European Athletics Championships 2024: Alexander Doom breaks Championship record to take gold in men's 400m final
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.
Gold medallist, Alexander Doom of Team Belgium, celebrates after winning in the Men's 400m Final on day four of the 26th European Athletics Championships.
After narrowly missing the podium on the opening day of the 2024 European Athletics Championships with a fourth place finish in the mixed 4x400m final, Doom will be leaving Rome with hardware, on top of the bragging rights of breaking a championship record that held strong for nearly three decades.
The Netherland’s Liemarvin Bonevacia crossed the finish line to finish in third with a 44.88 after stepping up to the race as the most experienced athlete in the field with Olympic and World Championship silvers, as well as seven pieces of hardware from European Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
Starting tomorrow (11 June), day five promises equal amounts of excitement with the men’s high jump and triple jump finals kicking off the medal events for the evening and the women’s 200m finals concluding the day, with five more nail-biting events in between.
2024 EUROPEAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN'S 400m FINAL - FULL RESULTS
1. Alexander Doom (BEL) 44.15 -🥇
2. Charles Dobson (GBR) 44.38 -🥈
3. Liemarvin Bonevacia (NED) 44.88 -🥉
4. Jonathan Sacoor (BEL) 44.98
5. Luca Sito (ITA) 45.04
6. Attila Molnár (HUN) 45.07
7. Jean Paul Bredau (GER) 45.11
8. Lionel Spitz (SUI) 45.69