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History for Hunt and Asher-Smith in golden finish for GB

Published August 17, 2026 · Updated August 17, 2026 · By Sandra Garcia - ninoda.com

Great Britain's Birmingham Blitz: Five Medals in Under Two Hours Cements Historic European Championship

Ninoda.com – The home nation closed out the first European Athletics Championships ever staged on British soil with a final-day haul of five medals delivered within 76 minutes, pushing their cumulative tally to 19. Yet the headline story belonged to two women who rewrote the record books in separate events.

Amy Hunt's Unprecedented Fourth Gold

The mixed 4x100m relay produced a home-straight duel between Britain and Germany that ended with sprinter Amy Hunt flashing four fingers at the camera as the sell-out Birmingham crowd erupted. The 24-year-old Cambridge University graduate anchored the quartet in a European-record 39.97 seconds, fending off Gina Luckenkemper's challenge to claim what became her fourth gold of the week.

That triumph stacked atop victories in the 100m, 200m, and women's 4x100m relay accumulated over just seven days. Hunt had openly declared before the meet that she intended to collect all four sprint titles, aiming to be "iconic," and delivered on that ambition in front of her home supporters.

"Oh my gosh, I am over the moon. I think to finish it off with some of my best friends in the sport is incredible."

Her teammates in the relay — Jeremiah Azu, Zharnel Hughes, and Dina Asher-Smith, running in that order — helped Britain secure six golds from a possible seven across the sprint events. Hughes, who cheered his anchor partner on after handing over the baton, moved past Hudson-Smith, Mo Farah, and Roger Black to become the most successful British man at these championships with his sixth gold.

Asher-Smith Becomes the Competition's All-Time Record Holder

Dina Asher-Smith's contribution in the relay gave her an eighth gold and eleventh overall medal, making her the most decorated athlete in the 92-year history of the European Championships. The 30-year-old, who captured a record-equalling seventh gold on Saturday night exactly a decade after her first, departs Birmingham as a 22-time international medallist in her senior career.

Hunt paid tribute to her teammate, describing Asher-Smith as "the real life GOAT." Though the world 200m champion from 2019 admitted feeling "absolutely terrified" during what was the inaugural mixed 4x100m relay at these championships, she converted that anxiety into yet another podium finish.

Hunter Bell's Commanding 1500m Victory

In a separate final, Georgia Hunter Bell controlled the women's 1500m with surgical precision before surging clear on the closing laps to claim gold. The 32-year-old extended a golden year that already included world indoor and Commonwealth titles, collecting her seventh international medal within two years.

The victory represented the latest chapter in a remarkable comeback narrative. Hunter Bell had walked away from the sport for five years following a promising junior career before debuting for Great Britain in 2024. Having topped a global podium at the world indoors in March and secured her first outdoor international title at the Commonwealth Games just two weeks earlier, she made it three consecutive major-championship golds in her own bid for a quadruple.

The athlete has set her sights on winning gold at all four major championships during 2026, with plans to complete the set at the inaugural World Ultimate Championships in September.

Italy Edges GB by Three-Hundredths of a Second

Britain's ninth gold of the competition was narrowly denied the top spot in the medal table. Italy claimed their final gold in the men's 4x400m relay by just 0.03 seconds, pipping the hosts to first place.

Matthew Hudson-Smith, running alongside Toby Harries, Ben Jefferies, and Charlie Dobson, took silver in that event but surpassed French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre as the most decorated man in championship history with his ninth career medal.

Silvers for Sawyers and the Women's 4x400m Quartet

Long jumper Jazmin Sawyers produced a career-best series of marks during her stunning post-injury resurgence, posting a best leap of 6.99 metres. That fell one centimetre short of Italy's Larissa Iapichino, who claimed the gold.

The women's 4x400m relay team — Yemi Mary John, Lina Nielsen, Nicole Yeargin, and Emily Newnham — finished 0.58 seconds behind a Dutch quartet anchored by 800m bronze medallist Femke Broeders-Bol to take silver.

Less than 24 hours after combining with their respective relay partners to claim the men's and women's 4x100m golds, Azu, Asher-Smith, Hughes, and Hunt had already made it six sprint-event golds. For Hunt, whose medal collection continues to grow at an extraordinary pace, this week was only the beginning.

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