Jessica Ennis wins the 800m to clinch the European title in Barcelona (© Getty Images)
Barcelona, SpainHistoric victories by Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis capped a British gold rush to highlight Day five of the 20th European Athletics Championships.
Farah, the winner of the 10,000m on Tuesday, powered to an emotional victory in the 5000m to complete the first-ever long distance double for Great Britain, and the first at these championships since 1990.
Ennis, the reigning World Heptathlon champion, added nearly 100 points to her career best tallying 6823 points to eclipse the championship record set by Carolina Kluft in Gothenburg four years ago. She fell just eight points shy of the national record set by Denise Lewis 10 years and one day ago.
“It feels fantastic to have won both races,” said Farah, who finished second behind Spaniard Jesus Espana in this race four years ago. “There was a point when I thought my gold medal chance was under threat and I was also a little concerned about my knees but I pulled through to win it.” That didn’t show in his ferocious front-running effort over the final three laps.
Taking the lead with 1200m to go, he had Hayle Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan, Spaniards Espana and Alemayeho Bezabeh, and Noureddine Smail for company but with just one lap remaining, only Ibrahimov and Espana were still in contention. Farah put an end to the guessing game when he began his closing surge midway through the final bend, building an insurmountable gap as he cruised through the finish in 13:31.18.
Espana reeled in Ibrahimov over the last 100 metres to finish second in 13:33.12 to the Azerbaijani’s 13:34.15.
Ennis approaching all-time top-10
Ennis began the day with a 110-point lead, but that was reduced significantly to just 18 when she and Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrinska lined up for the second and final heat of the 800m. The Briton needed to stay within just under two seconds of the Ukrainian, who made a bid for the win when taking the lead with about 250 metres to go. But Ennis didn’t let her out of her sights and eventually passed her to win the event by nearly two seconds in 2:10.18. She didn’t get her national record, but did add another major title to her growing collection.
“Yes, I was eight points shy of my goal, but I was so glad to win, especially with the 800 at the end and the way I won it, which was mainly to prove that I really am the world number one,” said Ennis, who moved up to No. 14 all-time.
Dobrynska didn’t leave the track too disappointed. Her 6778 tally was a personal best, and her silver was her first European championships medal. Germany’s Jennifer Oeser, last year’s World silver medallist, took the bronze here with 6683 points, an personal improvement of more than 250 points.
Greene begins ‘British night’ with 400m Hurdles title
David Greene’s convincing run in the 400m hurdles not only gave him the European title, but thrust the 24-year-old to the doorstep of the current world’s finest. Cool and calm down the backstretch, Greene powered through the turn to enter the final straight with a solid lead. He extended it over the final two barriers before reaching the line, both arms raised high, in 48.12, clipping a significant 0.15 off his previous best set last year.
“I felt some pressure as the favourite tonight, but the pressure helped me focus and go faster,” said Greene, who propelled himself to the No. 6 position on the world list this season.
His teammate Rhys Williams was second off the bend and held his position through the line to clock 48.96, also a career best. Ukraine’s Stanislav Melnykov closed hard over the final 30 metres to take the bronze, his 49.09 too a personal best.
French gold for Soumare and Lavillenie
France had another good night as well, beginning with unlikely 200m champion Myriam Soumare who produced the day’s biggest surprise. Soumare, who arrived in Barcelona with a modest 23.01 personal best - the slowest in the field - blew it to bits with a commanding 22.32 run which moved her to the No. 3 spot on this season’s world list. Marginally ahead off the bend, the 23-year-old held her ground to win her first 200m race of the year.
“I cannot believe what happened tonight,” said Soumare, who took bronze in the 100m two days ago. “It is amazing!”
Ukraine’s Yelizaveta Bryzhina and Russian Aleksandra Fedoriva gained some ground over the final 40 metres and were virtually inseparable at the line in 22.44, the nod for silver going to the 20-year-old Bryzhina who improved her lifetime best all the way from 22.71.
The next French victory was very much anticipated, given world leader Renaud Lavillenie’s unbeaten record in the Pole Vault this season. After needing a pair of jumps at both his opening 5.60m and his 5.75m follow-up, Lavillenie took the driver’s seat with back-to-back first attempt clearances at 5.80m and 5.85m to take the gold.
“I expected this victory,” the Frenchmen said, echoing the sentiments of most of the 40,000 strong who turned out at Olympic Stadium.
He went on to take three jumps at 6.02m, a would-be personal best and national record. With enough height, his third was the closest, but he brushed it off the pegs with his torso on the way down.
