Alisa Vainio's incredible and unstoppable rise through the ranks of marathon running continues.
The flying Finn produced a destructive performance, leading every step of the way to win gold for Finland in the women’s marathon at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Sunday (16) morning.
In summary
- Vainio shatters championship record with 2:22:26
- The Finn wins gold by a record-breaking margin
- Abbie Donnelly becomes the first ever British medallist in this event
Pre-race favourites have been known to falter in major championships marathons but Alisa Vainio, who was contesting her sixth marathon in the space of 11 months, was operating on a different stratosphere as soon as the starting gun fired.
Not only was Vainio on championship record pace from the first lap, the Finn was even operating on sub-2:20 pace in the early stages of an undulating, twisty and technical city centre course.
Inspired by her idol Andreas Almgren who won the 10,000m in a similar fashion last night, Vainio blasted through 5km in 16:21 and 10km in 32:58. The only runner who deigned to follow Vainio was Germany’s Fabienne Königstein - the second fastest athlete on the entry-list behind the Finn - who was ultimately caught by a large chasing pack before dropping out in the last six kilometres.
By the halfway point which she reached in 70:40, Vainio had built up a lead of just over three minutes from a large group which included Brits Abbie Donnelly, Natasha Wilson and Rose Harvey, all of whom were in contention to win Great Britain’s first ever medal in the event in championship history.
And by the finish, the Finn’s lead had extended out to almost five minutes. Running with the same form, poise and concentration she showed on the first of the eight 5km laps, Vainio crossed the finish-line in 2:22:26, shattering Christelle Daunay’s championship record of 2:25:14 which had stood since 2014.
Almost one mile behind Vainio, former steeplechaser Lili Anna Vindics-Tóth won an unexpected silver medal for Hungary in a lifetime best of 2:27:21 with Donnelly holding off fellow Hungarian Nóra Szabó for a historic bronze medal in 2:27:33.
Vainio's winning margin extended out to 4:55, the biggest in the women's marathon in European Athletics Championships history. The previous record was held by Portugal's Rosa Mota who won her second of three titles in 1986 by 4:14.
Despite Great Britain’s pedigree in this event, the hosts had never won an individual medal in the women’s marathon in European Athletics Championships history. The best placing by a Brit prior to Birmingham was a ninth-place finish by Kathy Binns in the first-ever staging of the marathon in Athens 1982.
And Donnelly also led the hosts to the team title. Donnelly was backed up by Wilson and Harvey who finished fifth (2:27:54) and 14th (2:30:34) respectively for team gold ahead of Italy and Spain.
2022 European marathon champion Aleksandra Lisowska from Poland was 13th in 2:30:21.
What they said
Alisa Vainio (FIN)
"I just ran from the start and felt so strong all the way. I knew I was going to run fast and just waited to see if someone was coming with me, but I just ran alone. It was pretty easy but my left leg got sore in the last lap."
"I prepared in Finland as I like to train at home very much. I have never been to the Olympics, so maybe that is another milestone for me. Andreas Almgren is my idol. I did not go to the stadium last night as I was already asleep. But I watched it this morning. He was great."
Abbie Donnelly (GBR)
"This is my third marathon so I feel I'm still learning different parts of it, which is really exciting. I've not done a champs marathon before so it was a completely different experience. It went a lot quicker because there's so many people who you're properly racing against. I love the people in this sport. I love the friends I've made. I love the feeling once you've finished the race. The whole atmosphere of running, it's such a friendly group. It's such a privilege to be part of the team.
"We were all talking yesterday about how good it would be to win a team gold. We won in Rome so, to win here in Birmingham, we're so proud."