The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010)

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

event organised by the

European Athletics Association The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe.

Editions

First held, for men only, in 1934 in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, and separately for women for the first time in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1938, the Championships took place every four years following the end of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, with the exception of the 1969 and 1971 editions, becoming a joint men's and women's competition from the third edition in 1946 in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

. Since 2010, they have been organised every two years, and when they coincide with the Summer Olympics, the marathon and

racewalking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...

events are not contested. From 2016, a

half-marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

has been held in those Olympic years, and both the marathon and half-marathon events held as part of the Championships also function as the principle European elite team events at those distances. In 2018 and 2022, the European Athletics Championships formed part of the quadrennial multi-sport European Championships, a new event designed and held by individual European sports federations. In 2022, European Athletics announced its intention to withdraw from the multi-sport event for 2026. The 2020 edition set for Charlety Stadium in Paris was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, making this the first cancellation of the event since the 1942 championship was abandoned due to

. The event was not moved to an alternative date, with Munich continuing as the scheduled host in 2022. An indoor equivalent, the

European Athletics Indoor Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games ...

, is organised by the

European Athletic Association The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

in odd numbered years. While the European Games of 2015 featured athletics, and shall do so again in

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, these events are not editions of the European Athletics Championships. The championships were long dominated, especially on the women's side by Eastern Bloc countries, and especially the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. About 30 years after the dissolution of both countries, Great Britain & Northern Ireland finally took the lead in the all-time medal table following the 2022 edition although German athletes who historically completed for various national teams (

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and present-day reunified

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) won much more medals in total. Notes: ♂ – men, ♀ – women

All-time medal table

''Updated after 2022 European Athletics Championships.Statistics Handbook 2022 European Athletics Championships
European Athletics (2022). Retrieved on 2022-08-15.''

Former countries A historical sovereign state is a Sovereign state, state that once existed, but has since been dissolved due to conflict, war, rebellion, annexation, or uprising. This page lists sovereign states, country, countries, nations, or empires that have c ...

are pointed in ''italic''. Team medals in half marathon and marathon are not included into this table (see European Half Marathon Cup and European Marathon Cup).
* was the name, under which Russian athletes competed in the 2016 European Athletics Championships, 2016 and 2018 European Athletics Championships, 2018 Championships. Their medals were not included in the official medal table. As of 2022, Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia (country), Georgia, Gibraltar, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, North Macedonia and San Marino have yet to win a medal. Saar Protectorate, Saar competed once in 1954 European Athletics Championships without winning a medal.

Championship records

Multiple winners

Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type. Discus thrower Sandra Perković of Croatia holds the record for most gold medals at six. Marita Koch of East Germany is the only other athlete to have won 6 gold medals, winning the 400 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay double on three occasions between 1978 and 1986. French steeple-chaser Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad won six finals at European championships, but was disqualified post-race having won the 2014 European Athletics Championships – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase, 2014 men's steeplechase in Zurich for removing his vest in the home straight.

Men

Women

Multiple medallists

A total of 11 men and 13 women have won six or more medals at the competition.

Men

Women

Most medals in the same event

A total of 17 men and 8 women have won four or more medals in the same event. Sandra Perković of Croatia is the only athlete, male or female, to win the same event, the women's discus throw six times between 2010 and 2022.

Men

Women

Most appearances

A total of 36 men and 29 women have at least 6 appearances.

Men

* including participation at one European Championships at which he was disqualified for a doping offence

Women

* including participation at one European Championships at which she was disqualified for a doping offence

Notes

References

External links

Official European Athletics websiteBerlin 2018 official website

Paris 2020 official website
{{Authority control European Athletics Championships, European championships European Athletic Association competitions, Championships Biennial athletics competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1934 Continental athletics championships 1934 establishments in Europe

Editions

All-time medal table

Championship records

Multiple winners

Men

Women

Multiple medallists

Men

Women

Most medals in the same event

Men

Women

Most appearances

Men

Women

See also

Notes

References

External links