Andreas Almgren runs 27:23.44, a championship record, for the European 10,000 m title
The Swede split 21:59.0 at 8000 m and closed the last 5000 m in 13:17.74 to win by 19 seconds from Dominic Lobalu in Birmingham.
Photograph: Andreas Almgren and Grant Fisher in the 5000 m at the 2026 Bislett Games in Oslo, by Ssu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsAndreas Almgren won the men's 10,000 m at the European Championships in Birmingham on Saturday in 27:23.44, a championship record and Sweden's first gold over the distance at these championships. Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu of Switzerland was second in 27:42.67 and Jimmy Gressier of France third in 28:07.90, ahead of Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa in 28:08.56 and Baptiste Guyon of France in 28:20.61.
Almgren did not wait for a kick. He passed 8000 m in 21:59.0, the fastest 8 km split in the history of the European 10,000 m, and ran the last 5000 m in 13:17.74, which RunBlogRun reckons is the fastest closing 5000 m in the event's history by more than 17 seconds. Lobalu, collecting his second European 10,000 m medal, was the only man anywhere near him. Ireland's Jack O'Leary moved up from 17th at halfway to tenth in 28:24.89.
The same evening Stefan Nillessen won the 1500 m, Kate O'Connor took the heptathlon with an Irish record of 6,751 points, and Karsten Warholm ran a championship record 46.63 in the 400 m hurdles.
A 27:23 run from the front, with a 13:17 second half, on a championship night with nothing but a medal to gain. He wanted the time as well.
Sources: Marathon Handbook; RunBlogRun; Athletics Ireland.
