GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND performed up to expectations on the first day of competition at the European Team Championships in Stockholm. Helped by a pair of victories on the opening afternoon, the team accrued a tally of 166 and they head into the second day in third behind Germany (183.5) and pre-competition favourites Russia (213.5).
Team captain Dai Greene opened the British account with a victory, becoming the first athlete to score three victories at the European Team Championships. The European and Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion said he didn't taper down for this event but the Welshman still had enough snap in his legs to pull clear over the final flight of barriers to set a meeting record of 49.21. Germany gained more points than expected through Georg Fleischhauer, second in a PB of 49.56.
The men's 4x100m quartet closed the afternoon with a contribution of twelve points and a team comprised of Christian Malcolm, Craig Pickering, James Ellington and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who looked very slick on the changeovers, set a meeting record and European-leading mark of 38.60.
While Christophe Lemaitre's inclusion wasn't enough for maximum points for Le Tricolore in the 4x100m, the Frenchman proved to be a class above his European counterparts as he defeated Dwain Chambers in the 100m for the second time this month. The treble European champion, who was the runner-up to Chambers last year, seems to have improved his start and Lemaitre pulled away from his British rival in the final 40m, improving his French and European under-23 record to 9.95 to Chambers' 10.07.
Jenny Meadows has been suffering with illness during the early part of the summer season but the multiple world and European medallist gave a very good account of herself in the 800m. Meadows had a chance in the home straight but she was outsprinted by European outdoor and world indoor champion Mariya Savinova from Russia, who wisely sat off the sprightly pace on the first lap. Savinova, who continued her superb record in tactical races, came through with 1:58.75 to Meadows' 1:59.47, which translates to her third sub-two minute performance outdoors in 2011.
UK record-holder Goldie Sayers improved her season's best to 64.46m to finish second in the javelin behind Christina Obergfoll's 66.22m although the Belgrave Harrier, who defeated European champion Linda Stahl in Turin earlier this month, took the scalps of Olympic champion and world record-holder Barbora Spotakova from Czech Republic and Olympic silver medallist Mariya Abakumova from Russia. Sayers' throw is also her best since the Beijing Olympic Games, which is where she set her UK record of 65.75m.
Facing a high-quality field, Perri Shakes-Drayton finished third in the 400m hurdles in 55.06. Even though she was some way behind Zuzana Hejnova, who raced to a meeting record of 53.87 and European champion Natalya Antyukh's 54.52, Shakes-Drayton finished ahead of Hanna Titimets from Ukraine, who holds a faster season's best than Shakes-Drayton.
Former American Shana Cox performed well in her first appearance in a British vest, placing third in the 400m from the outside lane. The winner of the European Cup in 2002, Antonina Yefremova from Ukraine duplicated this feat nine years later, claiming maximum points with a meeting record of 51.02 from Denisa Rosolova's 51.37 with Cox third in 51.49.
Despite the absence of Mo Farah and Chris Thompson, Andy Vernon made a healthy contribution in the 5000m as he finished third in 13:40.15. Having won the 3000m in the past two years, Jesus Espana stepped up in distance to set a meet record in the 5000m of 13:39.25, defeating veteran Sergiy Lebid from Ukraine, who chased hard with 13:39.75.
Likewise, James Shane also finished third in the 1500m in 3:39.21. Despite a lack of experience at this level, the 21-year-old ran a tactically astute race as he pushed the pace through 800m in 1:59.92 and 1200m in 2:57.84 to drop some of the weaker athletes in the field. True to form, fast-finishing Manuel Olmedo claimed a full quota of points with 3:38.63, while Valentin Smirnov from Russia was the surprise runner-up in a PB of 3:38.89.
A late replacement for Greg Rutherford, Chris Tomlinson compiled a very good series to claim ten points for team GB in the long jump. The former Olympic finalist tallied three jumps over the 8m-barrier, including a season's best of 8.12m, to finish third behind Michel Torneus' 8.19m and Aleksandr Menkov's 8.20m.
Stevie Stockton finished seventh in the 3000m, notching up a lifetime best of 9:00.67 and Eilish McColgan, who was a last-minute replacement for the injured Hatti Dean, placed ninth in the steeplechase in a PB of 9:55.13.
World champion Anna Rogowska from Poland defeated Silke Spiegelburg from Germany in a high-calibre pole-vault competition. Rogowska, who set an outright PB of 4.85m at the European Indoor Championships, cleared a meeting record of 4.75m to defeat Spiegelburg on countback. Holly Bleasdale finished fifth with a 4.40m clearance, and one place ahead of her projected finishing place.
Dmytro Demyanyuk from Ukraine shattered his lifetime best to upset pre-competition favourite Aleksey Dmitrik from Russia in the high jump. Demyanyuk improved his lifetime best from 2.32m to 2.35m to equal Dmitrik's world-leading mark. The Russian finished second with 2.31m although Samson Oni was slightly below-par, clearing 2.20m for eighth.
Other leading performance include Betty Heidler's 73.43m victory in the hammer, Olha Saladuha's 14.85m in the triple jump and Gulnara Galkina's 9:31.20 win in the steeplechase.
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