The queue for the shuttles at Alexander Stadium stretched into the dark on Saturday night, and nothing was moving. Will Mata, one of the fans caught in it, told LBC there was “a massive queue and no sign of buses.”
Susie Barnacle, standing nearby, put it more bluntly.
“We were told precisely nothing!”
Thousands of spectators were trying to leave a 23,000-capacity stadium with no transport running and no information about when it would. Some did not get out until close to midnight, and Championships VIPs were held for around 90 minutes before they could board a bus, Athletics Weekly reported.
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Inside the venue, six medal ceremonies scheduled between 10pm and 11pm local time were called off. So were the buses meant to take athletes and staff back to their hotels.
8.15pm: fraud arrest inside the stadium
The trigger, according to West Midlands Police, was a piece of accreditation that did not belong to the person carrying it. Concerns were raised at around 8.15pm local time after a man was found in an area of Alexander Stadium with incorrect accreditation, ESPN reported.
A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of fraud and remained in custody for questioning. Police said there was no immediate risk to the public and thanked spectators for their patience.
As a precaution, championship transport for staff and athletes was suspended while security measures were carried out. It stayed suspended for about one hour and 45 minutes.
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Relay champions held at the high performance centre
The last two events of the penultimate evening had been the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay finals, both won by Great Britain. When the transport stopped, those athletes, along with Amy Hunt, Dina Asher-Smith and other British competitors, had nowhere to go.
They were bussed the short distance to the high performance centre next to the stadium and held there. When services eventually resumed, athletes due to compete on Sunday, the final day of the championships, were moved first, Sky Sports reported.
Hunt had lined up on Sunday’s schedule with a shot at a fourth European title of the championships via the mixed 4x100m relay.
Birmingham 2026 confirms transport restored
Birmingham 2026 confirmed transport operations had returned to normal in the early hours of Sunday and said further information about the postponed medal ceremonies would follow. The organising committee added that “the safety and wellbeing of our spectators, athletes, workforce and the wider Championships family will always be our first priority.”
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Neither the police nor the organisers offered any further detail about the alleged fraud, how the man had obtained the accreditation, or where inside the stadium he was found. The European Athletics Championships closed on Sunday, 16 August.
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