August 16, 2006	Wednesday	Rajab 20, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

GOTHENBURG, Aug 15: Britain captured their only gold medal of the European athletics championships courtesy of their men's sprint relay team on Sunday. Dwain Chambers, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish and Mark Lewis-Francis won the 4x100 metres relay final in 38.91 seconds on the final day of competition on another wet and windy day.

Britain's celebrations, however, were marred by the fact that Campbell refused to join his team mates on their lap of honour.

Campbell, who is expected to retire at the end of the season, would not say what he was upset about.

Poland won a close battle with France to take the silver medal in 39.05. The French, surprise world champions in Helsinki last year, settled for the bronze in 39.07.

Britain had won the last five titles for the men's 4x400 but could not resist a French team featuring individual 400 champion Marc Raquil and bronze medallist Leslie Djhone.

France won in three minutes 01.10 seconds and Britain had to be content with the silver in 3:01.63 with Poland winning bronze in 3:01.73.

Russia, as expected, won the two women's relays, putting the final touch to an impressive week to top the final medals table with 34 medals, 12 of them gold.

Traditionally the dominant European country, Russia outclassed the opposition particularly in the women's events, Tatyana Tomashova and Lyudmila Kolchanova also winning gold on Sunday, in the 1,500 metres and the long jump respectively.

A day which saw Dutchman Bram Som win a tight 800 metres final had started with Olympic champion Stefano Baldini of Italy collecting his second European marathon title.

Baldini, also European champion in 1998, punched the air in delight when he crossed the line after running through the streets of Gothenburg in miserable weather for two hours 11 minutes and 32 seconds.

The fans at the Ullevi stadium, who provided a fantastic atmosphere throughout the week, cheered on Carolina Kluft in the women's long jump contest. The heptathlon gold medallist finished an honourable sixth.

One of the queens of the championships with double sprint champion Kim Gevaert of Belgium, Sweden's darling had a busy day, also taking part in the 4x100 relay, in which she fell on a slippery track after passing the baton.

The one to shine through in the men's events was Portugal's Francis Obikwelu, who completed the first 100-200 double at Europeans since 1978.

Results of finals on Sunday:

Men's 4x100-metre relay: 1. Britain 38.91 seconds (D. Chambers/D. Campbell/M. Devonish/M. Lewis-Francis); 2. Poland 39.05 (P. Rogowski/L .Chyla/M. Jedrusinski/D. Kuc); 3. France 39.07 (O. Kankarafou/R. Pognon/F. Calligny/D. Alerte); 4. Russia 39.29; 5. Germany 39.38; 6. Italy 39.42; 7. Ukraine 39.54; 8. Netherlands 39.64.

Men’s 4x400-metre relay: 1. France three minutes 01.10 seconds (L. Djhone/I. M' Barke/N. Keita/M. Raquil); 2. Britain 3:01.63 (R. Tobin/R. Williams/G. Hedman/T. Benjamin); 3. Poland 3:01.73 (D. Dabrowski/P. Kedzia/P. Rysiukiewicz/R. Wieruszewski); 4. Germany 3:02.83; 5. Ukraine 3:04.33; 6. Romania 3:04.53; 7. Russia 3:04.73; 8. Spain 3:04.98; 9. Ireland 3:05.57.

Men’s 5000 metres: 1. Jesus Espana (Spain) 13 minutes 44.70 seconds; 2. Mohamed Farah (Britain) 13:44.79; 3. Juan Carlos Higuero (Spain) 13:46.48; 4. Halil Akkas (Turkey) 13:46.53; 5. Khalid Zoubaa (France) 13:55.09; 6. Henrik Skoog (Sweden) 13:56.34; 7. Pablo Villalobos (Spain) 13:58.25; 8. Gert-Jan Liefers (Netherlands) 13:58.70; 9. Eduard Bordukov (Russia) 14:00.30; 10. Tom Compernolle (Belgium) 14:03.37; 11. Monder Rizki (Belgium) 14:04.96; 12. Nick McCormick (Britain) 14:06.18.

Men’s 800 metres: 1. Bram Som (Netherlands) one minute 46.56 seconds; 2. David Fiegen (Luxembourg) 1:46.59; 3. Sam Ellis (Britain) 1:46.64; 4. Dmitrijs Milkevics (Latvia) 1:46.70; 5. Miguel Quesada (Spain) 1:46.91; 6. Florent Lacasse (France) 1:46.95; 7. Andrea Longo (Italy) 1:47.11; 8. Michael Rimmer (Britain) 1:47.66.

