The top division of the European Athletics Team Championships will take place in Madrid, Spain, on June 26-29. The Great Britain and Northern Ireland (GB & NI) team will go up against 15 other countries. The meet will take place across four days of competition to see which nation will be crowned Team Champions. Each country fields one athlete per event across 37 disciplines — spanning sprints, hurdles, middle- and long-distance races, jumps, throws, and relays. Each point is awarded based on the athlete’s finishing position, which then contributes to the overall points for that nation.
Lawrence Oboye
UK Athletics (UKA) has announced Lawrence Okoye as Team Captain for Great Britain & Northern Ireland (GB & NI) team at the European Athletics Team Championships in Madrid, which begins this evening.
Earlier this season, the discus thrower broke his own British record, surpassing the 70m mark with a distance of 70.76m. This achievement broke his own men’s discus record, almost 13 years after he set the previous one. Okoye became the first British athlete to win a medal in the discus at the European Championships in Munich 2022, and in the same year, he won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The Croydon Harrier competed at the London 2012 Olympics but decided to move to the United States to pursue a career in American football for seven years. He returned to athletics in 2019.
Schedule for Thursday, June 26
| Event Start (CET) | UK Time | Event | Heat | Name | |
| 16:00 | 15:00 | W pole vault | F | Gemma Tutton (senior debut) | |
| 17:20 | 16:20 | M pole vault | F | Owen Heard (senior debut) |
Traditionally, the team captain hosts a speech to the rest of the squad. Lawrence spoke about his own experiences and the importance of maintaining a positive mindset and mental strength when competing.
About being asked to be the team captain, he said, “It was a surprise, but I do take it very seriously as I have been in this room many times, and it does mean something to have someone stand up in front of you in an individual sport like this, so it means a lot to me for sure.
“I wanted them to take away something valuable to them that can help them in their careers in the future. Many people focus on the physical side of the sport, but at the top level, it’s really about how you deal with it mentally, so I wanted that to come across.
“The rest of the season for me is all about hitting my ceiling, and if I hit that, I know good things will happen, so I will make sure I stay consistent at a higher level. It is going to take a lot to medal in Tokyo. We are on a good path, just got to keep going, and Saturday is going to be a good opportunity to do that.”
To watch the team in Madrid, you can catch it on the live stream, including event highlights, which will all be available on the European Athletics website and Eurovision Sport.
Live results will be available on the European Athletics website: https://www.european-athletics.com.
How does the scoring work?
Points are awarded based on placing: the winner earns as many points as there are teams in the respective division (16 – 1st and 2nd Division, 17 – 3rd Division), with each subsequent place scoring one point fewer — down to 1 point for last place. Athletes who fail to finish or record a valid mark receive zero.
In the case of a tie — for example, two athletes sharing third place — the points for those positions are averaged and split. So, if two athletes tie for third in the First Division, they would each receive 13.5 points (the average of 14 and 13). It’s the reason final team scores sometimes include half-points — and the old idiom still rings true: every point counts.
For track events up to 800m distance (including relays), there will be two heats and the overall result will be based on times. For 1500m, 5000m and 3000m steeplechase upwards, there is a single heat of all competing teams.
The horizontal field events (long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus, hammer and javelin) will be held as a straight final with 16 (or 17) athletes. All participating athletes will have three attempts (rounds 1, 2 & 3). Then, the best 8 athletes will have two more attempts (rounds 4 & 5). Finally, the best 4 athletes will have the final attempt (round 6) to decide the overall standings.
In the vertical jumps (high jump and pole vault), the athletes will be divided in two groups (A & B). Both groups will be held simultaneously. The overall standing of the competition will be based on the combined results of both groups.
Furthermore, each competitor is limited to a maximum of four fouls across the whole competition. After the fourth foul, he/she may not jump further unless he/she has won the competition. The rule of four maximum fouls does not apply in the case of the jump-off for the first place.
