Sophie Becker and Lauren Roy have both advanced to the semi-finals of their respective events at the European Championships in Birmingham.
Sophie Becker qualified for the women’s 400m semi-finals at the Alexander Stadium when she became the first of the Irish athletes in action on Wednesday morning.
Competing in Round 1 Heat 1 of the women’s 400m, the 29-year-old ran a season’s best time of 52.28 seconds in finishing third.
With the 13 fastest qualifiers across all heats progressing to the semi-finals, the European silver medallist from the women’s 4 x 400m relay in Rome in 2024 had to wait until the conclusion of heats to see if she would qualify for Thursday’s semi-finals.
Sophie Becker wasn’t entirely convinced that her 400m heat time was enough for a semi-final place, but with her spot secure, she’s looking to build on that first performance. pic.twitter.com/60TnJc3mVu
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 12, 2026
After the second heat, Becker was in seventh place, and following the running of heat three, she was in 13th position, with 13 qualifiers going forward to tomorrow’s semi-finals at 12.45pm.
Lauren Roy, who competed in the 100m heats on Monday, was back in action on Wednesday morning when taking to the start line for heat 1 of the women’s 200m.
Lauren Roy finishes fourth in her 200m heat in a time of 23.20. She’ll have to have to wait and see if that time is good enough to progress to the semi-finals.
Watch all the action here https://t.co/bCe53VfDsj. pic.twitter.com/zAsI4uLB8R
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 12, 2026
Running in lane 9, Roy finished third in a time of 23.20 seconds, outside of her season’s best of 22.79 seconds which she ran in Texas in May.
Lauren Roy has secured her place in the 200m semi-final at the European Championships and she’s looking to improve further on her time when she competes this evening. pic.twitter.com/mPyIpJsDVB
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 12, 2026
With 12 athletes qualifying from the three heats, Roy finished sixth overall, and will now join Rhasidat Adeleke, who received a bye, in tonight’s semi-finals which will get underway at 8.20pm.
