Chambers’
9.96 sweeps all aside
Patrick F. Merle for the
IAAF
7 August 2002 - Munich, Germany - Almost 24 hours after Paula Radcliffe's
achievement, another British athlete stunned the spectators in the Olympic
stadium with an outstanding world class performance on the second night of
action at the European Championships in Munich.
In the men's 100m, Dwain Chambers produced an uncharacteristically good start and then never looked back, clocking 9.96 seconds (-0.3m/s wind) for gold, without facing any serious challenge between the gun and tape.
Not only did Chambers improve his personal best by 0.1 seconds but he also set a new championship record, becoming the first in the championships’ history to dip under the 10 second barrier. Even three time champion Linford Christie hadn't been able to unveil such a performance, having to content himself with a championship best of 10.00 when he took his second European gold in 1990.
Chambers, often viewed as Christie’s natural heir, proved tonight, in front of more than 30,000 spectators, that he is capable of winning major championships titles.
Criticised for having possibly “made up” his leg cramps in Manchester, an accusation which he strongly denied, and of not being able to live up to his obvious talent - Chambers claimed the European Junior title back in 1995 - the former world junior record holder answered his critics on the track and then continued in the post race interviews
"It's a good answer to all the critics," Chambers pronounced. "I really believed I could come and win gold. It's been a difficult last week with the disappointment after the Commonwealth Games. I have been fortunate enough that I only had cramps and nothing more," he added. "My 10.07 earlier in the competition was a good indication of how fast I could run and I proved it" Chambers explained.
Defending champion Darren Campbell, who placed third in the race in 10.15 seconds, also had a word about his fellow countryman whom he had defeated at these championships in 1998.
"Dwain had to fight his own demons and he's done it well," Campbell told the herd of journalists gathered around him.
As for the Nigerian-born Portuguese Francis Obikwelu, second in 10.06, he simply lifted up his hands as a sign of respect and called out "it's good, its' good" as he rushed through the mixed zone.
Chambers, who this season defeated Maurice Greene twice in Oslo and in Sheffield, remained undefeated throughout the earlier rounds and hopes to complete a double gold with the 4x100m.
"I am now looking forward to running the relay. I would really love to end up with two gold medals, one for me and one for my mother," the captain of the British team added.
In the women's event which took place while the public were still stunned by Chambers' run, Greece's Ekaterini Thanou claimed the 100m dash. Like Chambers she had remained undefeated throughout all the rounds of the competition in Munich.
The Olympic Silver medallist in Sydney, Thanou out-sprinted Belgium's European Indoor 60m champion Kim Gevaert and Italy's Manuela Levorato to win in 11.10, which was 0.5 slower than her time in the semi-final.
"This is one of the greatest days of my career. I came into this competition with a lot of confidence and managed to keep it until the finish," Thanou said afterwards.
As loud as the spectators roar might have been after the 100m finals, they still reserved their biggest applause for Germany’s own Dieter Baumann in the 10,000m.
Nicknamed "the white Kenyan" after his 5000m victory at the Barcelona Games in 1992, he kept the public on the edge of their rain soaked seats in this final. Alone against the Spanish duo of Jose-Manuel Martinez and Jose Rios in the final 800m of the race, he firstly hung onto their heels as they accelerated at the bell, before launching his final assault down the home straight to eventually break the line in second place in 27:47.87.
Suspended for two years for Nandrolone in 1999, Baumann returned to competition last season and had always claimed his objective was to medal in front of his home crowd. The former European record holder over 5000 lived up to his promise, though the happiest man of course was the previously unheralded Spaniard Jose Manuel Martinez who won in 27:45.65.
The German crowd expected another medal from their beloved Olympic long jump champion Heike Drechsler. The quadruple European Champion however, had to settle with the fifth spot, jumping a modest 6.64m.
As expected the competition was claimed by Russia's Tatyana Kotova with 6.85 m ahead of a surprising Jade Johnson from Great-Britain.
"It's a pity I had two fouls on my best jumps for these ones would have been well over 7 meters," Kotova explained afterwards.
However, the first medal of the day, well this morning actually, was awarded to Russia's Olimpiada Ivanova in the women's 20 km walk. Ivanova, winner in 1:26.42 out-paced her fellow countrywoman Yelena Nikolayeva and Italy's Erica Alfridi in a race that saw three athletes setting new national records.
The evening's programme begun with another final, the men's hammer throw final and the competition more than lived up to expectations with Adrian Annus of Hungary who is ranked as Europe’s second longest thrower this season, taking the gold.
