European Athletics Championships

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European Athletics Championships
Statusactive
Genresports event
Frequencybiennial
Location(s)various
Inaugurated1934
Most recent2022
Organised byEuropean Athletic Association
Websitewww.european-athletics.org
2022

The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe.[1]

Editions[edit]

First held, for men only, in 1934 in Turin, and separately for women for the first time in Vienna in 1938, the Championships took place every four years following the end of the World War II, with the exception of the 1969 and 1971 editions, becoming a joint men's and women's competition from the third edition in 1946 in Oslo. Since 2010, they have been organised every two years, and when they coincide with the Summer Olympics, the marathon and racewalking events are not contested. From 2016, a half-marathon event has been held in those Olympic years, and both the marathon and half-marathon events held as part of the Championships also function as the principle European elite team events at those distances.

In 2018 and 2022, the European Athletics Championships formed part of the quadrennial multi-sport European Championships, a new event designed and held by individual European sports federations. In 2022, European Athletics announced its intention to withdraw from the multi-sport event for 2026.[2] [3]

The 2020 edition set for Charlety Stadium in Paris was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this the first cancellation of the event since the 1942 championship was abandoned due to World War II. The event was not moved to an alternative date, with Munich continuing as the scheduled host in 2022.[4][5][6]

An indoor equivalent, the European Athletics Indoor Championships, is organised by the European Athletic Association in odd numbered years.

While the European Games of 2015 featured athletics, and shall do so again in 2023, these events are not editions of the European Athletics Championships.

Notes: – men, – women

Edition Year Host City Host Country Date Venue Events Nations Athletes Top of the medal table
1 1934 Turin  Italy 7–9 September Stadio Benito Mussolini 22 23 226  Germany
2 1938 Paris  France 3–5 September Stade Olympique de Colombes 23 23 272  Germany
1938 Vienna  Germany[nb 1] 17–18 September Praterstadion 9 14 80
3 1946 Oslo  Norway 22–25 August Bislett Stadium 33 20 353  Sweden
4 1950 Brussels  Belgium 23–27 August Heysel Stadium 34 24 454 United Kingdom Great Britain
5 1954 Bern   Switzerland 25–29 August Stadion Neufeld 35 28 686  Soviet Union
6 1958 Stockholm  Sweden 19–24 August Stockholm Olympic Stadium 36 26 626  Soviet Union
7 1962 Belgrade  Yugoslavia 12–16 September Stadion JNA 36 29 670  Soviet Union
8 1966 Budapest  Hungary 30 August – 4 September Népstadion 36 30 769  East Germany
9 1969 Piraeus  Greece 16–21 September Karaiskakis Stadium 38 30 674  East Germany
10 1971 Helsinki  Finland 10–15 August Olympiastadion 38 29 857  East Germany
11 1974 Rome  Italy 2–8 September Stadio Olimpico 39 29 745  East Germany
12 1978 Prague  Czechoslovakia 29 August – 3 September Stadion Evžena Rošického 40 29 1004  Soviet Union
13 1982 Athens  Greece 6–12 September Olympiakó Stàdio 41 29 756  East Germany
14 1986 Stuttgart  West Germany 26–31 August Neckarstadion 43 31 906  Soviet Union
15 1990 Split  Yugoslavia 26 August – 2 September Stadion Poljud 43 33 952  East Germany
16 1994 Helsinki  Finland 7–14 August Olympiastadion 44 44 1113  Russia
17 1998 Budapest  Hungary 18–23 August Népstadion 46 44 1259 United Kingdom Great Britain
18 2002 Munich  Germany 6–11 August Olympiastadion 46 48 1244  Russia
19 2006 Gothenburg  Sweden 7–13 August Ullevi 47 48 1288  Russia
20 2010 Barcelona  Spain 27 July – 1 August Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys 47 50 1323  France
21 2012 Helsinki  Finland 27 June – 1 July Olympiastadion 42 50 1230  Germany
22 2014 Zürich   Switzerland 12–17 August Letzigrund 47 50 1439 United Kingdom Great Britain
23 2016 Amsterdam  Netherlands 6–10 July Olympic Stadium 44 50 1329  Poland
24 2018 [a] Berlin  Germany 7–12 August Olympiastadion 48 49[b] 1439 United Kingdom Great Britain
2020 Paris  France 26–30 August Stade Sébastien Charléty Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
25 2022 [c] Munich  Germany 15–21 August Olympiastadion 48 48 1495  Germany
26 2024 Rome  Italy 7–12 June Stadio Olimpico
27 2026 Birmingham[7]  Great Britain 10–16 August Alexander Stadium
28 2028 Chorzów[8]  Poland 22–27 August Stadion Śląski

All-time medal table[edit]

Updated after 2022 European Athletics Championships.[9][10]
Former countries are pointed in italic. Team medals in half marathon and marathon are not included into this table (see European Half Marathon Cup and European Marathon Cup).

