SB from Sophie Becker as she advances to 400m semi-finals

Sophie Becker has qualified for the women’s 400m semi-finals at the European Championships in Birmingham.

Becker was the first of the Irish athletes in action on Wednesday morning.

Competing in Round 1 Heat 1 of the women’s 400m, the 29-year-old ran a season’s best time of 52.28 seconds in finishing third.

With the 13 fastest qualifiers across all heats progressing to the semi-finals, the European silver medallist from the women’s 4 x 400m relay in Rome in 2024 had to wait until the conclusion of heats to see if she would qualify for Thursday’s semi-finals.

Sophie Becker wasn’t entirely convinced that her 400m heat time was enough for a semi-final place, but with her spot secure, she’s looking to build on that first performance. pic.twitter.com/60TnJc3mVu

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 12, 2026

After the second heat, Becker was in seventh place, and following the running of heat three, she was in 13th position, with 13 qualifiers going forward to tomorrow’s semi-finals at 12.45pm.