In the women’s Marathon, which led off the last day of competition at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, Lili Anna Vindics-Toth (Hungary) for most of the race was in the chase group that trailed only Alisa Vaino (Finland), who won the gold medal in convincing fashion (2:22:26). The chase group eventually dwindled to less than a handful of runners, from which Vindics-Toth broke away with a sustained push over the last several miles. In just her second season as a marathon specialist, she crossed the finish line as European silver medalist in a new personal best of 2:27:21, while holding off a strong finish by Abbie Donnely of Great Britain (2:27:33).
The men’s 3000m Steeplechase final started out as a slow tactical race, in which favored Frederik Ruppert (Germany) quickly took the lead that he never relinquished. Once the pace heated up over the last kilometer, Ruben Querinjean (Luxembourg) moved up to third place behind Ruppert and Spaniard Daniel Arce, who he subsequently passed on the last lap to move into 2nd. A strong finish by Querinjean brought him across the line as a close second (8:25.61) behind champion Ruppert (8:25.33), while also holding off a fast-charging bronze medalist Karl Bebendorf of Germany (8:26.55). This was Querinjean’s first major Championship medal, having finished 10th in last year’s Tokyo World Championships steeple final.
With the two silver medals claimed by Vindics-Toth and Ruben Querinjean, the total number of medals won by Golazo athletes in Birmingham was 5 (1 Gold – 3 Silver – 1 Bronze).
Other Golazo athletes with noteworthy performances during the last two days of the championships included Tadese Getahon (Israel), 5th in the men’s marathon; the Belgian women’s 4x100m team (with Rani Rosius), 5th in the 4x100m final (43.31); the Belgian women’s 4x400m team (with Pauline Couckuyt), 6th in the 4x400m final (3:25.17); Remi Schyns (Belgium), 7th in the men’s 3000m Steeplechase final (8:29.25); and returning from injury, Noor Vidts (Belgium), 11th in the women’s Heptathlon with 6286 points (13.38/100mH, 1.77m/High Jump, 14.25m/Shot Put, 24.14/200m, 6.22m/Long Jump, 40.33m/Javelin, 2:14.01/800m).