European Athletics Championships on course to take place in Great Britain for the first time ever
It’s not been long since the Commonwealth Games were in Birmingham but it looks like some of the world’s best athletes could be returning once again to the city in four years’ time.
This is because, according to The Guardian, Birmingham is on course to be awarded the 2026 European Athletics Championships.
The withdrawal of the bid from Budapest, host city of the 2023 World Athletics Championships, means that Birmingham looks in pole position to have the chance to build on its legacy from the Commonwealth Games in a similar, albeit scaled down, fashion to London hosting the World Athletics Championships five years after the 2012 Olympics.
Since the turn of the century Great Britain has hosted the Olympics (2012), World Athletics Championships (2017), three Commonwealth Games (2002, 2014, 2022), two World Indoor Championships (2003 and 2018) – about to be three in 2024 – and two European Indoor Championships (2007 and 2019).
However, it has never hosted the outdoor European Athletics Championships, the 27th edition of which will take place in 2026.
British athletes enjoyed huge success at the most recent event in Munich and Great Britain finished second to Germany in the final athletics table with six gold, six silver and eight bronze medals.
Keely Hodgkinson (Getty)
Golds came from Keely Hodgkinson, Laura Muir, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Zharnel Hughes and the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m teams.
According to The Guardian, Birmingham is in line to be awarded the hosting rights on November 11 for what looks likely be a standalone event, unlike the multi-sport bonanzas which were staged jointly between Glasgow and Berlin in 2018, then Munich this summer.
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