It was a flying start to the Birmingham European Athletics Championships yesterday, and the action continues on Tuesday (11). Among other things, Europe’s fastest man will be crowned.
You can play along by trying to predict the medallists in every event throughout Birmingham 2026 and be in with a chance of winning a VIP Trip for two to the Valencia 2027 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Plus, there are daily prizes for top points scorers, including signed athlete bibs and European Athletics goodies.
Play The Predictor now and don't forget to download the European Athletics app from the App Store or Google Play!
Here are my picks for Day 2…
Men's Hammer Throw
1. Yann Chaussinand (France)
2. Mykhaylo Kokhan (Ukraine)
3. Bence Halász (Hungary)
Chaussinand leads the European rankings and has produced several throws beyond 80 metres this season. However, the event is incredibly tight, with Kokhan just 7cm behind him on the European list.
The 25-year-old Ukrainian is the reigning European bronze medallist and also won Olympic bronze in 2024.
Bence Halász has seven medals from major international championships but is still waiting for his first gold. He has one of the best personal bests in the field and threw beyond 83 metres as recently as last year.
Women's 5000m
1. Nadia Battocletti (Italy)
2. Maureen Koster (Netherlands)
3. Hannah Nuttall (Great Britain)
Battocletti may be second in the rankings heading into the championships, but she has proven herself to be an outstanding championship performer. She is the reigning European champion over both 5000m and 10,000m.
Eight years older than Battocletti, Koster took a major step forward last year, improving her personal best by more than 10 seconds. She also has a silver medal from the 2015 European Indoor Championships on her résumé.
Nuttall will have the home crowd behind her after finishing fifth at the Commonwealth Games, and she will be hungry to add a major championship medal to her collection.
Men's Long Jump
1. Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece)
2. Bozjidar Saraboyukov (Bulgaria)
3. Simon Ehammer (Switzerland)
Tentoglou has won three consecutive European titles and two Olympic gold medals, while also boasting the best personal and season's best in the field. After a somewhat below-par season last year, he has shown that he is back to his best.
He will enter the championships as the clear favourite. Saraboyukov has improved his personal best by more than 20 centimetres this year and won bronze at the World Indoor Championships this winter. Decathlete Simon Ehammer has jumped 8.51m this season and finished third at the most recent European Athletics Championships.
Women's 100m Hurdles
1. Nadine Visser (Netherlands)
2. Pia Skrzyszowska (Poland)
3. Ditaji Kambundji (Switzerland)
Visser won silver at the World Indoor Championships this winter, and although she is yet to win a medal in the 100m hurdles at a major outdoor championship, she ranks fifth on the European all-time list.
Kambundji is the reigning world champion and second on the European all-time list, although she has yet to reach the same level she showed last year. Skrzyszowska won gold four years ago and is second in Europe this season.
The trio were the medallists at the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships with Kambundji winning in a European indoor 60m hurdles record of 7.67, ahead of Visser and Skrzyszowska.
Men's 100m
1. Lamont Marcell Jacobs (Italy)
2. Owen Ansah (Germany)
3. Jeremiah Azu (Great Britain)
Jacobs arrives as the European record holder, 2021 Olympic champion, and a two-time European gold medallist (2022, 2024). Ansah sits just 0.02 seconds behind him on this year's European list, placing third in what promises to be a wide-open race.
Meanwhile, British contender Azu has won both world indoor and European indoor titles, and his form continues to improve.
Ones to Watch
Paweł Fajdek – The Polish hammer thrower has won five world titles. He is third in the rankings but has not won a major championship medal since his world gold in 2022.
Sarah Healy – The Irishwoman won the 3000m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships last year and enters these championships ranked third in Europe over 5000m. She also has a strong personal best over 1500m, making her a potential threat in a sprint finish.
Louie Hinchliffe – The 24-year-old British sprinter is one of six athletes in the field to have broken the 10-second barrier for 100m. His season's best of 10.01 leaves him just three hundredths of a second behind the third-fastest European this year.
Gerson Baldé – The world indoor champion has been somewhat inconsistent this season. If he can find his best form, he should be in contention for a medal.
Sacha Alessandrini – The French hurdler is chasing her first international medal and enters the championships ranked third in Europe.
Bonus Question: How many athletes will run under 10.00 seconds in the men’s 100m final?
Only three runners have gone under 10 seconds this year, and in the final they will have more races in their legs. At the last three championships, four athletes have broken the 10-second barrier, so it would be no surprise to see one or more runners do it again this year.
My prediction: Two runners
Katharine Merry is an Olympic 400m bronze medallist and a respected athletics commentator and presenter