The championships were long dominated by Eastern Bloc countries, especially the Soviet Union and East Germany. About 30 years after the dissolution of both countries, with the 2022 edition, Great Britain finally took the lead in the all-time medal table.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1United Kingdom Great Britain12496106326
2 Soviet Union120110101331
3 East Germany908366239
4 Germany707063203
5 France696965203
6 Poland575864179
7 Russia495152152
8 Italy444453141
9 West Germany364451131
10 Finland352941105
11 Spain32253693
12 Sweden304440114
13 Netherlands30242478
14 Ukraine22292071
15 Hungary18222565
16 Czechoslovakia16162759
17 Norway16151950
18 Portugal1614838
19 Greece1581134
20 Belgium13141138
21 Bulgaria12161240
22 Turkey129930
23 Belarus10131033
24 Romania8211039
25  Switzerland8151538
26 Croatia82313
27 Czech Republic7141435
28 Yugoslavia66315
29 Denmark47415
30 Latvia43310
31 Ireland37717
32 Estonia36514
33 Lithuania33410
34 Israel3249
35 Iceland3115
36 Serbia26311
37 Slovenia2237
38 Austria2169
39 Slovakia1416
 Authorised Neutral Athletes[1]1326
40 Albania1102
41 Azerbaijan0224
42 Luxembourg0101
 Montenegro0101
44 Moldova0011
Totals (44 entries)1005101110053021
  • ^[1]  ANA was the name, under which Russian athletes competed in the 2016 and 2018 Championships. Their medals were not included in the official medal table.

As of 2022, Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia, Gibraltar, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, North Macedonia and San Marino have yet to win a medal. Saar competed once in 1954 European Athletics Championships without winning a medal.

Championship records[edit]

Multiple winners[edit]

Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Discus thrower Sandra Perković of Croatia holds the record for most gold medals at six. Marita Koch of East Germany is the only other athlete to have won 6 gold medals, winning the 400 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay double on three occasions between 1978 and 1986. French steeple-chaser Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad won six finals at European championships, but was disqualified post-race having won the 2014 men's steeplechase in Zurich for removing his vest in the home straight.

Men[edit]

Rank Athlete Country Events From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Roger Black United Kingdom Great Britain 400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 1986 1994 5 1 6
Mo Farah United Kingdom Great Britain 5000 m / 10,000 m 2006 2014 5 1 6
Harald Schmid  West Germany 400 m hurdles / 4 × 400 m relay 1978 1986 5 1 6
4 Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad  France 3000 m steeplechase / 1500 m 2010 2018 5 5
5 Christophe Lemaitre  France 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2010 2014 4 2 2 8
6 Kevin Borlée  Belgium 400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 2010 2022 4 2 1 7
Matthew Hudson-Smith United Kingdom Great Britain 400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 2014 2022 4 2 1 7
8 Valeriy Borzov  Soviet Union 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 1969 1974 4 1 5
Zharnel Hughes United Kingdom Great Britain 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2018 2022 4 1 5
10 Steve Backley United Kingdom Great Britain Javelin throw 1990 2002 4 4
Adam Gemili United Kingdom Great Britain 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2014 2018 4 4
Jakob Ingebrigtsen  Norway 1500 m / 5000 m 2018 2022 4 4
Colin Jackson United Kingdom Great Britain 110 m hurdles 1990 2002 4 4
Jānis Lūsis  Soviet Union Javelin throw 1962 1971 4 4

Women[edit]

Rank Athlete Country Events From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Marita Koch  East Germany 400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 1978 1986 6 6
Sandra Perković  Croatia Discus throw 2010 2022 6 6
3 Irena Szewińska (Kirszenstein)  Poland 100 m / 200 m / 400 m / 4 × 100 m relay /
4 × 400 m relay / Long jump
1966 1978 5 1 4 10
4 Fanny Blankers-Koen  Netherlands 100 m / 200 m / 80 m hurdles / 4 × 100 m relay 1938 1950 5 1 2 8
5 Marlies Göhr  East Germany 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 1978 1986 5 1 1 7
6 Grit Breuer  East Germany
 Germany
400 m / 4 × 400 m relay 1990 2002 5 1 6
Heike Drechsler  East Germany
 Germany
200 m / Long jump 1986 1998 5 1 6
8 Renate Stecher (Meissner)  East Germany 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 1969 1974 4 4 8
9 Dafne Schippers  Netherlands 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2012 2018 4 3 1 8
10 Dina Asher-Smith United Kingdom Great Britain 100 m / 200 m / 4 × 100 m relay 2016 2022 4 2 6

Multiple medallists[edit]

A total of 11 men and 14 women have won six or more medals at the competition.[9]

Men[edit]

