August 2026: Performance round up

August saw the continent's best athletes battling for titles at the Alexander Stadium followed by the England Relay Championships on the same track whilst the England Athletics Age Group Combined Events and Senior Para championships took place in Bedford. Catch up on all the action in our August performance round up. 

Record-breakers at the European Athletics Championships 

Outstanding performances from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships secured them second place in the medal table with nine gold, eight silver and two bronze medals. Amy Hunt (Marco Ariale) wrote her way into the history books, becoming the first athlete to win four gold medals in the same championships. While Dina Asher-Smith (Blackheath & Bromley, Michael J Ford) added two golds and one silver to her tally, making her the most decorated athlete ever at the European Athletics Championships.

Rapid racing at the England Athletics Relay Championships 

Just days after GB&NI’s success at the European Athletics Championships, club athletes from across the country lined up on the same track ready to impress at the England Relay Championships. The day after winning the National Athletics League in Eton, Thames Valley Harriers were unmatched in the senior 4x100m claiming both the men’s and women’s titles with the men breaking a club record that had previously stood for 50 years. There was another record-breaking performance for Be Fit Today Track Academy’s U16 girls 4x100m team.

A fitting conclusion to the England Athletics championship season in Bedford 

The England Athletics Championship season in Bedford was concluded with the Age Group Combined Events and Senior Para Championships. These championships saw plenty of drama, excitement and unpredictability to keep everybody on their toes. England combined events titles were claimed by Leila Newth (Ealing and Southall, Dave Johnson), Sophie Horsfall-Samb (City of York, Craig Pounder), Caleb Green (Cheltenham & County, Marie Burnett) and Freddie Strong (Border Harriers, John Little).  

The Senior Para Championships saw lots of close competition with standout performances from Kieran O’Hara, T20 (Havering, Patrick Gahagan) in the 1500m, Anna Nicholson, F35 (Gateshead, Richard Kaufman) in the discus throw and Hetty Bartlett, T38 (City of Norwich, John Herbert) in the 100m and 200m.

A fantastic finale to the summer of Master representative races 

Towards the end of August, the England Masters team took to the track for the final representative race of the summer, the masters representative 3000m. Deeside in North Wales was the setting for the second of this year's 3000m track races and what a night of racing it turned out to be. The conditions were perfect as athletes from England and Wales lined up to do battle over seven and a half glorious laps.

England teams impress at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon

Two England teams headed to Larne, Northern Ireland, for the Antrim Coast Half Marathon and all the athletes raced really well. Our men's team delivered outstanding performances, with every athlete achieving a personal best, including an impressive debut half marathon. The women's team also rose to the occasion, combining strong individual runs to secure Home Nations team gold.

There’s plenty more athletics and running action in the coming weeks with England teams due to compete at:

• Trofeo Nasego World Cup Mountain Race: 5-6 September 
• Junior Mountain Running Home International: 12 September 

Photos from European Athletics Championships by Sam Mellish/British Athletics