The 8th European Athletics Championships were held from 30 August to 4 September 1966 in the Nép StadiuminBudapest, Hungary. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
| 8th European Athletics Championships | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates | 30 August – 4 September |
| Host city | Budapest, Hungary |
| Venue | Népstadion |
| Level | Senior |
| Type | Outdoor |
| Events | 36 |
| Participation | 769 athletes from 30 nations |
A new IAAF ruling was applied for the first time making gender verification for female events mandatory. As a consequence, all women competitors were forced to have a sex check. Several of the greatest women athletes missed this year's championships, among them world record holders Iolanda Balaș (high jump) from Romania, as well as Tamara Press (shot put) and Tatyana Shchelkanova (long jump), both from the Soviet Union.[1]
Complete results were published.[7]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  East Germany (GDR) | 8 | 3 | 6 | 17 |
| 2 |  Poland (POL) | 7 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 |  Soviet Union (URS) | 6 | 7 | 7 | 20 |
| 4 |  France (FRA) | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| 5 |  Italy (ITA) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 |  West Germany (FRG) | 2 | 10 | 9 | 21 |
| 7 |  Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 |  Hungary (HUN) | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 9 |  Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 |  Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Yugoslavia (YUG) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 12 |  Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 |  Greece (GRE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Romania (ROU) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Totals (14 entries) | 36 | 36 | 36 | 108 | |
According to an unofficial count, 770 athletes from 29 countries participated in the event, one athletes more than the official number of 769 and one country less than the official number of 30 as published.[8]
Albania (20)
Austria (11) Belgium (16) Bulgaria (14) Czechoslovakia (49)
Denmark (7) East Germany (61)
Finland (16) France (52)
Gibraltar (1)
Greece (15) Hungary (68)
Iceland (3)
Ireland (8) Italy (35)
Luxembourg (3)
Netherlands (19)
Norway (15) Poland (56)
Portugal (1) Romania (18) Soviet Union (83)
Spain (7)
Sweden (25)
Switzerland (13)
Turkey (10) Great Britain (57) West Germany (74) Yugoslavia (13)