World champion Alexander Popov turned a near mishap in the semifinals into yet another triumph when he sped to his fifth European 50m freestyle title on the final day of the European championships on Sunday.
The 32-year-old Russian, the slowest qualifier for the final and a whisker away from elimination on Saturday, returned in the guise of supreme champion of old to regain the title in 22.32 seconds from the unusual position of outside lane number eight.
Popov, 50 and 100 freestyle Olympic champion in 1992 and 1996, was chased home in the sunshine by Swede Stefan Nystrand, who took the silver medal in 22.42. Italy's Lorenzo Vismara, twice silver and once bronze medallist, took bronze in 22.45.
PHOTO: EPA
It took Popov's tally of individual European gold medals -- including five in the 100 freestyle which he did not contest -- to 10, equalling the record of Yana Klochkova.
The Ukrainian retained her 200 and 400 individual medley crowns at the M-86 open-air pool but had to settle for bronze in her 400 freestyle title defense on Sunday.
"I'm not 100 percent but at least I know what I have to do," Popov said. "It's a very busy time for me, with the Russian nationals next week follow by more races and then the Olympics."
Briton Mark Foster, world silver medallist behind Popov last year, saw his hopes of a fifth Olympics fade. He was fifth in 22.57 but needed 22.42 or better to help his appeal against exclusion from the British team after struggling with injury.
Laure Manaudou of France, the new 100m backstroke champion, thwarted Klochkova's hopes of an 11th individual European title, leading from start to finish to win the 400 freestyle in 4:07.90 and take her second gold in Madrid.
Romania's Camelia Potec, who regained the 200 freestyle title on Saturday, overhauled Klochkova in the second half of the race to take silver in 4:09.31, leaving the 21-year-old Ukrainian with bronze in 4:10.53.
Manaudou, 17, claimed another gold as backstroke lead-off swimmer in the French 4x100 medley relay squad. Klochkova, swimming butterfly for second-placed Ukraine, took a silver.
Ukraine won the concluding men's 4x100 medley relay to end top of the aquatic table with 11 golds, one more than Russia.
Hungary's Laszlo Cseh, world silver medallist behind American world record breaker Michael Phelps in the 400m individual medley last year, claimed his second gold here by adding the 400 medley title to the 100 backstroke.
Cseh won in a championship record 4:12.86, the fastest in the world this year, with Luca Marin taking silver in 4:14.31, a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of the bronze of fellow Italian Alessio Boggiatto, the European and former world champion.
Sweden's Therese Alshammar, Olympic 50 and 100 freestyle silver medallist, won the women's 50 freestyle for the third successive time, taking gold in 25.12.
Sviatlana Khakhlova of Belarus took the silver in 25.20 and Germany's Sandra Voelker, double sprint freestyle medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Games, the bronze in 25.24. Dutch Olympic champion Inge de Bruijn did not contest the championships.
World silver medallist Ilona Hlavackova of the Czech Republic won the women's 50 backstroke in 29.00, snatching the European title from world and defending European champion Nina Zhivanevskaya of Spain by 0.03 seconds.
Polish world champion Otylia Jedrzejczak won the women's 200 butterfly for the third time in succession.
She pulled clear to win by more than four seconds in 2:06.47, not far shy of the world record 2:05.78 she set at the 2002 European championships.
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