The British quartet of Jeremiah Azu, Louie Hinchcliffe, Zharnel Hughes and Romell Glave delighted the home support with gold in men’s 4x100m relay at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships on Saturday (15) evening.
In summary
- Hosts Great Britain win their fifth gold medal of the championships in 38.45
- Germany claim silver behind the Brits in 38.64
- Belgium secure bronze in 38.70 as Italy pull up injured
It was a first European title for the British men since Munich in 2022 with Glave adding to his golden haul from Birmingham, matching his individual 100m victory to complete a week which the Jamaican-born Londoner will never forget.
The designated anchor, he stood, watched and waited as Azu, who earned 100m silver behind his compatriot, led the way on the opening leg where the Welshman found himself running second to Italian Eric Marek. The reigning champions, shorn of the injured Lamont Marcell Jacobs, were still in medal contention when anchor leg Samuele Ceccarelli was handed the baton before the 2023 European indoor 60m champion pulled up with injury. To add insult to injury, they were later disqualified for an infringement.
Hinchcliffe, coached in Texas once again by sprinting legend Carl Lewis bolted ahead and the hosts were never caught again. Hughes, the silver medallist in the 200m last night, produced a familiar charge around the bend and Glave benefited with a cushion he refused to give up with a split of 9.15 seconds that was golden.
Behind the scrap for silver and bronze was full of intrigue. Belgium were last on the opening leg but retrieved magnificently thanks to the persistence of Emiel Botterman, Antoine Snyders and Simon Verherstraeten.
As the Netherlands faded, their neighbours threatened to steal silver but the German foursome of Kevin Kranz, Marvin Schulte, Heiko Gussmann and Lucas Ansah-Peprah held on in a frenetic fling at the line, upgrading their bronze from Rome in 2024 despite the omission of 200m champion Owen Ansah.
What they said
Louie Hinchcliffe (GBR)
"The times don't matter, getting the gold is the main thing so to get the gold that's job done. It was good to get out there and get a medal. It was always going to be messy in the final, it wasn't as quick as the heat, but that's because of the conditions, with it being Birmingham late at night."
Lucas Ansah-Peprah (GER)
"It's such a blessing to be here, we train a lot as a group and we have obviously had some difficult years in the past. To see that all our hard work and practice has paid off, it makes me so thankful for the boys here. To be surrounded by them, our coaches and the rest of our team just lifts us all up. Our results this week show German sprinting is up there and evolving nicely. We are showing that we can have top performers at this level."
Antoine Snyders (BEL)
"We have five years to prepare for this race. It is a big advantage of representing a small country. We can reach each other and speak together."