Italy has named its marathon team for the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships from 10-16 August.
Reigning European marathon champion Iliass Aouani and Paris Marathon winner Yemaneberhan Crippa might be absent but Italy has still named a strong team for the men’s race including 2024 European half marathon silver medallist Pietro Riva (2:06:46 PB) and Yohanes Chiappinelli (2:05:24), who finished sixth in the marathon at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
They will be joined by 2014 European marathon champion Daniele Meucci (2:07:49), who will be making his eighth appearance at the European Athletics Championships, along with former European and world mountain running champion Xavier Chevrier (2:11:50) and Ahmed Ouhda (2:08:37).
The women’s team includes Italian record-holder Sofiia Yaremchuk (2:23:14) and Giovanna Epis (2:23:46), who finished fifth in the marathon at the 2022 European Athletics Championships.
"The two teams have remarkable technical prowess and I'm confident that all the Italian athletes will be able to perform. We have agreed with Iliass Aouani and Yeman Crippa, our two best marathon runners, a training and competition programme aimed at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, which therefore does not include the marathon at the European Championships this year.
“The same applies to Elisa Palmero, our best representative in the discipline to date," said Italian Athletics Federation Technical Director Antonio La Torre.
The full Italian team can be found here.
