Editor’s note: The European Athletics Championships were held October 10-16, 2026, in Birmingham, England. The Alexander Stadium hosted this championship, which was watched around the world, including North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
The Mixed Relays (2), Sprint relays (2), Long relays (2) took alot of attention with some fine teams and fine competitions.
Stuart Weir writes here on the importance of Team GB winning six medals in six relays.
A relay fest
There were six relays – two men’s, two women’s and two mixed. Relays are always exciting. They bring a team element to an individual sport. There is also that element of jeopardy. At the end of the mixed 4X 100, an announcement was made that there was a hold on the result. All the teams waited nervously to hear that the Belgians had been disqualified. The news was greeted with a mixture of sympathy and relief.
Relays are certainly exciting to watch, but they’re also very important in the British context. Government funding for track and field comes with medal targets. Relays have proved a significant source of medals for Team GB. For example, 5 out of five at the Paris Olympics. GB Funds 15 athletes specifically to run relays.
This week the score was 6 out of 6. Gold in all three Sprint relays. Silver in the three 4×400.
Of particular excitement for the crowd was that Amy Hunt was going for the full set! She had won the individual 100 and 200 and followed that with gold in the women’s and mixed 4×100.
I mentioned in the opening paragraph the element of jeopardy that is always there in a relay – especially in a mixed relay and especially a mixed 4 by 100. The differing top speeds of men and women increase the potential for disaster. The comments of the four British runners illustrate well that this was more challenging than the relays they are used to:
Jeremiah Azu
“I am working with some of the best British athletes in this team. Two British record holders and Amy, who’s on the rise and having an amazing championship. It’s been great to be a part of it, and thank you for coming out and supporting us.”
Dina Asher-Smith
“Thank you so much to the crowd. I had to run so fast because I’m running with three really fast people. I had the [2025 Indoor] 60m world champion running at me, and Zharnel, who is super-fast, was running at me too. I was just thinking I’ve got to represent my country well by running as fast as I can.”
Zharnel Hughes
“It was difficult because I was thinking about what Dina sounds like; I’m used to hearing a male voice, but I knew we were going to get the job done. I got the stick from Dina, and she said ‘Go’ so I just ran and then tried to catch Amy, as she was flying down the home straight. This crowd gave us the energy I live for.”
Amy Hunt
“Thank you so much, Birmingham. I am over the moon to finish off these championships with some of my best friends in the sport. Jeremiah and I have the same birthday. To do this all together was incredible; we only did our first change-overs for the first time ever an hour before the race. We said it was like queuing for a roller coaster: you can see what is about to happen, and you get nervous. When you get off, you want to do it all over again.”
It’s simple really. A mixed relay is like a roller-coaster.
