. I think my coach did a great job to get that clicking for me.
Just Kwaou-Mathey: "I'm happy with the peformance but I was hungry for gold. I'm glad to have a new colour but I know I can do more.
"This does mean a lot as I had a big injury in 2024 making me miss Rome and that was quite difficult to deal with. Now I'm back.
"This season has been OK for me but I had another knee injury in April which happened in training. That made the season diffcult but I'm OK now and hope the rest of the season is better.
Jakub Szymanski: "I am proud of myself and my team that I did it. I got this precious bronze medal. Bronze from an outdoor championships is a huge thing for me and my team.
"I am over the moon now. I did not think it would be so close at these championships or that I could do it.
This year, I felt a lot of positive energy - that helped me to achieve this podium.
"Compared to last year, we made a few changes in training and I needed a little bit more time to get used to it. I felt it would help me fight for the podium and I was right."