Germany’s best European championships in 28 years
Six gold, ten silver and five bronze medals: Germany’s athletes won 21 medals at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, the German team’s best result since the turn of the millennium.
In their best performance at the continental event since 1998, Germany’s track and field athletes finished the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham with a total of 21 medals. Winning six gold, ten silver and five bronze medals, the German team came third in the final medal table, after Italy and the host nation Great Britain.
The German team impressed with an unusually broad range of disciplines, winning medals in sprint, long-distance and obstacle races, as well as in multi-sport and throwing events. Alongside some of the established top performers, a number of younger athletes also won medals at the international competition.
World champion Leo Neugebauer won his first European title, while Niklas Kaul won silver in the same event. Gesa Krause and Frederik Ruppert won the gold medals in the two 3,000 metre steeplechase races. Further historic moments included Owen Ansah winning Germany’s first European 200 metre gold in 44 years and Julian Weber taking both gold and the championship record, throwing 90.60 metres in his last attempt in the javelin final. Vice world champion Amanal Petros broke away from the pack and won the individual marathon gold medal, in addition to the German men’s team winning silver in the team marathon competition.
On the whole, the German team was more successful than at the 2022 European championships in Munich (16 medals) or those in Rome in 2024.