Ukraine’s Maksym Mazuryk took silver with a 5.80m season’s best, with Poland’s Przemyslaw Czerwinski taking the bronze on countback over Italy’s Guiseppe Gibilisco at 5.75m.
Yannit, 100m Hurdles champion, and amateur numerologist!
Impressive too was Nevin Yanit, who nabbed the 100m Hurdles gold, the first medal of any colour in the event for Turkey, in a thriller over Ireland’s Derval O’Rourke.
The pair, along with Germany’s rapidly improving Carolin Nytra, ran virtually even through the first eight hurdles when the Turk managed to carve out the narrowest of leads. She held it through the line to stop the clock in 12.63, breaking her own 12.71 national record which she set just 80 minutes earlier in the semi-finals.
“This was amazing,” said Yanit, who didn’t finish in her heat four year ago but followed up by taking the European U-23 title the following year. Amazing too were the coincidences in her life connected to her new career best.
“Could you believe it? My room number is 1263, and my phone number ends with these numbers. Everything in my daily life here reminds me of this record.”
O’Rourke, the surprise 2006 World indoor champion, fought on bitterly until the end finishing a scant 0.02 behind in 12.65, also knocking 0.02 from her own national record.
Nytra, who improved her lifetime best from 12.77 to 12.57 with her runner-up finish in Lausanne earlier this month, wasn’t too far behind the pair, clocking 12.68 for bronze.
Thorkildsen defends, while De Zordo emerges
Andreas Thorkildsen added a second European Javelin Throw title to his massive trophy chest in a competition which also witnessed the emergence of a new star. German Matthew De Zordo, a former European junior champion, opened with an 86.22m throw, adding nearly two metres to his previous personal best. Thorkildsen responded with an 86.32m to take lead after the first round. But the German wasn’t quite finished. In the competition of his life, his second launch landed at 87.81m to secure his place in the medal picture and forcing the Norwegian’s hand. Thorkildsen, also the two-time defending Olympic champion, reached deep and replied with an 88.37m throw, an effort which would ultimately seal his victory.
“It was a really tough and exciting competition,” said Thorkildsen, who also holds the World title. “I’m glad that I responded that well to De Zordo’s throw.”
The German, still riding high, threw nearly as far in the third round, reaching 87.06m.
“I never could have dreamed to throw like that,” said De Zordo, the only man to beat Thorkildsen this year with his victory at the European Team Championships. “I hoped to impress Andreas with my first throw like I did in Bergen. But he responded very well.”
The best of the rest was Finland’s 2007 World champion Tero Pitkamaki, who topped out at 86.67m to take the bronze.
Saladuha takes the triple, Miknhevich the men’s Shot Put
Olha Saladuha dominated the women’s Triple Jump to take Ukraine’s first gold medal of the week. The 29-year-old was the event’s best illustration of consistency, with each of her four fair jumps enough to take the title – handily. She took control with a 14.80 lead in the third round and extended a notch to 14.81 in the fifth to easily outdistance runner-up Simona La Mantia. The Italian’s best was a season’s best 14.56 in the opening round, enough to barely edge Svetlana Bolshakova’s 14.55m Belgian record to take silver.
Conversely, the men’s Shot Put couldn’t have been closer. Andrei Miknhevich of Belarus set the tone with a 21.01m heave in round two but had to wait until the bitter end before he was certain that gold was secure. His primary challenge came from the Olympic champion, Poland’s Tomasz Majewski who broke the sand at exactly 21.00 metres in round four, before threatening again in the following round with a 20.96m effort. But that was the best the disappointed Pole was able to mustre.
“I’m very disappointed,” Majewski said. “Losing by just one centimetre hurts.”
Ralf Bartels, the defending champion, overcame several mediocre throws witg a 20.93m throw in the final round to steal bronze from Latvian Maris Urtans, who reached 20.72m.
Lewandowski leads Polish 1-3 in 800m
True to form, Marcin Lewandowski took the men’s 800m title, the first ever in the event for Poland.
It was a predictably tactical race – the first lap split was a pedestrian 53.80 - with no one taking command until the tightly wound pack entered the final straight. Running on the inside, Briton Michael Rimmer, who lead for much of the second lap, maintained it until about 40 metres remained, when Lewandowski, and his compatriot Adam Kszczot embarked on Poland’s two-pronged attack. Lewandowski blew by to reach the line first in 1:47.17, but Rimmer fought back to split the pair, beating Kszczot 1:47.17 to 1:47.22 for the silver.
“I had a lot of pressure before the final as I was the favourite along with Michael Rimmer,” said Lewandowski, who has a 1:43.84 personal best to his credit from 2009. “However I managed to beat him.”
