Event-by-event look-back at the European Champs

Steve Smythe takes a statistical overhaul of Rome and what it might mean to the Paris Olympics

The fact the European Athletics Championships was scheduled to finish just before the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament in Germany kicked off shows how football rules sport by an alarming margin.

Considering Italy’s success in Rome, crowds were a little disappointing (137,000 over the six days) and tucked away on the BBC red button, it did not get the attention in Britain that the quality of performances deserved, although television viewing figures were healthy in France, Germany and the host nation Italy.

Nearly all of Europe’s top athletes supported the championships other than a Dutch distance runner, a German decathlete and quite a lot of Brits – some by injury but most by design.

Obviously the Olympics is the big one this year but if it was right for the likes of Femke Bol, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm, why did athletes not guaranteed medals in Paris, pass on a medal chance which they might regret come the end of the season if they return from France empty handed? And some will.

The lack of a Britain’s women’s 4x400m team and the apathy from those who might be desperate to make the team in Paris to not support the team here was a unique British problem.

Despite UK absentees which cost Britain second place in the medal table, the championships was a roaring success and one of the greatest area championships ever held despite being staged in early June.

It was the 26th Europeans and the 12th I have attended. Prague in 1978 was my first as a spectator and Split in 1990 my first as a journalist but I also saw every event on television in 1969, 1971 and 1974 and so I have an excellent recollection of 18 of the 26 championships and this might just be the best. Furthermore, Birmingham will be hard pressed to beat this in 2026 and hopefully British athletes will show the event more respect.

There were 10 world leads, 20 European leads and 15 championship records despite some of the records from the drug fuelled 1980s and 1990s being unattainable.

Men

100m (Lamont Marcell Jacobs 10.02)
Jacobs became the fifth men’s 100m sprinter to win double gold. Although he won, the Italian looks well short of his Olympic winning form but should make the final in Paris.

Romell Glave was a close third and on this from is another potential finalist in Paris as are the missing Brits Zharnel Hughes and Jeremiah Azu, who made withdrawals after the…