SportOther SportsEuropean Athletics ChampionshipsJake Minshull trains on the Alexander Stadium track three times a week, providing him with local knowledge he hopes to be able to use to his advantage when he takes on the best the continent has to offer.Joseph Saunders15:59, 07 Aug 2026Rising star Jake Minshull is out to show there is no place like home at next week’s European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.‌The 21-year-old 400m hurdler is currently studying for a human sciences degree in the second city and hails from nearby Coventry. He trains on the Alexander Stadium track three times a week, providing him with local knowledge he hopes to be able to use to his advantage when he takes on the best the continent has to offer.‌He said: “It pretty much feels like a home event and it feels like I know the place pretty well. I know what the weather is going to be like there. I'm ready for it. In my second year [of university], I was finding it quite full on with all the training and found myself running from one thing to the other, so I split my third year.‌“I'm organised and I do quite well in putting certain efforts in one bit and then applying myself in another section. It probably takes a certain type of person to do both to a high level.”Minshull won 4x400m bronze at the World Relay Championships in May and added to his burgeoning reputation at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, picking up a 400m hurdles silver medal he ‘wasn’t meant to get’.‌Minshull said: “It was pretty surreal. I've been training for moments like that and to get one is pretty special. In my head I thought I could get a medal, but there's a bit of a difference between thinking it and actually doing it.“It's given me a big confidence boost ready for Europeans. I definitely want to get a few more moments like that. I wasn't meant to get a medal at Commonwealths, so let’s see if we can do the same at Euros.”Chief among his rivals will be Germany’s Emil Agyekum and Norway’s Olympic champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm. Minshull, part of a 98-strong Novuna GB & NI squad in Birmingham, said: “It's a pretty stacked field. It's mad how many guys there are in this event at the time.Article continues below“The obvious one to look at is Karsten. I like to think that I'm a similar athlete to him in the way that our stride patterns work and how we attack a race. It would be pretty cool if I could race him.”Novuna is the Official Finance Partner of British Athletics and proud sponsor of the GB & NI Athletics Team. From everyday goals to world-class dreams, Novuna backs the ambition of millions across the UK — from supporting British businesses and individuals’ plans, to powering British Athletics on the global stage. Find out more at www.novuna.co.ukChoose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌University of BirminghamEuropean Athletics ChampionshipsCommonwealth GamesWorld records