Briton's brilliant finishing surge takes her to first senior individual title at Alexander Stadium.

What a difference two years makes. At the previous edition of the European Championships, in 2024, Amy Hunt was re-emerging back into the sprinting world. The comeback from a quadriceps injury that needed surgery had been an arduous and painful one, but coming seventh in the 100m final in Rome represented an important milestone as the shoots of recovery began to emerge. 

Those shoots began to take root and there have been major medals at global events for the 24-year-old to celebrate since, but the opening night of the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham (August 10) offered further evidence of just how much she has grown.

Once again showcasing her trademark finishing speed, and in front of a (disappointingly sparse) home crowd at the Alexander Stadium, Hunt sped to the first individual senior title of her career as she struck 100m gold. 

It’s her second half that does the damage over the shorter sprint for the world 200m silver medallist. Even after a start that left her seventh over the first 20m, the Commonwealth silver medallist built momentum and her brilliant charge over the closing 50m saw her fly past her opponents to hit the line first in 11.00 (11.0). Even sitting third with just 30m to run, there was an inevitability about the identity of the winner. 

Poland’s Ewa Swoboda landed silver in 11.02, with Belgium’s Delphine Nkansa producing a PB of 11.06 for bronze. Britain’s defending champion Dina Asher-Smith – chasing the seventh European gold of her career – was fifth in 11.10, a time that matched the season’s best she produced during the semi-finals.

This isn’t even supposed to be Hunt’s strongest event, with her clear power coming more to the fore in the 200m, but she and the 100m are becoming good friends in 2026. A first sub 11-second clocking over the distance – a personal best of 10.97 in Stockholm at the beginning of June – was another significant landmark that provided just the early-season boost she was looking for.

Then came Glasgow, and a Commonwealth final that was so wet Hunt would later say her “fingers were under water” as she sat in the blocks. Yet it did nothing to dampen her speed, a run of 10.98 taking her to second place behind New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs.

And now the woman who won the English Schools title at the same Birmingham venue in 2017 is in possession of the gold medal she so dearly wanted.

“I am so proud of myself," said the Cambridge graduate who is based in Italy and is coached by Marco Airale. "At the end of the day it is all about getting the gold medal.  [As for] the execution and how far back I was at 30m to go, I am not going to remember that in a few years' time. Just that I won a fabulous gold.

"As I crossed the line I could have screamed, I could have cried. This win is incredibly special to me, with it being the first in the UK. Also, at a track that I raced at so much growing up.

"I won the English Schools in this stadium, so many people here today worked at those championships as officials that I have known through growing up in athletics, so it feels like a full circle moment. I came here in 2022 for the Commonwealth games to watch because I was on crutches. To now be in front of a home crowd and get that same feeling is special."

Hunt and Asher-Smith will now switch their focus to the 200m later this week.

Just before that 100m final, Henriette Jaeger had given her own demonstration of brilliant finishing strength to take Norway to gold in the mixed 4x400m relay. 

The 23-year-old is the fastest in Europe over 400m and showed exactly why at the climax to a brilliant contest. The Norwegian line-up that was led off by 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm took gold in a championship record of 3:09.62 to hold off the challenge of Great Britain (3:10.47) and the Netherlands (3:10.77).

With defending champions Ireland having failed to qualify, the door was open for new winners to be crowned and Warholm gave Norway a narrow lead at the first changeover.

A superb second leg from Lieke Klaver, however, gave the Netherlands a sizeable margin as she handed over to Terrence Agard but Britain’s Toby Harries’ fast-charging leg of 44.4 reeled the leaders in. 

At the final handover, it was virtually neck and neck between Great Britain and the Netherlands as Yemi Mary John and Myrte van der Schoot battled it out with the Dutch slightly ahead, but Jaeger was sat ominously on their shoulder and waiting to strike. 

That moment arrived coming off the final bend, when the Norwegian moved wide and strode clear.

Women's 100m: 1 Amy Hunt (GBR) 11.00 (1.0); 2 Ewa Swoboda (POL) 11.02 (1.0); 3 Delphine Nkansa (BEL) 11.06 (1.0) PB; 4 Géraldine di Tizio-Frey (SUI) 11.07 (1.0); 5 Dina Asher-Smith (GBR) 11.10 (1.0) =SB; 6 Patrizia van der Weken (LUX) 11.10 (1.0); 7 Zaynab Dosso (ITA) 11.12 (1.0); 8 Salomé Kora (SUI) 11.51 (1.0)

Mixed 4x400m relay: 1 Norway 3:09.62 CR, EL, NR; 2 Great Britain & NI 3:10.47; 3 Netherlands 3:10.77 SB; 4 Poland 3:12.07 SB; 5 Spain 3:12.29; 6 Italy 3:13.12; 7 France 3:15.85; 8 Belgium 3:17.92