Farah reigns in Spain as Brits end 10,000m medal drought
Long-distance runner Mo Farah claimed a historic 10,000-meter gold for Britain in the final event of the opening day of the European Athletics Championships
in Barcelona.
Farah led home teammate Chris Thompson for an emphatic victory on Tuesday night as Britain won its first European medals in the event since 1974, triumphing
for the first time.
The 27-year-old made up for the disappointment of four years ago, when he was edged into second place in the 5,000m by just nine hundredths of a second.
Farah won in a time of 28 minutes 24.99 seconds, some way short of his Europe-leading 27:28.86 set last month.
Thompson fought off Italy's Daniele Meucci on the line, with both runners given a time of 28:27.33.
Russian teenager Stanislav Emelyanov won the opening gold medal of the event with a shock victory in the men's 20-kilometer walk.
The 19-year-old, who won the European junior 10km track walk title last year, overhauled Italy's Alex Schwazer to win in a time of one hour, 20.10 seconds.
He was 28 seconds ahead of Olympic 50km champion Schwazer, who finished 11 seconds in front of Portugal's bronze medallist Joao Vieira.
Schwazer had set the world's fastest time of 1:18:24 in Switzerland in March.
Vieira, who was 10th at the world championships last year, matched his third-placing from the 2006 European event.
"It was a great race for me and the circuit was fast just how I like it," Emelyanov said. "I thought I would be fighting for first place for much longer but
I was out in the lead quite early on."
France's Christophe Lemaitre, the first white sprinter to break 10 seconds in the men's 100 meters, qualified fastest for Wednesday's semifinals as he won
his heat in 10.19.
The 20-year-old, who clocked 9.98 on July 9, headed off fellow favorite Dwain Chambers of Britain, who won his heat in 10.21.
The 32-year-old Chambers' teammate Mark Lewis-Francis, who may also be a contender, posted a time of 10.23.
In the men's 400 meters, British runner Michael Bingham qualified fastest for Wednesday's semifinals as he won his heat with a time of 45.49 ahead of
France's Leslie Djhone, who was fourth overall.
Belgium's Kevin Borlee (45.71) headed off Bingham's teammate Martyn Rooney (45.72) in the first heat, while Irishman David Billick won the third in 45.84 to
be fifth overall.
Borlee's twin brother Jonathan, whose 44.77 earlier this month was the fastest in the world for 2010, qualified sixth after winning heat two in 45.91.
In the women's 800 meters, Russia's 2006 silver medallist Svetlana Klyuka qualified fastest for Friday's final with a time of 1:58.89.
She edged out Britain's Jenny Meadows, the 2009 world championship bronze medallist, by one hundredth of a second.
Russia's Mariya Savinova, who set the fastest time of 2010 with 1:57.56 on July 3, also qualified as a heat winner - as did Britain's Jemma Simpson (1:59.18.
In the women's 400-meter hurdles, Russia's Natalya Antyukh qualified fastest for the semifinals as she won her heat in a time of 54.29 seconds.
The 29-year-old, a multiple medallist in 400m relays, set the world's fastest time of 54 seconds last month.
Bulgaria's Vania Stambolova was the only other one of the 16 qualifiers to break 55 seconds, clocking 54.77.
Britian's world champion Phillips Idowu qualified fourth for the final of the men's triple jump, with a best leap of 17.10 meters.
France's world indoor champion Teddy Tamgho, whose 17.98 in June was the third best of all time, was head of the field after posting 17.37. Ukraine's Viktor
Kuznyetsov was second in 17.22.
Former world and Olympic heptathlon champion Caroline Kluft reached the women's long jump final as the final qualifier with a leap of 6.62 meters.
The Swede was given a wildcard entry after tearing a hamstring this month and failing to reach the required entry standard. She missed last year's world
championships due to injury, and was ninth at the 2008 Olympics.
The 27-year-old was 25 centimeters behind the leading jump of Russia's defending champion Lyudmila Kolchanova, while Portugal's 2006 silver medallist Naide
Gomes was second with 6.81.
World indoor champion Nadezhda Ostapchuk of Belarus won the women's shot put final with a throw of 20.48 meters, finishing well clear of second-placed
compatriot Natallia Mikhnevich (19.53).
It wa a reversal of Stockholm in 2006, when Mikhnevich edged out Ostapchuk for the gold.
Russia's Anna Avdeeva denied Belarus a clean sweep of the medals, with former world and Olympic champion Yanina Pravalinskay-Karolchyk taking fourth place.
Slovakia's Libor Charfreitag qualified in first place for the men's hammer final with a leading throw of 77.7 meters.
Second on 76.48 Hungary's Krisztian Pars, fourth at both the world championships and the 2008 Olympics.
Finland's Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, the silver medallist four years ago, edged into the 12-man final with a best effort of 74.23.
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