Greece is sending a record 59-member national team to the European Athletics Championships at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, featuring title holder Miltos Tentoglou.
The 27th edition of the competition marks the first time Great Britain has hosted the European Athletics Championships in the 92-year history of the event, which began in 1934. The Greek squad is its largest in event history, following the forced absence of Oxana Koreneva due to injury.
The team arrives following Greek success at the World U20 Championships, which succeeded previous achievements at the European U20 in Rieti.
Morning qualification schedule
Maria Rafailidou, newly arrived from Eugene, and Maria Magkoulia open the Greek campaign in the women's shot put qualification at 12:35. The qualification standard is set at 18.20.
Christos Frantzeskakis begins his hammer throw campaign five minutes later in Group A, needing a throw over 78.00 to guarantee a spot in the final. Giorgos Papanastasiou and Michalis Anastasakis compete in Group B at 14:20 under the same qualification threshold.
Polyniki Emmanouilidou and Rafaela Spanoudaki start the Greek track entries in the women's 100m qualification at 13:25. They must record one of the 12 fastest times across three heats to advance to the semi-finals alongside 12 athletes who qualified directly on season performances.
Three-time champion and defending title holder Miltos Tentoglou enters the men's long jump qualification at 13:30 alongside Nikos Stamatonikolos. The competition takes place across two groups with the qualification standard set at 8.15.
Kostas Gennikis, Iason Machairas, and Odysseas Mouzenidis conclude the morning session in the men's shot put qualification. Organizers set the qualification line at 20.60.
Evening finals and field events
The first evening program includes five finals: men's shot put, women's shot put, women's 100m, men's 5,000m, and the mixed 4x400m relay. Semi-finals for the women's 100m take place earlier in the afternoon.
Spyridoula Karydi represents Greece in the triple jump qualification at 21:55, targeting an entry mark of 14.15. Stamatia Skarveli competes in the hammer throw qualification, where a mark over 71.50 guarantees a place in the final, though reaching more than 12 automatic qualifiers remains difficult across jumping and throwing events.
Most Greek national team members arrived in Birmingham on August 8 and conducted initial warm-ups at the Alexander Stadium main arena and warm-up track. Athletes including Miltos Tentoglou, Elina Tzengko, and most throwers opted to train at the quieter Warwick university stadium.