29-year-old Annus claimed the title with a throw over 81.17 meters, so retaining the title for Hungary who had also won this championship via the swift release of Tibor Gecsek in 1998.
"This is my first big win after 12 years of competition," he said afterwards. "I think the decisive moment was when I achieved 80.62m. It impressed my opponents," he added.
Ukraine's Vladislav Piskunov took the second spot with 80.39, while Greece's Alexandros Papadimitriou gathered his country’s first ever medal in the hammer at the European championships. While only Annus could manage to break the 81 m barrier, four others managed to go beyond 80 meters in a high quality display of throwing.
In the qualifying round of the women's event, Russia’s Olga Kuzenkova had the best result with a throw over 68.45 meters. The winner of the European Cup in Annecy is poised to confirm her form in the final. She could, however, face a stiff challenge from France's Manuela Montebrun. The promising athlete, who lies third in the European rankings, managed to take the second spot with 67.74 m.
In the women’s discus final, there was a double medal haul for Greece with Ekaterini Vogoli, winning with 64.31 and Anastasia Kelesidou, in bronze with 63.92. Sandwiched between them was Russia’s 2001 World champion Natalya Sadova, who took the silver with 64.12. However, it had been the Olympic silver medallist Kelesidou rather than the less known Vogili who had been expected to take gold.
In the Decathlon, it came as no surprise to see Czech Roman Sebrle's name on top of the tables after five events.
With a good long jump competition (7.92m) and a 2.12 high jump the highlights of his first day, the world record holder ended up with 4555 points. Estonia's Erki Nool is currently in second position, more than 200 points behind, while Finland's Jaako Ojaniemi is third with 4341 points. Czech World champion Tomas Dvorak stands in ninth position with 4165 points.
In the 400m semi finals, Daniel Caines and Ingo Schultz secured good lanes for the final, recording the two fastest times, running respectively 45.35 and 45 49 in the same heat. Caines the world indoor champion is bidding to win his first major honours in an outdoor competition.
In the women's one lapper, Germany’s Grit Breuer demonstrated that she is ready to retain her title. With a time of 50.98 seconds, the German lies second fastest behind Russia's Olesya Zykina who won her heat in 50.47 seconds, and looked the most confident of all the runners.
Yolanda Ceplak from Slovenia certainly made a strong impression in the women's 800m semi-finals. Winner in 2:00.37, the world indoor record holder stands as the hot favourite to win her first major title outdoors and complete a European indoor/outdoor double.
And a double or perhaps even a triple, this is what the Spanish runners are aiming for in the 3000m steeplechase. With three runners qualified, they will offer a stiff challenge to France's Bob Tahri and the new European record holder Simon Vroemen of the Netherlands.
In the men's 400 m hurdles, the reigning champion Poland's Pawel Januszewski captured his heat in 49.17, ahead of Italy's 1999 world champion Fabrizio Mori. All the potential medallists made it safe to the semi-finals, though France's Stephane Diagana had a little scare at mid-race after touching a hurdle. The 1997 world champion nevertheless won his heat in 49.52 seconds.
"It's always difficult to start a championship," Diagana admitted afterwards. "My race is far from being perfect technically speaking but everything will be fine for the semi-finals. I won't be as stressed."
In the women's event, the defending champion, Romania's Ionela Tirlea clocked the fastest time of the field running in a season's best of 55.57 seconds. Poland's Anna Olichwierczuk, ranked third this season on the continent also won her heat with a time of 55.93. The young Pole had defeated Tirlea in Annecy at the European Cup and will be hoping to recreate this performance in the next rounds.
In the women's pole vault, the championship record of 4.31m set by Ukraine's Anzhela Balakhonova in Budapest four years ago was improved by no less than eight contenders. After failing surprisingly to clear 4.30 at her first try, Russia's European record holder Svetlana Feofanova showed she is eager to write her name in the championship roll of honour with a successful next attempt. Germany's Annika Becker, her arch-rival on the continent, also secured the qualification for the final with the same height.
In the men’s javelin, the Czech Republic's three time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny, is bidding to win his first European crown and qualified with the other big guns, Russia's Sergey Makarov, Finland's Aki Parviainen, Germany's Boris Henry and Raymond Hecht and the reigning three time champion Steve Backley of Britain. Unable to qualify for the world final in Edmonton last year, Britain’s triple European champion was all smiles and confidence after throwing 85.76m with his first and only try.
"Apart from Gatsioudis, all the big guys are here," Backley said. "In Edmonton, I might have been too confident. Here, I think the timing is right, I feel in good shape and we might be able to tackle the 90m barrier."
