Nadine Visser wins women’s 100m hurdles at the 2026 European Athletics Championships, Birmingham; photo finish, one-thousandth-second margin
2026 European Athletics Championships: Netherlands’ Nadine Visser claims 100m hurdles title in close race
2026 European Athletics Championships: Netherlands’ Nadine Visser claims 100m hurdles title in close race
Visser beat Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska by one-thousandth of a second, with France’s Laëticia Bapté completing the podium with the bronze
Nadine Visser is finally a European individual senior champion.
The Dutch sprint hurdler won the women’s 100m hurdles final at the 2026 European Athletics Championships , edging out two-time champion Pia Skrzyszowska by one-thousandth of a second in a close race at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, Great Britain, on Tuesday (11 August).
The 31-year old two-time World Athletics Indoor Championships medallist arrived in Birmingham as the European leader after running 12.41 this season.
But her win was far from clear, needing a photo finish to separate her and the Polish contender, who settled for silver, with both athletes clocking 12.67s.
France’s Laëticia Bapté took bronze in 12.73s, her first individual senior podium finish.
World champion Ditaji Kambundji managed a fourth place finish.
Nadine Visser’s crowning moment was always coming
Few European athletes have been as consistent or as versatile as Visser since she first announced herself on the international stage.
At the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene, the Dutchwoman won bronze in both the 100m hurdles and heptathlon. More than a decade later, she has built an impressive collection of medals in the sprint hurdles event.
She is a four-time European indoor medallist, a two-time European outdoor medallist and a two-time World Indoor Championships medallist.
But there was one notable omission: an individual outdoor European title. In Birmingham, she finally delivered it.
There had been signs throughout the season that this could be Visser’s year.
In June, she clocked 12.41 seconds at the Paris Diamond League to set a European lead and record the third-fastest time of her career.
She carried that form into Birmingham, qualifying for the final in 12.69s , although Poland’s Skrzyszowska had gone even quicker, running 12.60 in her own semi-final.
Skrzyszowska arrived in Birmingham with her own ambitions. The Pole previously won the European title in Munich in 2022 and was determined to reclaim the crown.
She came agonisingly close, but silver still extended an impressive European Championships record: she has now stood on the podium at each of the last three editions.
Athletics | European Championships | Birmingham | United Kingdom