Balciunaite cruises in the Marathon
Zivile Balciunaite collected the first gold of the day, and the first for Lithuania, with her commanding run in the morning's women's Marathon. Breaking away from a pack of 11 between kilometers 29 and 30, the 31-year-old cruised unopposed to a 2:31:14 victory on the hot and steamy morning, her first victory in three Marathon starts this year. The performance barely made her own career top-ten - her 2:25:15 national record dates back to 2005 - but that mattered little to Balciunaite, whose only other victory over the distance was back in 2004 in Valencia.
"This is my day," said the Lithuanian, who was fourth at these championships four years ago. While the morning’s heat – 26 degrees C. and 65 percent humidity – was a factor for some, Balciunaite welcomed it. “I love to run in the heat. I was very self-confident and sure that I was going to win this race.”
In the battle for runner-up honors, Nailya Yulamanova of Russia and Italy's Ann Incerti were running nearly side-by-side in the 35th kilometre, some 35 seconds behind the eventual winner. But the Russian, who ninth in Boston earlier this year, was well clear five kilometres later before finishing in 2:32:15 to take silver. Incerti, the 2008 winner in Milan, hung on for bronze, clocking 2:32:48.
Qualifying in men’s Discus and the Relays
In the men's Discus Throw, World champion Robert Harting of Germany and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter of Estonia led qualifiers with 66.93m and 65.43 best efforts. In his fifth European championships, Thirty-eight year old Virgilijus Alekna, a twice World and twice Olympic champion and the reigning European champion, qualified for the final for the fourth time. Notable non-qualifier? Zoltan Kovago of Hungary, who produced a victory, two runner-up finishes and third place showing in Samsung Diamond League meetings this year.
In the women's 4x100m Relay, Russia and Ukraine won their respective heats in 43.23 and 43.24, the fastest performances of the opening round. Attracting the most attention was Slovenia's foursome, anchored by sprint legend Merlene Ottey at age 50. The fairytale ended though for Ottey as the team finished 7th in their heat, and 13th overall.
France (39.12) and Germany (38.75) were the heat winners in the men's qualifying round, with the British quartet the lone major casualty. A botched exchange between Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis was costly, resulting in a 39.49 clocking, not enough to advance.
Belgium (3:03.49), anchored by 400m champion Kevin Borlee, and Germany (3:03.83) led the qualifying round in the men's 4x400m Relay. Russia (3:26.89) and Italy (3:27.95) led the women's.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
Click here for FULL RESULTS from day 5
Farah, the winner of the 10,000m on Tuesday, powered to an emotional victory in the 5000m to complete the first-ever long distance double for Great Britain, and the first at these championships since 1990.
Ennis, the reigning World Heptathlon champion, added nearly 100 points to her career best tallying 6823 points to eclipse the championship record set by Carolina Kluft in Gothenburg four years ago. She fell just eight points shy of the national record set by Denise Lewis 10 years and one day ago.
“It feels fantastic to have won both races,” said Farah, who finished second behind Spaniard Jesus Espana in this race four years ago. “There was a point when I thought my gold medal chance was under threat and I was also a little concerned about my knees but I pulled through to win it.” That didn’t show in his ferocious front-running effort over the final three laps.
Taking the lead with 1200m to go, he had Hayle Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan, Spaniards Espana and Alemayeho Bezabeh, and Noureddine Smail for company but with just one lap remaining, only Ibrahimov and Espana were still in contention. Farah put an end to the guessing game when he began his closing surge midway through the final bend, building an insurmountable gap as he cruised through the finish in 13:31.18.
Espana reeled in Ibrahimov over the last 100 metres to finish second in 13:33.12 to the Azerbaijani’s 13:34.15.
Ennis approaching all-time top-10
Ennis began the day with a 110-point lead, but that was reduced significantly to just 18 when she and Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrinska lined up for the second and final heat of the 800m. The Briton needed to stay within just under two seconds of the Ukrainian, who made a bid for the win when taking the lead with about 250 metres to go. But Ennis didn’t let her out of her sights and eventually passed her to win the event by nearly two seconds in 2:10.18. She didn’t get her national record, but did add another major title to her growing collection.
“Yes, I was eight points shy of my goal, but I was so glad to win, especially with the 800 at the end and the way I won it, which was mainly to prove that I really am the world number one,” said Ennis, who moved up to No. 14 all-time.
Dobrynska didn’t leave the track too disappointed. Her 6778 tally was a personal best, and her silver was her first European championships medal. Germany’s Jennifer Oeser, last year’s World silver medallist, took the bronze here with 6683 points, an personal improvement of more than 250 points.
