SPAR has been principal partner of European Athletics for 30 years. This year the European Championships saw multiple competitions run by SPAR country organisations to mark this moment and highlight the support also for grassroots athletes.

United Kingdom activations

Go to the Games

Around 75 aspiring athletes, their coaches and volunteers from Chester-le-Street and District Athletics Club, Leeds City Athletic Club, and Wigan Harriers Athletics Club attended the action at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham after winning tickets through SPAR’s Go to the Games competition.

SPAR Go to the Games campaign sought the nomination of unsung heroes by athletics clubs. They could win a day out at the Birmingham spectacle on the day Team GB star Keely Hodkginson began the defence of her 800m European Athletics gold medal won in Rome in 2024. A class from St Pius X Catholic Preparatory School in Preston joined the athletics clubs in Birmingham. Pupil Ibrahim Musa, age 9, won tickets by designing the 20 Year celebration SPAR Lancashire School Games logo, with the winning design chosen by Keely Hodgkinson.

From St Pius, pupil and talented junior runner Cora Alton, age 11, attended. She has ambitions of following in the footsteps of her idol, Keely Hodgkinson, after winning the same 2km Red Rose Cross Country League trophy Keely Hodgkinson won in 2012 earlier this year.

Community Champions

SPAR wholesaler A.F. Blakemore ran a competition celebrating Everyday Champions, heroes in their local communities! Five inspiring “Everyday Champions” from across Central and Southeast England and Wales were recognised at the European Athletics Championships. From coaching young athletes and creating safe spaces through sport, to supporting vulnerable families, raising thousands for local causes and bringing local people together through environmental action, each has made an extraordinary difference to the communities where they live. These Champions were treated to a behind-the-scenes experience with world and European champion sprinter Richard Kilty whose own athletics journey has a special connection to SPAR UK, having taken part in the “SPAR Sprints Initiative” aged just 16. Their stories reflect the commitment, kindness and community spirit seen every day across colleagues, retailers and in SPAR stores.

Olympian Colin Jackson said: “Every one of our Everyday Champions shows how powerful simple acts of kindness can be. Their impact reaches far beyond the individual – they strengthen communities, build confidence and bring people together. They are exactly the kind of people SPAR is proud to celebrate.”

European promotions

Other competitions were held in markets across Europe, highlighting this longstanding sport sponsorship and the focus on healthier lifestyles.

In Ireland, the partnership with European Athletics was brought to life by blending national pride with interactive consumer engagement. SPAR Ireland leveraged high-profile Team Ireland athlete ambassadors to anchor the campaigns. Digital content charting the athletes’ personal journeys ran alongside fan-engagement competitions. The campaign enabled Irish shoppers to connect intimately with the Championships from their local store.

Marketing campaigns in the Netherlands and France profiled the Championships with localised digital campaigns and interactive fan zones. These activations are explicitly tailored to their retail strategies, thereby converting European trackside branding into immediate local-market relevance.

Own your moment

This slogan of the 2026 European Athletics Championships has certainly also been the experience of the SPAR winners and all who participated in the many SPAR market activations celebrating the 30-year partnership of European Athletics and this world-class competition.

Sources: SPAR UK, SPAR France, SPAR Netherlands, SPAR International