Name Country Total Gold Silver Bronze Years
Christophe Lemaitre  France 8 4 2 2 2010–2014
Kevin Borlée  Belgium 7 4 2 1 2010–2022
Matthew Hudson-Smith United Kingdom Great Britain 7 4 2 1 2014–2022
Roger Black United Kingdom Great Britain 6 5 1 0 1986–1994
Mo Farah United Kingdom Great Britain 6 5 1 0 2006–2014
Harald Schmid  West Germany 6 5 1 0 1978–1986
Pietro Mennea  Italy 6 3 2 1 1971–1978
Martyn Rooney United Kingdom Great Britain 6 3 2 1 2010–2018
Jonathan Borlée  Belgium 6 3 1 2 2010–2022
Linford Christie United Kingdom Great Britain 6 3 1 2 1986–1994
Jimmy Vicaut  France 6 1 3 2 2010–2022

Women[edit]

Name Country Total Gold Silver Bronze Years
Irena Szewińska (Kirszenstein)  Poland 10 5 1 4 1966–1978
Fanny Blankers-Koen  Netherlands 8 5 1 2 1938–1950
Renate Stecher (Meissner)  East Germany 8 4 4 0 1969–1974
Dafne Schippers  Netherlands 8 4 3 1 2012–2018
Marlies Göhr  East Germany 7 5 1 1 1978–1986
Myriam Soumaré  France 7 1 3 3 2010–2014
Marita Koch  East Germany 6 6 0 0 1978–1986
Sandra Perković  Croatia 6 6 0 0 2010–2022
Grit Breuer  East Germany
 Germany
6 5 1 0 1990–2002
Heike Drechsler  East Germany
 Germany
6 5 1 0 1986–1998
Dina Asher-Smith United Kingdom Great Britain 6 4 2 0 2016–2022
Irina Privalova  Russia 6 3 2 1 1994–1998
Yevgeniya Sechenova  Soviet Union 6 2 2 2 1946–1950
Gina Lückenkemper  Germany 6 2 1 3 2016–2022

Most medals in the same event[edit]

A total of 17 men and 8 women have won four or more medals in the same event.[9] Sandra Perković of Croatia is the only athlete, male or female, to win the same event, the women's discus throw six times between 2010 and 2022.

Men[edit]

No G/S/B Athlete Country Years Event
5 (3/2/0) Igor Ter-Ovanesyan  Soviet Union 1958–1971 Long jump
5 (3/1/1) Jonathan Borlée  Belgium 2010–2022 4 × 400 m
5 (3/1/1) Kevin Borlée  Belgium 2010–2022 4 × 400 m
4 (4/0/0) Steve Backley United Kingdom Great Britain 1990–2002 Javelin throw
4 (4/0/0) Colin Jackson United Kingdom Great Britain 1990–2002 110 m hurdles
4 (4/0/0) Jānis Lūsis  Soviet Union 1962–1974 Javelin throw
4 (4/0/0) Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad  France 2010–2018 3000 m steeplechase
4 (3/1/0) Mo Farah United Kingdom Great Britain 2006–2014 5000 m
4 (3/0/1) Adam Kszczot  Poland 2010–2018 800 m
4 (3/0/1) Renaud Lavillenie  France 2010–2018 Pole vault
4 (3/0/1) David Storl  Germany 2010–2018 Shot put
4 (2/2/0) Viktor Saneyev  Soviet Union 1969–1978 Triple jump
4 (2/1/1) Matthew Hudson-Smith United Kingdom Great Britain 2014–2022 4 x 400 m
4 (1/2/1) Jimmy Vicaut  France 2010–2022 4 × 100 m
4 (0/3/1) Gerd Kanter  Estonia 2006–2016 Discus throw
4 (0/2/2) Alexander Kosenkow  Germany 2002–2014 4 × 100 m
4 (0/1/3) Lothar Milde  East Germany 1962–1971 Discus throw

Women[edit]

No G/S/B Athlete Country Years Event
6 (6/0/0) Sandra Perković  Croatia 2010–2022 Discus throw
5 (4/0/1) Anita Włodarczyk  Poland 2010–2018 Hammer throw
4 (4/0/0) Nadezhda Chizhova  Soviet Union 1966–1974 Shot put
4 (4/0/0) Heike Drechsler  East Germany
 Germany
1986–2002 Long jump
4 (2/2/0) Katerina Stefanidi  Greece 2014–2022 Pole vault
4 (1/3/0) Floria Gueï  France 2012–2018 4 × 400 m
4 (1/1/2) Barbora Špotáková  Czech Republic 2010–2022 Javelin throw
4 (1/1/2) Linda Stahl  Germany 2010–2016 Javelin throw

Most appearances[edit]

A total of 36 men and 29 women have at least 6 appearances. [9]

Men[edit]

