How Germany claimed the European Championships Nations Trophy

Germany grabbed the coveted European Championships Nations Trophy, awarded to the nation finishing top of the overall medals table across the nine participating sports, in dramatic fashion on a thrilling final night in Munich in August 2022.

With the battle between the host nation and Great Britain going down to the final athletics evening session, it was Julian Weber who finally secured the trophy with gold in the men’s javelin. Moments later, home favourite and individual 100m champion Gina Luckenkemper and her colleagues put the cherry on the cake with a memorable victory in the final event of the championships, the women’s 4x100m relay – their 26th gold overall cementing the trophy win and sending the 40,000+ Olympic Stadium crowd into a frenzy.

Great Britain finished second with 24 golds, Italy finished third in the overall standings with 14 golds while France missed out on a top three place with 11 titles across the nine participating sports.

After 11 days of thrilling action among the continent’s best athletes across nine sports, it seemed fitting the Nations Trophy was decided in the final events.

Both Germany and Britain were duelling it out fiercely throughout the whole competition, with the likes of marathon star Richard Ringer, decathlon king Niklas Kaul and sprint queen Luckenkemper blazing a trail for other nations to follow.

Britain were hot on their heels throughout, however, grabbing a memorable six rowing gold medals in the water on the opening weekend ahead of Jessica Gadivora’s stunning gymnastics gold medal on the floor on Sunday evening.

Eilish McColgan got the ball rolling for Britain in the athletics with 10,000m silver on the opening night at the Olympic Stadium, but Britain struggled for early momentum on a day when Ringer captured a breathtaking marathon victory at the city’s iconic Odeonsplatz.

Britain seized the advantage in the triathlon thanks to Non Stanford’s women’s gold medal but the hosts were red-hot in the velodrome, romping to eight gold medals as Britain won eight gongs overall but could not get their hands on gold.

The European Championships Nations Trophy was court side at the beach volleyball during Munich 2022.

Slovenia, Poland and Austria proved the nations to beat in sport climbing while in beach volleyball, it was Latvia and Sweden who reigned supreme.

As the European Championships progressed, focus on the Nations Trophy increased as broadcasters told the story of the emerging close race and showcased the silverware in their programming, while the trophy was toured around the sporting venues in Munich.

Munich mascot Gfreidi couldn’t resist posing with the European Championships Nations Trophy.

The blue riband athletics programme was always going to be pivotal to the final destination of the Nations Trophy, and so it proved as Germany and Britain slugged it out across seven thrilling days at the Olympic Stadium.

After McColgan had kicked off Britain’s campaign on Monday, they struggled to find much early momentum as Germany started faster in front of a capacity Munich crowd.

But Britain reeled in the gap as the week went on as Matt Hudson-Smith’s 400m title, Laura Muir’s 1500m crown and Zharnel Hughes scorching to 200m swung momentum in their favour.

Keely Hodgkinson’s long-awaited 800m victory on Saturday grabbed another gold for Britain but for Germany, they still had some trump cards in the locker in the form of that final night relay and Julian Weber in the men’s javelin. 

The European Championships Nations Trophy was track side at the Olympic Stadium for the final athletics session of Munich 2022.

And that’s what it came down to on a pulsating final evening in Munich. With the Nations Trophy standing majestically track side during the final athletics session, Weber sealed a spine-tingling victory in the men’s javelin to secure the silverware for Germany.

Then came Britain and Germany’s sprint showdown on the storied Olympic Stadium track.

Germany, spearheaded by Luckenkemper, characteristically held their nerve to spark wild scenes, emotional celebrations and cap a truly unforgettable 11 days of European Championships drama.