After a string of near misses in major championships, will the second fastest European marathon runner in history Amanal Petros finally come away with individual gold at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham?
Petros is part of a strong German team which will also have aspirations of challenging for the team title along with a brace of individual medals.
European record - Bashir Abdi (BEL) 2:03:36
European lead - Bashir Abdi (BEL) 2:04:19
Championship record - Koen Naert (BEL) 2:09:51
Munich 2022 medallists
Richard Ringer (GER) 2:10:21
Maru Teferi (ISR) 2:10:23
Gashau Ayale (ISR) 2:10:29
Five to watch
- Amanal Petros (GER)
- Richard Ringer (GER)
- Samuel Fitwi (GER)
- Emmanuel Roudolff (FRA)
- Maru Teferi (ISR)
Petros just missed out on the title at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo when he was caught on the line by Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu who won by an infinitesimal 0.03 seconds, the smallest winning margin in World Athletics Championships history.
And on the European stage, Petros has sometimes lacked that extra gear at the crux. He had to settle for bronze in a three-way sprint in the half marathon at the 2024 European Athletics Championships behind Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa and was run out of the medals altogether in the latter stages of the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich.
Petros has ‘only’ clocked 2:08:31 this season but by his own admission, he eased off in the latter stages of the London Marathon having gone out through halfway in 61:16 with the intent of challenging Bashir Abdi’s European record of 2:03:36. A runner-up finish in the Valencia Marathon last December when he clocked 2:04:03 is much more representative of Petros’ ability.
The winner of the marathon in Munich four years ago was Richard Ringer who launched a superhuman surge in the last kilometre, picking off three athletes, including Petros, for a scintillating and memorable victory in the Bavarian capital.
Now 37, Ringer is still in excellent form as he builds towards his sixth European Athletics Championships. He ran his fastest ever marathon in April, clocking 2:04:47 in admittedly helpful conditions in the Boston Marathon, a point-to-point course, to finish eighth and take the European plaudits in the process.
But faster still in 2026 is fellow German Samuel Fitwi who finished an excellent second in the Hamburg Marathon in a PB of 2:04:45. This makes him the fastest entrant based on season’s bests.
The main challengers to the German triumvirate include France’s Emmanuel Roudolff and veteran Kenyan-born Turkish distance runner Kaan Kigen Özbilen who are the only other athletes to have broken the 2:06-barrier in 2026.
Roudolff finished sixth in the Paris Marathon in a 2:05:58 PB while 40-year-old Özbilen, who briefly held the European record with 2:04:16, is still running at a high level having clocked 2:05:59 for fifth in the Barcelona Marathon this year.
Israel won team gold at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich and their team includes many of the protagonists who featured on their triumphant team including Maru Teferi and Gashau Ayale, the silver and bronze medallists respectively behind a resurgent Ringer.
With Yemaneberhan Crippa opting for the 10,000m and Iliass Aouani injured with shin splints, the Italian team is led by Pietro Riva who won silver behind Crippa, but ahead of Petros, in the half marathon at the 2024 European Athletics Championships.
Hosts Great Britain haven’t won a medal in the men’s marathon since Ian Thompson won gold in Rome in 1974 but Mahamed Mahamed has a reasonable opportunity of making the podium in Birmingham.
Mahamed ran a lifetime best of 2:06:14 in the London Marathon in late April to become the second fastest Brit in history behind Mo Farah. This time also makes him the fourth fastest on the entry-list based on season’s bests.