Abbie Donnelly Makes History with European Marathon Bronze in Birmingham

Abbie Donnelly became the first British woman to win a European Championships marathon medal, taking bronze on the hills of Birmingham in 2:27:33.

The 29-year-old, who runs for Lincoln Wellington AC and is coached by Rob Lewis, crossed the line 12 seconds behind Hungary's Vindics-Toth and held off a charging Nóra Szabó, also of Hungary, for the final spot on the podium. Finland's Alisa Vainio won the race in dominant fashion, shattering the championship record with 2:22:26 — the fastest time ever run at a European Championships marathon.

Donnelly's route to this moment has been anything but sudden. She won two team golds at the European Cross Country Championships before committing to the roads, then added a team gold in the half-marathon at the 2024 European Championships in Rome. The marathon, though, is the event that demands the most patience. A championship marathon means racing for medals rather than time, and on this Birmingham course there was no hiding from the terrain.

The route was hilly, with a cruel uphill drag to the finish line that punished anyone who had spent too much early. Donnelly ran within herself through the middle miles and had enough left to secure third.

What makes this result resonate is its scarcity. No British woman had previously stood on a European Championships marathon podium, a gap that spans decades of the event's history.

Earlier in the championships, Sweden's Andreas Almgren provided the other headline performance on the roads, winning the men's 10,000m in 27:23.44 — a championship record that wiped out the longest-standing mark on the books.

For Donnelly, the bronze is the individual medal her cross-country and half-marathon team successes hinted was possible. On a course that rewarded stubbornness as much as speed, she found both.