On Saturday night in Birmingham at the Alexander Stadium during the European Athletics Championships, there was a security incident that included armed police. This led to many athletes and thousands of fans present at the event to be affected by this incident.
One coach as reported in the Guardian stated that there were armed police around warm up tracks and bus terminals, while police were searching the buses.
Another coach reported that the bus they got on that was supposed to leave at 10:15pm left at 11:45 following delays due to this security incident.
The West Midlands Police put out a statement regarding this incident stating that at 8:15pm on Saturday,
“concerns were raised after a man was found in the area of Alexander Stadium with the wrong accreditation.”
Due to this the West Midlands Police explained,
“As a precaution, security measures were put in place and transport for the championship staff and athletes were suspended,”
and they recognised that,
“This then led to delays to transport from the stadium for the wider public.”
The Stadium also announced that the medal ceremonies would be postponed to Sunday. The 23,000 crowd were also unable to leave the venue which is about 5 miles from the centre of Birmingham.
Now Police have said,
“There is no immediate risk to the public”
and the man they apprehended remains in custody for questioning.
The organisers for the European Athletics Championship, Birmingham 2026, issued an apology on X stating that they,
“Apologise for the significant delays in leaving the Alexander Stadium Venue this evening.”
Thankfully, the European Athletics have reiterated that,
“Any issues connected with last night (Saturday) have now been fully resolved.”
