Finland's Alisa Vainio and Germany's Amanal Petros won the women's and men's marathon titles at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Sunday. Vainio dominated the women's race in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 26 seconds, while Petros broke clear after 25 kilometres and took the men's crown in 2:09:11.
Vainio attacked almost immediately on an undulating five-kilometre circuit that runners covered eight times. She passed halfway in 1:10:40 and never surrendered control, finishing four minutes and 55 seconds ahead of Hungary's Lili Anna Vindics-Tóth. El País reported that the gap was the largest in the history of the women's European Championship marathon, surpassing Rosa Mota's 4:04 winning margin from 1986.
The 28-year-old Finn also lowered the championship record by almost three minutes. Vindics-Tóth secured silver, and Britain's Abbie Donnelly earned bronze to become the first British woman to win a European marathon medal. Spain took bronze in the women's team competition, led by Carolina Robles in eighth place with 2:28:07.
Petros made the decisive move on a steep section around the 25-kilometre point after Germany had placed several runners near the front during the early stages. The Eritrean-born German, runner-up at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, maintained the advantage to add a European title to his growing record in road racing. Spain finished fourth in the men's team standings.
The victories reinforced the recent form of both champions. World Athletics reported that Vainio set a Finnish record of 2:20:39 when she won the Seville Marathon in February. Petros set Germany's marathon record of 2:04:03 in Valencia in December 2025 and a national half-marathon record of 59:22 in Berlin this year.
The marathon races formed part of the final day of the seven-day championships, staged at Alexander Stadium and on Birmingham's roads from August 10 to 16. Their contrasting winning methods, Vainio's long solo effort and Petros's mid-race surge, delivered two of the closing programme's most significant titles as the championship moved toward its final track events.
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