Mo back with a bang!
Kick-starting the GB & NI gold rush that has been labelled 'Wicked Wednesday' at the European Championships last night, was Mo Farah (handicap MINUS 6.4) who returned with a bang to secure 10,000m gold and lead Andy Vernon (MINUS 6.5) to a British one-two.
The Letzigrund stadium was treated to six British medals on the second night of the 2014 European Athletics championships in Zurich.
Inspired by Jo Pavey’s (handicap MINUS 2.6) performance last night, Mo and Andy were to the fore in the closing stages of the 10,000m, and despite only racing once on the track since the IAAF World Championships in Moscow last year, Farah knew where he needed to be. He hit the front just before the bell and controlled things with a 54 second last 400m to cross the line punching the air.
“It means a lot to me because I went through a lot from recovering from the marathon and then getting ill so this medal means so much. It’s probably close to the Olympics because only three weeks ago I had to pull out the Commonwealth Games and things weren’t going so well. So to come here and win it meant so much to me tonight.”
For Vernon, it was the major breakthrough he has been threatening to make for a couple of years, timing his effort to perfection to overhaul Ali Kaya of Turkey with his final few strides.
“That means a lot; every day you go out and train and you train for races like this. When they pay off it’s an amazing feeling.”
James Dasaolu converted his 9.91 personal best into his first major title, taking the European Championship 100m title in 10.06 (-0.4m/s).
Tiffany Porter finally got the chance to stand on the top step of the podium thanks to a true champion’s performance in the women’s 100mH final. Lining up as favourite after a scorching 13.63 run in the semi-finals, Porter handled the pressure to break the tape in 12.76 (-0.7m/s) and bag her first international gold.
Full results from all of day one can be seen here: http://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-athletics-championships/2014/schedules-results/
GB & NI team performances:
GOLD – Jo Pavey (handicap MINUS 2.6) – Women’s 10,000m
GOLD – Mo Farah (handicap MINUS 6.4) – Men’s 10,000m
GOLD – Tiffany Porter – Women’s 100m hurdles
GOLD – James Dasaolu – Men’s 100m
SILVER – Andy Vernon (handicap MINUS 6.5) – Men’s 10,000m
BRONZE – Ashleigh Nelson – Women’s 100m
BRONZE – Harry Aikines Aryeetey – Men’s 100m
4th – Dwain Chambers – Men’s 100m
7th – Desiree Henry – Women’s 100m
If you are inspired by the performances of Jo. Mo and Andy this week, why not join us for the 4th race of the runbritain Grand Prix and try a 10000m at Trafford on 6 September?
Around 100 runners have already signed up for the event, which is to be held at Longford Park’s famously fast track.
The race will be accompanied by music and special guests to provide a great atmosphere, while spectators will also be able to get up close to the action and cheer on the athletes from lane four.
The runbritain Grand Prix rewards points for all runners that finish in the top 250 men and women with 250 points for a win and 1 point for 250th place. Up to the four best scores from the six available races count at the end of the series.
Can you get on the score board in this fourth race of the Grand Prix?
Those still wishing to enter the 10,000m events, that will award points in the Grand Prix, should visit www.race-results.co.uk