European Championships: Olympic stars chase medals in nine sports in Munich

The second edition of the European Championships gets under way in Munich on Thursday, featuring a host of Olympic stars competing in nine sports.

Among the British stars will be Dina Asher-Smith who missed the Commonwealth Games because of injury.

The sprinter will seek to retain the three titles she won at the inaugural championships in 2018.

What sports will take place?

Organisers believe staging the nine championships at the same time and in the same city will help them gain more exposure.

Athletics, cycling, triathlon, artistic gymnastics and rowing all return from the 2018 edition in Berlin and Glasgow.

Beach volleyball, canoe sprinting, sport climbing and table tennis have been added to the programme.

Swimming and diving are hosting their own championships at the same time in Rome, while golf does not return.

Rowing and canoe sprinting both feature para-sport events.

How can I follow the sport?

This year's championships will once again be shown live on BBC TV with live streams of every sport available on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport mobile app.

There will also be coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and reports on the BBC Sport website and app.

You will also be able to watch live coverage of the European Aquatics Championships in Rome.

• Munich 2022: BBC TV coverage and details of extra live streams

Asher-Smith star name among strong GB athletics squad

Britain topped the athletics medal table with seven golds in Berlin four years ago. The array of defending champions include Asher-Smith (three titles), Matt Hudson-Smith (400m) and Zharnel Hughes (100m).

Jake Wightman, Laura Muir and Keely Hodgkinson, who have all won medals at both the World Championships and Commonwealths, will seek further honours, while Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan will seek to continue her impressive winning run.

Among those not competing are Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Adam Gemili and Holly Bradshaw.

Which other British stars are competing in Munich?

Stars of Birmingham such as gymnasts Jake Jarman and Joe Fraser, who won seven golds between them, are back for more as they change into Great Britain kit just a few days after representing England.

Reigning European floor champion Jessica Gadirova skipped the Commonwealths to focus on the European and World Championships. She, twin sister Jennifer and Commonwealth floor champion Alice Kinsella were all part of the bronze-winning women's team at the Olympics.

Olympic medallists Neah Evans, Josie Knight and Jack Carlin are included in the track cycling squad but Laura Kenny, who won two European golds in 2018, is taking a break after the Commonwealths and Katie Archibald is recovering from injury.

The BMX freestyle squad is headed by Olympic medallists Charlotte Worthington and Declan Brooks, and mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock targets European glory before tackling the World Championships at the end of the month.

Britain's rowers had a disappointing Olympics but will be hoping to repeat their 2021 European success when they topped the medal table with 12 in total, including five golds.

Imogen Grant and Graeme Thomas, two of 57 athletes selected, are in great form after taking singles golds at World Cup III.

Following the retirement of Olympic champion Liam Heath, Britain's sprint canoe squad is short on medal hopes, although it does feature siblings Matthew, Daniel and Melissa Johnson. It's a different story, however, in the para-event: GB won 10 medals at the World Championships earlier this month to top the table for a second successive year, having also won 10 medals at the 2021 edition.

Britain are not sending a full-strength triathlon team but their entries include former world champion Non Stanford, competing in her final season before retirement, and mixed team relay gold medallist Sam Dickinson.

With Shauna Coxsey now retired from sport climbing, Britain's best hopes rest with world bronze medallist Hamish McArthur and Max Milne, who finished second in the World Cup boulder event in Italy in June.

Liam Pitchford, who won his 10th Commonwealth table tennis medal on the final day in Birmingham, and team-mate Tin-Tin Ho are competing but there's no Paul Drinkhall.

There are no British athletes in beach volleyball or road cycling.

What's happening when?

Athletics - 15-21 August

Beach volleyball - 15-21 August

Canoe sprint - 18-21 August

Cycling - BMX 11-13, track 11-16, road 14 & 17, mountain bike 19-20 August

Gymnastics - 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21 August

Rowing - 11-14 August

Sport climbing - 11-15 & 17-18 August

Table tennis - 13-21 August

Triathlon - 12-14 August

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