The Novuna UK Athletics Championships took over Birmingham's Alexander Stadium on 20-21 June, doubling as the British trials for this summer's European Athletics Championships. The timing carried an extra charge: the same stadium will host the continental championships from 10-16 August, turning the national meeting into a full dress rehearsal for the athletes hoping to compete on home soil at a major international championship.
With national titles and selection places on the line across two days, the championships drew most of Britain's leading names and a sizeable BBC audience. For many athletes the meeting was less about the title than about delivering the qualifying performance and selection-friendly result that would secure a place in the Great Britain team for August, raising the stakes on every round and final.
Among the headline entries, Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson lined up over 400m, a rare step down in distance as she sharpened her basic speed ahead of the championship season. Racing the one-lap event offered a low-risk test of her top-end form, and her presence on the entry list was one of the weekend's biggest draws for spectators in Birmingham.
There was a homecoming storyline too, with Olympic silver medallist and European record holder Matt Hudson-Smith returning to his home-city stadium for the men's 400m. Hudson-Smith has grown into one of the faces of British athletics, and a strong run on the track where he will chase a European title in August was an early marker of intent in front of a partisan crowd.
By the close of the weekend the championships had sorted the bulk of Britain's selection picture, handing out national titles and pointing the way toward the August continental meeting. With the Diamond League circuit rolling on and the European Championships now squarely in view, the athletes who fronted up in Birmingham leave with momentum and a clear target on the same Alexander Stadium track.