Sat, Jul 31, 2010 page18

• Britain’s Idowu defies the form book to claim gold

  • REUTERS
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  Britain’s Phillips Idowu produced the performance of a lifetime to defy the form book and beat hot favorite Teddy Tamgho of France in the triple jump final at the European championships on Thursday.

  There was some immediate consolation for the French when decathlete Romain Barras, who had a five-point lead going into the final event — the 1,500m — held off nearest rival Eelco Sintnicolaas of the Netherlands to take the title.

  Germany enjoyed their first golds of the championship thanks to a surprise javelin triumph by Linda Stahl and a victory by Verena Sailer in the women’s 100m.

  World champion Idowu had been laid low by a virus this year and was struggling to produce his best, but it all came right at the Olympic Stadium when on his fourth jump the 31-year-old set a personal best of 17.81m to a huge roar from the crowd.

  Having added the European crown to his world title, Idowu promptly turned his mind to the gold medal missing from his collection.

  “I’m a good athlete and with the world championships and European championships titles now under my belt, I am missing one title — the Olympics,” the Beijing silver medalist said. “My build up to the championships was not great, but I am very happy to have been able to jump consistently today. I knew it would be a tough task. Teddy has been great all year and I knew I would probably need a PB [personal best] to win.”

  With the weather clearing after a thunder storm, Idowu, easily recognizable thanks to his dyed red hair and facial piercings, bounded down the runway to open his campaign with an impressive 17.46m and a lead he never relinquished.

  Tamgho, the world’s leading jumper this year, but only recently recovered from a calf injury, had a best effort of 17.45m and appeared to be heading for the silver medal.

  However, 2004 Olympic silver medalist Marian Oprea pulled off 17.51m on his penultimate jump to sneak into second.

  “In my mind I was not here, I don’t know why. That’s life, that’s all,” a disconsolate Tamgho told a press conference.

  Barras won the decathlon with a total of 8,453 points, 17 more than Sintnicolaas after finishing ahead of the Dutch under-23 European champion in the 1,500m. Belarusian Andrei Krauchanka was third.

  Barras and Sintnicolaas were locked together until the final lap, when the Frenchman, wearing distinctive long black socks, began to pull away and put enough distance between him and his rival to start celebrating victory on the home straight.

  “I still can’t quite associate the words ‘Romain Barras’ and ‘European champion.’ It has been a lot of work and sacrifice,” he said emotionally of his first major title.

  Overnight leader Oleksiy Kasyanov pulled out injured before the start of the day’s first event, the 110m hurdles, promoting unheralded Lithuanian Darius Draudvila to top spot.

  He held on to first place until the pole vault, when Olympic silver medalist Krauchanka took over after clearing 5.05m, although his lead did not last long either.

  Barras, thanks to a season’s best javelin throw of 65.77m, went into the final event just ahead of the rest.

  Stahl headed up a German one-two in the javelin after a personal best of 66.81m on her penultimate throw meant she overtook Czech world record holder Barbora Spotakova, who had led from the first round with 65.36m.

  Olympic champion Spotakova, who has never won the European title, was then relegated to third when Christina Obergfoell also let rip with 65.58m.

  Sprinter Sailer took Germany’s second gold of the night and prevented France’s Veronique Mang emulating compatriot Christophe Lemaitre when she surged late in the 100m to win on the line in 11.10 seconds.

  Mang was 0.01 seconds behind, with fellow Frenchwoman Myriam Soumare taking the bronze.

  As expected, the men’s high jump final came down to a battle between Russians Ivan Ukhov and Aleksander Shustov, who beat his compatriot with a first-time clearance at 2.33m to equal the best in the world this year.

  World indoor champion Ukhov had to settle for silver in the competition, which began in torrential rain, after failing on his first attempt at 2.33m and then knocking the bar off twice at 2.35m after opting to move straight on to that height.

  Briton Martyn Bernard grabbed bronze on the count back from Sweden’s Linus Thornblad after both athletes cleared 2.29m.

  Newly-crowned men’s 100m champion Christophe Lemaitre overcame his tiredness to qualify fastest for the 200m final in 20.39 seconds and maintain his bid for a sprint double.

  European 10,000m champion Mo Farah is also on course for a European double after the 10,000m gold medalist won his 5,000m heat in 13 minutes, 38.26 seconds. Spain’s defending champion Jesus Espana, who pipped the Briton to the title four years ago, also qualified for the final.
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