Andreas Almgren 10,000m at the 2026 European Athletics Championships Birmingham; aims for first European title.

European Athletics Championships 2026: Andreas Almgren hopes Birmingham continues his journey down road to redemption: “I want the gold”

Months after his historic 10,000m bronze at the World Athletics Championships, the Sweden star has another chance to gets his hands on some gold at the European Athletics Championships. Can he finally clinch his first continental title on 15 August at the Alexander Stadium?

If you look up Andreas Almgren ’s name, you will find countless references to his athletics career. A versatile runner, he holds national records from the 3,000 metres to the longest track event, the 10,000m. The Swede is also Europe’s fastest-ever half-marathon runner.

“I don’t think a lot of sub-60-minute half-marathoners have an official 100m personal best,” he jokes.

Dig a little deeper, and you may find reports about Almgren long before he ever set foot on the track.

He was a formidable football defender, who regularly attended Sweden’s elite youth camps and, had he stayed in the sport, he could have played alongside some of his former teammates at the recently held FIFA Football World Cup 2026 .

“I started doing some things with the national youth A team. But I was also an ambitious young kid who wanted to do everything. Then I got my first stress fracture when I was 16,” he recalled.

“I could compete at the national athletics championships here in Sweden and then go straight back and play a football game. I was quite versatile.”

Ironically, it was pain that pushed him away from the pitch, and the sporting phenom decided to focus on running.

He wasted no time in launching the next phase of his career. As a teenager, he competed both as a middle-distance runner and occasionally as a sprinter.

Slightly more than a decade later, the 30-year-old, who at one stage came close to quitting the sport because of a series of devastating injuries, is now redefining European distance running.

After making Swedish athletics history last year by becoming the country’s first long-distance runner to win a medal at the World Championships, he is now well placed to claim his first European title when he lines up for the men’s 10,000m at the 2026 European Athletics Championships .

2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham: Full schedule, medallists and all results

Men’s 10000m Final | Athletics | Olympic Games Paris 2024

The Men’s 10000m Final was held on 02

2024 at Stade de France, Paris. Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) claimed the Gold, Berihu Aregawi (ETH) Silver and Grant Fisher (USA) completed the podium.

Almgren was a talented footballer with a passion for the game and had the potential to make a career in Sweden’s competitive football system. Playing as a right wing-back for one of the Nordic region’s most storied clubs, AIK, he became known for his speed and stamina, rarely losing a running duel on the pitch. His hard work even earned him opportunities to train with the club’s senior team.

“I played football until I was 18 years old. Some people that I played with are now going to the U.S. for the World Cup,” he told Olympics.com in an interview in his hometown of Stockholm ahead of June’s Diamond League meeting. He was referring to former AIK teammate Anton Salétros, and Jesper Karlström , who played for a rival youth side at the time.

“I was at the youth national team camps and back then we were one of the biggest clubs in Sweden. I would play on the right wing, then finish and go run track. I was an ambitious young kid who wanted to do everything. And when you’re not fully grown yet, your bones are not quite as dense. You start getting those problems.”

Those recurring injuries pushed him towards athletics, where he initially specialised in the 800m and quickly showed his talent. He won bronze at the 2014 World Athletics U20 Championships and looked destined for a bright future.

Andreas Almgren of Sweden [far right] pose for a photo on the podium after winning in the men’s 800m final during day six of the IAAF World Junior Championships at Hayward Field on July 27, 2014 in Eugene, Oregon.

As he moved between the 800m and 1500m, his career became defined more by the torn muscles, stress fractures and untimely illnesses. There were flashes of brilliance, including several national titles and a silver medal at the 2015 European Indoor Championships over 800m, but he struggled for consistency.

“After my breakthrough when I was 19 in the 800m, I went seven years without reaching a championship,” he said. “I had a big stress fracture in 2016 that kept me from running for almost a year. It was my darkest period… ”

For a while, it appeared that one of Sweden’s brightest running talents might never fulfil his potential on track. Instead, those difficult years would ultimately cultivate the persistence he needed to become a distance-running star.

