Belgium’s Alexander Doom broke the men’s 400m European Athletics Championships record, a mark that has stood since 1998 in Rome on Monday, 10 June to take the continental gold with a blistering time of 44.15.

He stepped up to the blocks with the third-fastest semi-finals time, but took control of the final as he came around the second bend to fly down the final straight and cross the finish line 0.23 seconds ahead of second place.

Great Britain’s Charles Dobson took the silver medal after putting pressure on the Belgian in the final 100m and finished with a European top-10 time of 44.38.

Doom, having recently won the 2024 World Indoor Championships in the same race, spoke to media after his win about that transition, saying “I just enjoyed running and I also enjoyed my training before this championship. I tried the high altitude training to manage this transition from indoors and everything felt in the right place.

“I am more confident, I know how I need to start the race, what I need to do and I think I gained that kind of respect for the race and that is the main thing for me now,” he added.