Great Britain’s George Mills won European 5,000m silver and Romell Glave clinched bronze in the 100m, as Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs successfully defended his sprint title on a golden night for hosts Italy in Rome.
Mills, 25, clocked 13 minutes 21.38 seconds to finish runner-up to Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who proved too strong in the closing stages to win in 13:20.11.
Glave ran 10.06secs to make the men’s 100m podium as the British team won its first two medals on day two of the European Athletics Championships.
Home favourite Jacobs’ 100m triumph in 10.02secs delivered table-topping Italy’s third gold medal of the night – and fifth in the opening two days as a stunning start for the hosts continued.
Mills’ impressive run for silver – his first major international medal – followed three fourth-placed finishes for British team-mates, as Cindy Sember, Jacob Fincham-Dukes and Scott Lincoln each fell narrowly short of a podium place.
The Briton, son of former England footballer Danny Mills, was denied gold only by 23-year-old Ingebrigtsen, who having sealed a third successive European 5,000m title, will now aim to complete a third straight golden double at the championships in the 1500m.
Mills said: “It is what I expected of myself. It is back to work now, I’ve got the rest of the season to prepare for. It’s progress, but we want more.”
Sprinter Glave, 24, then held on for 100m bronze behind an Italian one-two, with Jacobs followed across the line by compatriot Chituru Ali (10.05secs).
Jacobs handled the expectation in front of his home crowd to deliver a golden finale for the hosts as he builds towards an attempt at defending his Olympic title in Paris, following an injury-disrupted period since his surprise triumph in Tokyo in 2021.