Ireland’s Mark English, who set a new European Championships record of 1:43.49 in the semi-finals, was crowned European champion. The final was considerably slower, with English winning in 1:45.26. Bloudek took silver in 1:45.62, while Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui claimed bronze in 1:45.71.
For the Croatian 27-year-old middle-distance runner, this was his first European Championships final. The 33-year-old Irish athlete English, meanwhile, added gold to the two bronze medals he had previously won, in Munich in 2022 and Zurich in 2014.