Five Days Trackside – Photographing the 2026 European Athletics Championships
There are assignments that you know will stay with you long after you’ve packed away the cameras. Five Days Trackside – Photographing the 2026 European Athletics Championships
For me, photographing the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham was one of them.
For five days I had the privilege of working trackside at the Alexander Stadium, photographing some of the finest athletes in Europe competing on one of the biggest stages in the sport.
It was intense, exhausting at times, hugely enjoyable – and an incredible photographic experience.
Five Days Behind the Camera - Photographing the 2026 European Athletics Championships
Major athletics championships present a very different challenge to many of the sports I normally photograph.
At a football match, much of my attention is concentrated on one game and anticipating where the next decisive moment might happen.
Athletics is completely different.
At any one time there can be action on the track, a field event taking place behind you, an athlete celebrating at the finish line and another preparing for perhaps the biggest performance of their career.
The challenge is deciding where to be, what to concentrate on and when to move.
Over five days at Birmingham 2026, that became a constant process of anticipation.
Sometimes the photograph was about the athletic performance itself. At other times, the image I wanted came a few seconds afterwards – the emotion, relief or celebration once an athlete realised what they had achieved.
Those moments are often my favourites.
Photographing Europe’s Best
One of the great privileges of covering a championship of this level is having the opportunity to photograph athletes who are already among the biggest names in world sport.
The championships brought Olympic champions, world champions and record holders to Birmingham, alongside emerging athletes experiencing one of the biggest occasions of their careers.
From the explosive power of the sprints and hurdles to middle-distance racing, throws, jumps and relays, every discipline presents a completely different photographic challenge.
A sprinter may give you only fractions of a second.
With the pole vault or high jump, you’re anticipating exactly where the athlete will be at the crucial moment.
During a distance race, meanwhile, the story develops over several laps and you’re looking not only for action but also the expressions and small details that show just how demanding elite competition really is.
More Than the Finish Line
Some of my favourite sports photographs aren’t necessarily pictures of the winning moment. They’re what happens immediately afterwards.
At a major championship, years of training and sacrifice can come down to a few seconds. Once an athlete crosses the line or completes their final attempt, that emotion suddenly becomes visible.
Celebration. Exhaustion. Relief. Disappointment. Sometimes disbelief.
As a photographer, you have to keep watching.
It’s very easy to concentrate on capturing the finish and then lower the camera. I’ve learned that the photograph which really tells the story can happen five, ten or even thirty seconds later.
At Birmingham there were countless examples.
Those are the photographs I particularly enjoy making because they show something beyond the result. They show the person behind the performance.
Finding a Different Picture
Working alongside some of the world’s leading sports photographers also makes you think carefully about your own photography. Everyone has access to the same race. Everyone sees the same finish. The challenge is finding your picture.
That might mean choosing a different position, isolating an athlete with a long lens, looking for symmetry or a clean background, shooting wider to include the stadium, or simply noticing something happening away from the obvious action.
Over five days I was constantly looking for those opportunities.
The Alexander Stadium provided some fantastic backgrounds and viewpoints, while changing light throughout the day could completely transform the appearance of the venue.
As the championship progressed, I became increasingly familiar with where particular pictures might work – and equally importantly, where they wouldn’t.
The Pressure of the Decisive Moment
There’s another aspect of photographing major sport that isn’t always apparent when looking at the finished images. You don’t get another attempt.
If something extraordinary happens in front of you, there’s no opportunity to ask anyone to do it again.
Camera settings, autofocus, shutter speed, lens choice and positioning all have to disappear into the background. When the action starts, your attention needs to be completely on what’s happening in front of you. That’s particularly true with athletics.
A 100-metre race is over almost as soon as it begins. A long jumper gets only a handful of attempts. A medal-winning celebration might last a couple of seconds.
That’s the pressure – but it’s also precisely what makes sports photography so addictive.
A Memorable Championships for Great Britain
The home crowd had plenty to celebrate during the week.
Great Britain & Northern Ireland finished the championships with 19 medals – nine gold, eight silver and two bronze– making Birmingham a memorable championship for the British team.
Amy Hunt emerged as one of the outstanding British stories of the championships, while some of Europe’s biggest athletics stars produced memorable performances across the seven days.
Being trackside to photograph a major international championship on home soil made the whole experience particularly special.
Five Days I’ll Remember
By the end of my fifth day, I’d shot thousands of frames, walked countless miles around the stadium and spent many hours selecting, editing, captioning and transmitting photographs.
But I’d also come away with something much more important: a collection of images from an event that I genuinely loved photographing.
Looking through them now takes me straight back to being trackside at Alexander Stadium – watching the athletes walk out, hearing the crowd build before a final and knowing that in the next few seconds there might be a photograph you don’t want to miss. That’s why I photograph sport.
Birmingham 2026 – In Pictures
The photographs below are a selection from my five days covering the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
Rather than simply recording the results, I’ve tried to select images that capture the speed, power, concentration, emotion and atmosphere of championship athletics.
Explore my photography from the 2026 European Athletics Championships.
For professional sports photography, editorial assignments and event coverage, please contact Mark Dunn Photography.
Photography © Mark Dunn Photograph
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