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In one of the greatest 10,000m races in Olympic history, Haile Gebrselassie wins gold by a fingertip, defending his Olympic title from Atlanta. With a few meters to go, Gebrselassie powers to the finish line surpassing Paul Tergat in the last seconds of the race, winning by just 0.09 seconds. With this win, Gebrselassie becomes the 3rd person to defend a 10,000m title. Athletics 10000m Men’s Final - Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics - Haile Gebrselassie (ETH), Paul Tergat (KEN), Assefa Mezgebu (ETH)

Almgren clawed his way out of those rough years with the help of a sports psychologist, who helped him change the way he viewed setbacks.

“When I started talking with him and he said that, because I’m a very competitive person, I didn’t really have any problems being at the arena. The issue was that I got so stressed whenever something didn’t go according to plan ,” Almgren explained.

“I learned that sometimes it’s about listening to the body. Do I need more rest? He helped me see the bigger picture… and here I am. I haven’t had any injuries for two years now. It was manifesting physically, but mostly it was just mental .”

Another major shift came through a more scientific approach to training. Known for his unconventional methods, including heat-chamber sessions and carefully structured high-intensity workouts, Almgren began applying lessons from his master’s degree in mathematics to his running. Every detail became measurable, from heart rate and lactate levels to pace and recovery patterns.

“I do a lot of training, but it’s very controlled. I think I’m probably one of the athletes who does the highest mileage for a 5,000m or 10,000m runner, averaging more than 200 kilometres a week during my base training,” said the half-marathon specialist, who became the first European to break the 59-minute barrier when he clocked 58:42 at the 2025 Valencia Half Marathon.

There was also inspiration closer to home. Training alongside Norway’s double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and seeing his successes on global tracks, helped convince Almgren that European distance runners could compete with the world’s best.

“ Jakob has inspired a lot of us to feel that long-distance running is possible . It has become a global sport where anyone from anywhere in the world can compete and win,” Almgren said, referencing France’s Jimmy Gressier, the reigning world 10,000m champion and one of his main rivals in Birmingham.

“With Jimmy there, it’s not an easy thing to do. But if you’re one of the top five guys, then you should aim for the gold. European athletics couldn’t be in a better place right now .”

Silver medalist Yomif Kejelcha of Team Ethiopia, gold medalist Jimmy Gressier of Team France and bronze medalist Andreas Almgren of Team Sweden pose for a photo on the podium during the Men’s 10,000 Metres medal ceremony on day three of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 at National Stadium on September 15, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan.

The long road to redemption

As he prepares for the European Championships, where he starts among the favourites for the men’s 10,000m title, Almgren couldn’t help reflecting on his dream 2025 season.

Over a remarkable 12-month stretch, he rewrote four European records and with the highlight being the historic bronze medal in Tokyo. In doing so, he became the first Swedish distance runner to reach the World Athletics Championships podium.

“ It was a redemption year for me after the stress fracture before the Olympics ,” he said of him missing the 5000m at Paris 2024 .

“I had the gold medal in my mind [in Tokyo], but when I got the Swedish flag for the bronze everything started to dawn on me.

“I had tears in my eyes. It was such a big moment in history. Sweden’s first World Championship medal in distance running.”

He has another chance to carve a medal and wrap in the Swedish blue-and-yellow flag again on 15 August in Birmingham. This time the Swede is focusing solely on the 10,000m, the event in which he finished fourth at Rome 2024. Alongside Gressier, he is one of only a handful of Europeans to have broken the 27-minute barrier, making him one of the leading contenders for the title.

“ My main goal is the European Championships, and obviously I want the gold there ,” Almgren said.

Getty Images for European Athletics

Athletics | European Championships | Birmingham | United Kingdom