Friday's Action in Barcelona
No less than eleven events were concluded in Day 4 of the European Athletics Championships on Friday in Barcelona, Spain. First up was the men's 50km walk final, which got underway at 7:50 am EST.
Despite falling late in the race, France's Yohann Diniz claimed the gold medal around 11:30 am.
Finishing in 3 hours, 40 minutes and 37 seconds, Diniz beat Poland's Grzegorz Sudol to the gold, while Russian Sergey Bakulin won the bronze.
Lemaitre Completes the Double
Among the evening's events was the men's 200m final, which French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre entered as favourite to win the gold medal after his triumph in the men's 100m in Wednesday.
In a close race, Lemaitre trailed British veteran Christian Malcolm for all but the last few metres.
Showing sheer determination, Lemaitre accelerated through the last 50m to overtake Malcolm by the narrowest of margins and win the gold medal in 20.38 seconds.
Malcolm noted 20.37 seconds, while Frenchman Martial Mbandjock won the bronze medal by finishing in 20.42 seconds.
From the end of the curve to the finish line of the race, Lemaitre veered from the right end of his lane to the left while attempting to recover Malcolm's lead, showing once again that his technique can improve significantly before the now double European champion reaches his peak.
Former Cuban runner, Libania Grenot, now representing Italy, made a strong start in the women's 400m final.
Grenot held the lead in the race until the last 100m, at which point, a Russian trio of sprinters took charge of the race.
Tatyana Firova outran Kseniya Ustalova to win gold in 49.89 seconds. Ustalova trailed her narrowly and clocked 49.86, while their compatriot Antonina Kriposhapka came third in 50.10 seconds.
Svoboda Loses Sight of Hurdles Gold
The British team collected its third gold medal of the tournament in the men's 110m hurdles final.
Remaining steady over all the hurdles, not clipping any with either of his feet, Andy Turner won the gold medal by clocking an impressive 13.28 seconds.
Czech hurdler Petr Svoboda long looked like he would clinch the gold, but after striking the seventh hurdle awkwardly, his loss of balance drove him to clip the next hurdle and lose what had been a firm grip on the race.
The silver went to French hurdler Darien Garfield, who ran in 13.34 seconds. Hungary's Daniel Kiss claimed the bronze medal in 13.39 seconds.
Borlee Prevails in Men's 400m
Following a spectacularly close race, Belgian prospect Kevin Borlee won the men's 400m final in 45.08 seconds.
British runner Martyn Rooney led the race until the last 50m, but only managed to finish third after fellow Briton Michael Bingham beat him to second place.
Both Bingham and Rooney clocked 45.23 seconds, while fourth-placed Russian Vladimir Krasnov finished in 45.24 seconds.
Casado Wins 1500m on Home Turf
Spanish home favourite Arturo Casado managed to live up to expectations and win the men's 1500m final, finishing in 3:42.74 ahead of Germany's Carsten Schlangen.
Spain claimed another medal in the event as Manuel Olmedo won the bronze medal.
In the absence of world and Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva, fellow Russian pole vaulter Svetlana Feofanova prevailed by jumping 4.75m in the women's final, having only entered the competition at 4.45m.
Germany's Silke Spiegelburg and Lisa Ryzih finished in second and third place respectively.
In her fifth throw in the women's hammer final, Germany's Betty Heidler reached 76.38m to win the gold medal. Her second longest throw measured 75.92m, still longer than runner-up Tatyana Lysenko's best, which measured 75.65m.
Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk came third by throwing 73.56m, over two metres shorter than Lysenko's longest throw.
Russia Sets Two Championship Records
In the women's 3000m steeplechase, Russian runner Yulia Zarudneva clocked a European championship record by finishing in 9:17.57, trailed by former European 5000m champion Marta Dominguez, who clocked 9:17.74 in front of a lively home crowd.
Lyubov Kharlamova of Russia noted a season's best of 9:29.82 to claim the bronze medal.
The Russian team won another gold medal in the women's 400m hurdles final, where Natalya Antyukh clocked a European championship record of 52.92 seconds to seal the victory.
Vania Stambolova of Bulgaria came second, while British hurdler Perri Shakes-Drayton won the bronze.
Mariya Savinova capped off a fine night for her Russian team by winning the women's 800m final. Savinova, 24, finished in 1:58.22.
Dutch runner Yvonne Hak won the silver medal in the event, while Briton Jennifer Meadows, who had led the race at the 400 and 600m marks, finished in third place.
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