The German Athletics Federation has announced the first athletes selected for the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, with marathon stars Richard Ringer and Amanal Petros among the headline names.
Ringer is a previous champion, having won marathon gold at Munich 2022, while Amanal Petros, silver medallist at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo is another proven performer.
Petros also won bronze in the half marathon at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships.
Germany enjoyed considerable success in the marathon events at the European Athletics Championships in Munich, winning women’s team gold, men’s team silver and individual marathon gold through Ringer.
“We would like to build on those successes in Birmingham,” said Germany’s national endurance coach Alexander Fromm. “We hope all nominated athletes can complete a strong preparation and arrive at the championships in top form. As in 2022, we want to compete with six-athlete teams in pursuit of strong team results.”
Linke heads experienced race walking squad
Germany’s marathon race walking team will be led by 2022 men’s 35k silver medallist Christopher Linke, who holds the national records for 20k and 35k.
Germany has also named experienced internationals Karl Junghannß and Johannes Frenzl in the men's team.
Ada Junghannß and Bianca Maria Dittrich have also been selected for the women’s marathon race walk squad, subject to securing qualification places through the World Athletics rankings by the end of the qualification period on 26 July.
Germany’s second wave of selections, including the half marathon race walk, will be announced in mid-June, while the majority of places for Birmingham will be finalised after the German Championships in Bochum-Wattenscheid at the end of July.