Romell Glave, who runs for Croydon Harriers at the Sports Arena in South Norwood, took the European 100m title in 10.09 seconds at Birmingham on 11 August.

A sprinter who trains on the eight-lane track off Albert Road in South Norwood is the fastest man in Europe. Romell Glave, a Croydon Harrier, won the 100 metres at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham on Tuesday 11 August in 10.09 seconds, leading a British one-two in the first men’s continental 100m final ever held in this country (British Athletics).

Glave had taken bronze at the last European Championships in 2024. “Upgrading from a bronze medal from 2024 is an amazing feeling,” he told British Athletics after the final. “We got one-two, which is also amazing. I was ready for this occasion.”

The final, in full

The race went off at 21:47 at the Alexander Stadium into a slight headwind of 0.4 metres per second. Glave, who had run 10.13 in his semi-final earlier the same evening, held off his GB team-mate Jeremiah Azu of Cardiff, with Germany’s Owen Ansah third. The two-time defending champion, Italy’s Marcell Jacobs, pulled up injured and finished seventh (full result).

Bar chart of the men's 100m final at the 2026 European Athletics Championships: Romell Glave 10.09, Jeremiah Azu 10.16, Owen Ansah 10.19, Elvis Afrifa 10.22, Dominik Kopec 10.29, Chituru Ali 10.34
Chart by Croydon Today, from the Birmingham 2026 men's 100m final result.
  • 1. Romell Glave (Great Britain & NI) 10.09
    1. Jeremiah Azu (Great Britain & NI) 10.16
    1. Owen Ansah (Germany) 10.19
    1. Elvis Afrifa (Netherlands) 10.22
    1. Dominik Kopeć (Poland) 10.29
    1. Chituru Ali (Italy) 10.34

It caps a season that has moved Glave, who is 26, into a different bracket. He ran 9.97 at the Diamond League meeting in London on 18 July, his first time under ten seconds and his personal best (2026 Novuna London Athletics Meet results). He is coached by Michael Afilaka (British Athletics team announcement).

The Croydon part of the story

Glave’s club is Croydon Harriers, whose home track is Croydon Sports Arena in Albert Road, South Norwood. The arena, a stone’s throw from Arena tram stop, has an eight-lane track, a floodlit pitch and a throwing cage, and is run for the council by the charitable operator Better. It is the same track where the club’s primary-age groups train on a Monday and Wednesday afternoon (Croydon Harriers training times).

Three Croydon Harriers were named in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for these championships: Glave in the 100m, Daryll Neita in the 100m and 200m, and the discus thrower Zara Obamakinwa (team announcement). One club, in one South London borough, supplied three of them.

Neita went into the championships as the defending European 100m champion and was seeded straight into the semi-finals, where she ran 11.34 for sixth in her heat on 10 August and did not reach the final. Obamakinwa threw 55.17m in the discus qualifying round on 12 August, placing 20th, with the top 12 going through to Friday’s final.

The last Croydon Harrier to win an individual European title before Glave was Martyn Rooney, who retained his 400m crown in Amsterdam in 2016 (BBC Sport).

What it means for you

The championships run to Sunday 16 August, and the sprint relays are the part still to come: the 4x100m heats are on Saturday evening and the finals on Sunday evening, with the schedule on the official championship site. Relay squads are confirmed shortly before each race, so whether the borough’s sprinters run is a decision for the team management this week.

Closer to home, the practical point is that the track is a public facility five minutes from a tram stop, and the club that produced a European champion takes beginners. Croydon Harriers asks new athletes of any age to email first and complete a six-session trial before joining, with senior sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and primary-age groups on Monday and Wednesday afternoons in term time (join the club). Fees and session prices are listed on the club’s own page; check them with the club before you turn up.

If you are planning a day out around the borough’s parks and sports grounds this summer, our things to do in Croydon page has the practical details, and the roadworks and travel page covers the tram works that are still affecting the town centre in August.