Having claimed 200m silver at the World Athletics Championships last year, Hunt clocked her fastest ever season opener in the 60m with 7.17s to open her 2026 account.

Azu also enjoyed a stellar 2025 with world and European golds indoors and the pair appear to be hitting form at the perfect time with a home championships looming.

Birmingham 2026 marks the first time the European Athletics Championships has been hosted by a British city and Lewis-Francis is expecting fireworks in his hometown.

“Amy Hunt is an inspiration to the sport. There are so many young girls waiting to see her compete. She’s going to do amazingly,” said Lewis-Francis.

“The same with Jeremiah Azu. He will definitely shine at the European Championships. He’s an amazing athlete and an amazing guy.

“He left his original coach to go to Italy, came back to Wales and won gold at the European and World Indoor Championships in 2025.

“So, it’s super exciting times for sprinting.”

Mark Lewis-Francis during a media event to mark the launch of the availability of Group Tickets for the 2026 European Athletics Championships at Ferndale Primary School on February 04, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Image: Nathan Stirk – British Athletics via Getty Images)

Lewis-Francis knows better than most what it takes to medal at a European Championships, having won 4x100m gold in 2006 and an individual silver in 2010.

The ‘Darlaston Dart’ made history when he anchored Team GB’s gold medal-winning 4x100m team at Athens 2004.

But the 43-year-old still hails his European silver as one of the highlights of his sprinting career, earning the championships a special place in his heart.

“Barcelona in 2010 was a personal one for me. I was definitely the underdog,” recalled Lewis-Francis.

“I had just come back from an Achilles injury, and I moved over to Linford Christie’s training group. Going to that European Championships where my coach won his first Olympic gold, the pressure was on for me to get a medal.

“If you know Linford, he’s got banter, so I would never have been able to live it down if I didn’t get a medal.

“That was one of the highest highlights of my career. It was the last big race of my career too, so it meant a lot.”

Now, Lewis-Francis is inspiring the next generation of sprinters by visiting schools around the Alexander Stadium, where the championships will take place in Perry Barr.

With the stadium home to Lewis-Francis’ home club, Birchfield Harriers, the pupils at schools such as Ferndale Primary School in Great Barr, where he was speaking at the launch of the Birmingham 2026 group ticket offer, now have visible role models to look up to with the championships on their doorstep.

“It’s exciting times for Birmingham,” he said. “To come into the schools and get the locals involved see the faces of the kids who are excited that a European Championships is coming to Birmingham is amazing for me.

“Being able to see the kids that may not know who I am watch a video of me competing, it just puts a massive smile on my face.

“Coming back and inspiring the next generation and getting them involved in athletics is very rewarding. It shows that the legacy continues and everything that I achieved, I can pass on to the next generation.

“Seeing is believing. If you see somebody that you’ve seen on TV in real life and you watch them in real life compete, it makes you believe that you can do it as well.”

The European Athletics Championships will be coming to Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium from 10-16 August 2026. Interested parties can sign up for a Ticket alert at go.birmingham26.com/groups-sign-up. To book and find out more, visit tickets.birmingham26.com.