It was Justin Gatlin’s first visit to Europe, and the young American sprinter came away with the grand prize of a World Indoor gold medal.
The 21-year-old protégé of Trevor Graham powered his way over the last 30 metres of the race to win in 6.46.
Commonwealth Games 100 Metres champion, Kim Collins of St. Kitts, had the best start with a reaction time (0.109) teetering on the brink of a false start. He kept his head down and focused squarely on the finish, taking the silver medal with a national record of 6.53.
Britain’s Jason Gardener, the reigning European indoor champion, responded to the gun evenly with winner Gatlin, but he faded in the final metres, clocking 6.55 for the bronze medal.
The Lisbon bronze medallist, Mark Lewis-Francis, vainly tried to preserve his prize from two years ago, but his 6.57 brought him to a medalless fourth.