No Name Country Years
7 Jesús Ángel García  Spain 1994–2018
Zoltán Kővágó *  Hungary 1998–2018
João Vieira  Portugal 1998–2022
Jesús España  Spain 2002–2018
Gerd Kanter  Estonia 2002–2018
Marian Oprea  Romania 2002–2018
David Söderberg  Finland 2002–2018
6 Abdon Pamich  Italy 1954–1971
Ludvík Daněk  Czechoslovakia 1962–1978
Nenad Stekić  Yugoslavia 1969–1990
Virgilijus Alekna  Lithuania 1994–2014
Dwain Chambers * United Kingdom Great Britain 1998–2014
Serhiy Lebid  Ukraine 1998–2014
Nicola Vizzoni  Italy 1998–2014
Szymon Ziółkowski  Poland 1998–2014
Gregory Sedoc  Netherlands 2002–2016
Johan Wissman  Sweden 2002–2016
Hamza Alić  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2002–2018
Fabrizio Donato  Italy 2002–2018
Ángel David Rodríguez  Spain 2002–2018
Konstantinos Filippidis  Greece 2006–2018
Kafétien Gomis  France 2006–2018
Daniele Meucci  Italy 2006–2022
Mustafa Mohamed  Sweden 2006–2022
Jonathan Borlée  Belgium 2010–2022
Kevin Borlée  Belgium 2010–2022
Javier Cienfuegos  Spain 2010–2022
Eivind Henriksen  Norway 2010–2022
Asmir Kolašinac  Serbia 2010–2022
Stefano La Rosa  Italy 2010–2022
Renaud Lavillenie  France 2010–2022
Apostolos Parellis  Cyprus 2010–2022
Andriy Protsenko  Ukraine 2010–2022
Dimitrios Tsiamis  Greece 2010–2022
Jimmy Vicaut  France 2010–2022
Andreas Vojta  Austria 2010–2022

* including participation at one European Championships at which he was disqualified for a doping offence

Women[edit]

No Name Country Years
7 Mélina Robert-Michon  France 1998–2022
Krisztina Papp  Hungary 2002–2018
Martina Ratej  Slovenia 2006–2022
Dragana Tomašević  Serbia 2006–2022
6 Helena Fibingerová  Czechoslovakia 1969–1986
Heike Drechsler (Daute)  East Germany
 Germany
1982–2002
Fernanda Ribeiro  Portugal 1986–2010
Felicia Țilea-Moldovan *  Romania 1990–2010
Nuria Fernández  Spain 1998–2014
Ruth Beitia  Spain 2002–2016
Berta Castells  Spain 2002–2016
Merja Korpela  Finland 2002–2016
Dana Velďáková  Slovakia 2002–2016
Martina Hrašnová  Slovakia 2002–2018
Inês Henriques  Portugal 2002–2022
Barbora Špotáková  Czech Republic 2002–2022
Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir  Iceland 2006–2018
Kathrin Klaas  Germany 2006–2018
Éva Orbán  Hungary 2006–2018
Olha Saladukha  Ukraine 2006–2018
Patricia Sarrapio  Spain 2006–2018
Fionnuala McCormack  Ireland 2006–2022
Patrícia Mamona  Portugal 2010–2022
Sara Moreira  Portugal 2010–2022
Madara Palameika  Latvia 2010–2022
Sandra Perković  Croatia 2010–2022
Jamile Samuel  Netherlands 2010–2022
Tina Šutej  Slovenia 2010–2022
Ivana Vuleta (Španović)  Serbia 2010–2022

* including participation at one European Championships at which she was disqualified for a doping offence

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Part of the 2018 European Championships
  2. ^ Not including the ANA Athletes and the ART refugee athlete (DNS).
  3. ^ Part of the 2022 European Championships
  1. ^ Nazi Germany had occupied Austria in March 1938.

References[edit]

  1. ^ European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014 – STATISTICS HANDBOOK (PDF), European Athletics Association, retrieved 13 August 2014
  2. ^ de 2022, Por Matt Nelsen20 de Junio. "European Athletics moving away from multi-sport European Championships". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2022-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "European Athletics Championships to revert to stand-alone model post-Munich 2022". www.insidethegames.biz. 2022-06-20. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  4. ^ "European Athletics Championships cancelled because of coronavirus". BBC Sport. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships cancelled". European Athletics. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Paris will host the European Athletics Championships 2020". european-athletics. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  7. ^ "UK Athletics and Birmingham to Host European Athletics Championships in 2026".
  8. ^ "THE SILESIAN STADIUM TO ORGANIZE THE 2028 EUROPEAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS!". Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d Statistics Handbook 2022 European Athletics Championships. European Athletics (2022). Retrieved on 2022-08-15.
  10. ^ "2022 medal table". munich22results.european-athletics.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

External links[edit]