Editor’s note: Stuart Weir is in the stadium each day of the European Champs. Stuart has had a busy summer, from Diamond League meetings to British Champs, Commonwealth Games, and now European Champs. Stuart has worked with RunBlogRun since 2013 and has written over one million words for us. We thank Stuart Weir for his observation skills, commentary, sense of humor, and yes, patience.
Women’s 100m hurdles
Regular readers will know that the sprint hurdles are one of my favorite events. I recall the feats of Dawn Harper, Sally Pearson, Brianna Rollins, Keni Harrison, Tobi Amusan, etc. The event has gone mad with Masai Russell running 12.26 or better ten times, including a 12.14. I know the track, the shoes, nutrition, training, etc all help, but Masai’s two legs have to do the work as well.
By that standard, Nadine Visser winning the European title in 12.67 just seems off the pace. She won by one thousandth of a second from Pia Skrzyszowska.
Visser said afterward: “I finally have a (European) outdoor medal and it’s a gold – that feels insane. This is a real relief, honestly. It still hasn’t sunk in completely. This is the medal I’ve wanted for a very long time. Winning by a thousandth, this was unnecessary. Waiting for the photo finish, I wasn’t really thinking about whether I would get the gold medal or not; I just felt this wasn’t the perfect race. In the end, it doesn’t matter because it was enough.
“I have had so much bad luck physically during the European outdoors but have been the best European athlete at the Olympics and Worlds. That’s nice, but you just want to have a medal around your neck. I knew that this might be my last Euros, or maybe my penultimate Euros. I was one of the favorites. I felt pressure to finally get a European outdoor medal and I did it”.
Ditaji Kambundji, who won the World Champs last year in 12.24 but has not repeated that form in 2026. She was fourth in 12.75. Two years ago in Rome, Kambundji had been second in the Europeans in 12.40 behind Cyrena Samba-Mayela (12.31). Skrzyszowska had taken bronze in 2024 in 12.42.
Britain’s Marcia Sey was 8th in 13.01. In the week that Cindy Sember announced her retirement, it is another reminder that GB is even further off the pace.