Greene begins ‘British night’ with 400m Hurdles title
David Greene’s convincing run in the 400m hurdles not only gave him the European title, but thrust the 24-year-old to the doorstep of the current world’s finest. Cool and calm down the backstretch, Greene powered through the turn to enter the final straight with a solid lead. He extended it over the final two barriers before reaching the line, both arms raised high, in 48.12, clipping a significant 0.15 off his previous best set last year.
“I felt some pressure as the favourite tonight, but the pressure helped me focus and go faster,” said Greene, who propelled himself to the No. 6 position on the world list this season.
His teammate Rhys Williams was second off the bend and held his position through the line to clock 48.96, also a career best. Ukraine’s Stanislav Melnykov closed hard over the final 30 metres to take the bronze, his 49.09 too a personal best.
French gold for Soumare and Lavillenie
France had another good night as well, beginning with unlikely 200m champion Myriam Soumare who produced the day’s biggest surprise. Soumare, who arrived in Barcelona with a modest 23.01 personal best - the slowest in the field - blew it to bits with a commanding 22.32 run which moved her to the No. 3 spot on this season’s world list. Marginally ahead off the bend, the 23-year-old held her ground to win her first 200m race of the year.
“I cannot believe what happened tonight,” said Soumare, who took bronze in the 100m two days ago. “It is amazing!”
Ukraine’s Yelizaveta Bryzhina and Russian Aleksandra Fedoriva gained some ground over the final 40 metres and were virtually inseparable at the line in 22.44, the nod for silver going to the 20-year-old Bryzhina who improved her lifetime best all the way from 22.71.
The next French victory was very much anticipated, given world leader Renaud Lavillenie’s unbeaten record in the Pole Vault this season. After needing a pair of jumps at both his opening 5.60m and his 5.75m follow-up, Lavillenie took the driver’s seat with back-to-back first attempt clearances at 5.80m and 5.85m to take the gold.
“I expected this victory,” the Frenchmen said, echoing the sentiments of most of the 40,000 strong who turned out at Olympic Stadium.
He went on to take three jumps at 6.02m, a would-be personal best and national record. With enough height, his third was the closest, but he brushed it off the pegs with his torso on the way down.
Ukraine’s Maksym Mazuryk took silver with a 5.80m season’s best, with Poland’s Przemyslaw Czerwinski taking the bronze on countback over Italy’s Guiseppe Gibilisco at 5.75m.
Yannit, 100m Hurdles champion, and amateur numerologist!
Impressive too was Nevin Yanit, who nabbed the 100m Hurdles gold, the first medal of any colour in the event for Turkey, in a thriller over Ireland’s Derval O’Rourke.
The pair, along with Germany’s rapidly improving Carolin Nytra, ran virtually even through the first eight hurdles when the Turk managed to carve out the narrowest of leads. She held it through the line to stop the clock in 12.63, breaking her own 12.71 national record which she set just 80 minutes earlier in the semi-finals.
“This was amazing,” said Yanit, who didn’t finish in her heat four year ago but followed up by taking the European U-23 title the following year. Amazing too were the coincidences in her life connected to her new career best.
“Could you believe it? My room number is 1263, and my phone number ends with these numbers. Everything in my daily life here reminds me of this record.”
O’Rourke, the surprise 2006 World indoor champion, fought on bitterly until the end finishing a scant 0.02 behind in 12.65, also knocking 0.02 from her own national record.
Nytra, who improved her lifetime best from 12.77 to 12.57 with her runner-up finish in Lausanne earlier this month, wasn’t too far behind the pair, clocking 12.68 for bronze.
Thorkildsen defends, while De Zordo emerges
Andreas Thorkildsen added a second European Javelin Throw title to his massive trophy chest in a competition which also witnessed the emergence of a new star. German Matthew De Zordo, a former European junior champion, opened with an 86.22m throw, adding nearly two metres to his previous personal best. Thorkildsen responded with an 86.32m to take lead after the first round. But the German wasn’t quite finished. In the competition of his life, his second launch landed at 87.81m to secure his place in the medal picture and forcing the Norwegian’s hand. Thorkildsen, also the two-time defending Olympic champion, reached deep and replied with an 88.37m throw, an effort which would ultimately seal his victory.
“It was a really tough and exciting competition,” said Thorkildsen, who also holds the World title. “I’m glad that I responded that well to De Zordo’s throw.”
The German, still riding high, threw nearly as far in the third round, reaching 87.06m.
“I never could have dreamed to throw like that,” said De Zordo, the only man to beat Thorkildsen this year with his victory at the European Team Championships. “I hoped to impress Andreas with my first throw like I did in Bergen. But he responded very well.”