Women’s 1500 metres: 1. Tatyana Tomashova (Russia) three minutes 56.91 seconds; 2. Yuliya Chizhenko (Russia) 3:57.61; 3. Daniela Yordanova (Bulgaria) 3:59.37; 4. Yelena Soboleva (Russia) 4:00.36; 5. Lidia Chojecka (Poland) 4:01.43; 6. Corina Dumbravean (Romania) 4:02.24; 7. Nataliya Tobias (Ukraine) 4:02.71; 8. Irina Lishchynska (Ukraine) 4:04.98.

Women’s long jump: 1. Lyudmila Kolchanova (Russia) 6.93 metres; 2. Naide Gomes (Portugal) 6.84; 3. Oksana Udmurtova (Russia) 6.69; 4. Viktoriya Rybalko (Ukraine) 6.62; 5. Adina Anton (Romania) 6.54; 6. Carolina Klueft (Sweden) 6.54; 7. Niurka Montalvo (Spain) 6.50; 8. Natalya Lebusova (Russia) 6.49; 9. Tuende Vaszi (Hungary) 6.49; 10. Hrysopiyi Devetzi (Greece) 6.41; 11. Malgorzata Trybanska (Poland) 6.40; 12. Dana Veldakova (Slovakia) 6.29.

Men’s pole vault: 1. Alex Averbukh (Israel) 5.70 metres; 2. Tim Lobinger (Germany) 5.65; 2. Romain Mesnil (France) 5.65; 4. Matti Mononen (Finland) 5.65; 5. Przemyslaw Czerwinski (Poland) 5.65; 6. Aleksandr Korchmyd (Ukraine) 5.60; 7. Giuseppe Gibilisco (Italy) 5.50; 8. Laurens Looije (Netherlands) 5.50, 8 equal. Maksym Mazuryk (Ukraine) 5.50; 10. Vincent Favretto (France) 5.50, 10 equal. Gustaf Hultgren (Sweden) 5.50, 10 equal. Sergey Kucheryanu (Russia) 5.50.

Women’s 4x100-metre relay: 1. Russia 42.71 seconds (Y. Gushchina/N. Rusakova/I. Khabarova/Y. Grigoryeva); 2. Britain 43.51 (A. Onuora/E. Ania/E. Freeman/J. Maduaka); 3. Belarus 43.61 (Y. Nesterenko/N. Safronnikova/Y. Nevmerzhitskaya/O. Dragun); 4. Ukraine 43.97; 5. Sweden 44.16.

Women’s 4x400-metre relay: 1. Russia three minutes 25.12 seconds (S. Pospelova/N. Ivanova/O. Zaytseva/T. Veshkurova); 2. Belarus 3:27.69 (Y. Zhalneryuk/S. Usovich/A. Kozak/I. Usovich); 3. Poland 3:27.77 (M. Bejnar/G. Prokopek/E. Setowska/A. Jesien); 4. Britain 3:28.17; 5. Germany 3:28.18; 6. Ukraine 3:30.95; 7. France 3:32.38; 8. Bulgaria 3:33.75.

Men's marathon (top 10): 1. Stefano Baldini (Italy) two hours 11:32 minutes; 2. Viktor Roethlin (Switzerland) 2:11:50; 3. Julio Rey (Spain) 2:12:37; 4. Luc Krotwaar (Netherlands) 2:12:44; 5. Francesco Ingargiola (Italy) 2:13:04; 6. Dmitriy Semyonov (Russia) 2:13:09; 7. Janne Holmen (Finland) 2:13:10; 8. Alberto Chaica (Portugal) 2:13:14; 9. Kamiel Maase (Netherlands) 2:13:46; 10. Luis Jesus (Portugal) 2:14:15.

Women's javelin throw: 1. Steffi Nerius (Germany) 65.82 metres; 2. Barbora Spotakova (Czech Republic) 65.64; 3. Mercedes Chilla (Spain) 61.98; 4. Christina Obergfoell (Germany) 61.89; 5. Christina Scherwin (Denmark) 61.81; 6. Rumyana Karapetrova (Bulgaria) 61.78; 7. Barbara Madejczyk (Poland) 59.92; 8. Annika Suthe (Germany) 58.25; 9. Zahra Bani (Italy) 57.91; 10. Mikaela Ingberg (Finland) 56.70; 11. Paula Tarvainen (Finland) 55.59; 12. Goldie Sayers (Britain) 54.70.—Reuters