Thanks to a golden surge of skill, effort and every other quality that adds up to success, the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland team finished second in the medals table at the European Under 23 Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, with six Gold, three Silver and two Bronze. Only the huge Russian team achieved more and it represented an improvement on the 2003 Championships, when the team was fifth in the medals table with three Gold, five Silver and one Bronze.

There was also an improvement in the team’s position in the Placing Table – from fourth with 128 points in 2003 to third with 132 points this time. Russia were first with 334 and Germany second with 140. Of the 44 nations, the only others to top the century were Poland (131) and France (106).

“Our young lions have roared,” said delighted Team Leader Steve Rippon. “Our experienced athletes came through for us. And people who were not very experienced performed superbly in most cases. It has been an encouraging all-round team performance as we strive to improve our quality in every area of the sport in order that we have a broader base of international-standard athletes.”

The facts support him: the team contributed to these high quality championships:

• 1 European Under 23 Record – by Ryan Scott, Craig Pickering, Rikki Fifton and James Ellington in the men’s 4x100m;

• 2 Championship Records – in the men’s 4x100m and by Simeon Williamson in the men’s 100m.

To support these high-flyers, 71 per cent of the team (35 athletes) reached finals – and 17 achieved personal bests, mostly when the temperatures were knocking on or above 30° Celsius.

The fourth and final day was illuminated by four gold medal performances, each of which will live for a long time in the memories of the band of British supporters who travelled to Hungary’s second city to check the quality of the generation most likely to peak at London 2012.

First came the men’s 4x100m final: There was drama in the last hour before the semi-finals when both Leon Baptiste and Simeon Williamson felt twinges while warming-up and withdrew as precautions. After much rushing – most notably by Norwich Union GB&NI team official Jeremy Moody showing all the sprinting prowess from his previous career as a rugby hooker – Ryan Scott, Craig Pickering, Rikki Fifton and James Ellington reeled off a routine win in 39.27 seconds, three-tenths ahead of runners-up Germany, to underline the value of the more frequent squad sessions that have been held by UK Event Coach Michael Khmel over the past few months. Ellington finished dancing on the track, leading some to wonder if he too had suffered an injury but he quickly explained: “I’m all right. It’s just that the track was so hot it was burning through my spikes.” 

In truth the only challenging part of the final came afterwards when a rumour spread like wildfire that the team had been disqualified for a faulty change between Fifton and Ellington.

“No way,” said Fifton, the 200m bronze medallist. “We were definitely in the box. I saw it.” And the judges agreed.

Once it was confirmed that the result stood, Ellington – the late, late substitute in the team – said: “Bringing that baton over the line was the best feeling in my career so far. I’ve earned my spot in the team. I’ve been to a lot of the practices. I didn’t think I was going to run today. But I warmed-up with the boys and heard I was in about 20 minutes before the semi-final. It was a good feeling. And now it’s a great feeling.”

Scott, disqualified from the 60m final at the European Indoor Championships in March, kept his nerve after the Czech Republic false started here. After running the first leg, he beamed: “If I had false started here, the boys would have slapped me up.”

Team captain Pickering, surprisingly beaten for the individual 100m title by Williamson two days ago, had an eventful final: “The German guy fell into my lane just as I was setting off on the second leg and I had to dance round him without going out of our lane. Then Rikki set off a bit soon and I came round the bend shouting to him, ‘Slow down! Slow down! But that’s why the relay’s so much fun.”

As he lost the 100m, did the European Cup winner regret opting to compete in Debrecen rather than the Norwich Union British Grand Prix? “No,” said Pickering. “I came here, learnt a lot and got a gold medal – though not in the event I wanted. But I was beaten by a better man in the 100. I have no regrets … unless I discover that the temperature is in the 30s in Sheffield and the wind is +3.”