The best of the rest was Finland’s 2007 World champion Tero Pitkamaki, who topped out at 86.67m to take the bronze.
Saladuha takes the triple, Miknhevich the men’s Shot Put
Olha Saladuha dominated the women’s Triple Jump to take Ukraine’s first gold medal of the week. The 29-year-old was the event’s best illustration of consistency, with each of her four fair jumps enough to take the title – handily. She took control with a 14.80 lead in the third round and extended a notch to 14.81 in the fifth to easily outdistance runner-up Simona La Mantia. The Italian’s best was a season’s best 14.56 in the opening round, enough to barely edge Svetlana Bolshakova’s 14.55m Belgian record to take silver.
Conversely, the men’s Shot Put couldn’t have been closer. Andrei Miknhevich of Belarus set the tone with a 21.01m heave in round two but had to wait until the bitter end before he was certain that gold was secure. His primary challenge came from the Olympic champion, Poland’s Tomasz Majewski who broke the sand at exactly 21.00 metres in round four, before threatening again in the following round with a 20.96m effort. But that was the best the disappointed Pole was able to mustre.
“I’m very disappointed,” Majewski said. “Losing by just one centimetre hurts.”
Ralf Bartels, the defending champion, overcame several mediocre throws witg a 20.93m throw in the final round to steal bronze from Latvian Maris Urtans, who reached 20.72m.
Lewandowski leads Polish 1-3 in 800m
True to form, Marcin Lewandowski took the men’s 800m title, the first ever in the event for Poland.
It was a predictably tactical race – the first lap split was a pedestrian 53.80 - with no one taking command until the tightly wound pack entered the final straight. Running on the inside, Briton Michael Rimmer, who lead for much of the second lap, maintained it until about 40 metres remained, when Lewandowski, and his compatriot Adam Kszczot embarked on Poland’s two-pronged attack. Lewandowski blew by to reach the line first in 1:47.17, but Rimmer fought back to split the pair, beating Kszczot 1:47.17 to 1:47.22 for the silver.
“I had a lot of pressure before the final as I was the favourite along with Michael Rimmer,” said Lewandowski, who has a 1:43.84 personal best to his credit from 2009. “However I managed to beat him.”
Balciunaite cruises in the Marathon
Zivile Balciunaite collected the first gold of the day, and the first for Lithuania, with her commanding run in the morning's women's Marathon. Breaking away from a pack of 11 between kilometers 29 and 30, the 31-year-old cruised unopposed to a 2:31:14 victory on the hot and steamy morning, her first victory in three Marathon starts this year. The performance barely made her own career top-ten - her 2:25:15 national record dates back to 2005 - but that mattered little to Balciunaite, whose only other victory over the distance was back in 2004 in Valencia.
"This is my day," said the Lithuanian, who was fourth at these championships four years ago. While the morning’s heat – 26 degrees C. and 65 percent humidity – was a factor for some, Balciunaite welcomed it. “I love to run in the heat. I was very self-confident and sure that I was going to win this race.”
In the battle for runner-up honors, Nailya Yulamanova of Russia and Italy's Ann Incerti were running nearly side-by-side in the 35th kilometre, some 35 seconds behind the eventual winner. But the Russian, who ninth in Boston earlier this year, was well clear five kilometres later before finishing in 2:32:15 to take silver. Incerti, the 2008 winner in Milan, hung on for bronze, clocking 2:32:48.
Qualifying in men’s Discus and the Relays
In the men's Discus Throw, World champion Robert Harting of Germany and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter of Estonia led qualifiers with 66.93m and 65.43 best efforts. In his fifth European championships, Thirty-eight year old Virgilijus Alekna, a twice World and twice Olympic champion and the reigning European champion, qualified for the final for the fourth time. Notable non-qualifier? Zoltan Kovago of Hungary, who produced a victory, two runner-up finishes and third place showing in Samsung Diamond League meetings this year.
In the women's 4x100m Relay, Russia and Ukraine won their respective heats in 43.23 and 43.24, the fastest performances of the opening round. Attracting the most attention was Slovenia's foursome, anchored by sprint legend Merlene Ottey at age 50. The fairytale ended though for Ottey as the team finished 7th in their heat, and 13th overall.
France (39.12) and Germany (38.75) were the heat winners in the men's qualifying round, with the British quartet the lone major casualty. A botched exchange between Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis was costly, resulting in a 39.49 clocking, not enough to advance.
Belgium (3:03.49), anchored by 400m champion Kevin Borlee, and Germany (3:03.83) led the qualifying round in the men's 4x400m Relay. Russia (3:26.89) and Italy (3:27.95) led the women's.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
Click here for FULL RESULTS from day 5
