Britain's Amy Hunt lights up Birmingham 2026 opening night with 100m gold

Amy Hunt continued her excellent summer and completed the first part of a potential European quadruple by becoming the first British athlete to win gold at Birmingham 2026.

The 24-year-old from Newark stormed through to win the women’s 100 metres on the opening night of competition at the Alexander Stadium.

Hunt, who won 100m silver at last month’s Commonwealth Games, ran 11 seconds flat to pip Poland’s Ewa Swoboda on the line and claim her first senior international title. Belgium’s Delphine Nkanska took bronze, with defending champion Dina Asher-Smith back in fifth.

That was the position Hunt found herself in at the midway point of the race but she underlined her reputation as a fast finisher by powering through over the closing metres.

"It feel so sweet. I have had such a string of silvers and I was starting to get a bit fed up with it, so I thought it was time for gold," Hunt told BBC Sport.

"My parents gifted me these gold earrings to finally level up, because I wear all-silver jewellery. They said it was time for gold - they left me that note two nights ago - so it made me quite emotional.

"It was definitely time for me to come of age here and win the gold."

She added: “As I crossed the line I could have screamed, I could have cried. Everyone knows I am not that emotional and not that good at showing my emotions.

“But this win is incredibly special to me, with it being the first in the UK and also at a track that I raced at so much growing up.”

The victory may only be the beginning for Hunt, who will also run in the 200m and perhaps both of the 4x100m relay events.

Her victory came just 10 minutes after the British team had won their first medal of the championships, taking silver in the 4x100m mixed relay event.

Norway won gold in that event, capping their own superb night after one of their greatest-ever athletes, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, delivered one of the stories of the summer in the 5000m.

The 25-year-old became a seven-time European champion by winning his first race since last September’s world championships.

Few believed Ingebrigtsen, who had been sidelined since undergoing achilles surgery at the start of the year, would even be on the start line until he declared for the championships just a fortnight ago.

But after a race which had appeared up for grabs for most of the 12-and-half laps of the track, Ingebrigtsen appeared in cruise control when he hit the front with 50 metres to go, barely reacting when he crossed the line.

While Hunt and Ingebrigtsen’s wins were the highlights, another opening night talking point was the relatively sparse crowd.

Organisers insist ticket sales for sessions later in the week are strong, yet the number of empty seats was still disappointing for the first European Championships ever hosted on UK soil.

Elsewhere, Britain’s Emma Nwofor suffered disappointment as she failed to progress past the first round of the 100m hurdles. The 29-year-old’s heat time of 13.04 was only 14th quickest, with the top-12 going through.

Earlier in the evening, Dutch star Jessica Schilder claimed the first gold medal of the championships, winning a third straight European title. Britain’s Scott Lincoln finished fourth in the men’s event.