European Athletics Championships: Forster misses 100m semifinals

At the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, Slovak sprinter Viktória Forster failed to advance to the 100m semifinals. Competing in the first heat, she finished sixth with a time of 11.60 seconds, placing 30th overall. Forster, a national record holder, missed the semifinal cutoff by 0.20 seconds.

The competition has drawn criticism from coaches regarding new qualification rules for sprinting events. Under the current system, the top 12 fastest athletes from the heats advance to the semifinals alongside 12 seeded athletes. Coaches, including Naďa Bendová and Marek Korba, have expressed concerns that this method is unfair because it relies solely on time, which can be heavily influenced by varying wind conditions across different heats. This could result in a situation where a heat winner fails to advance while others progress easily due to tailwinds.