28 July 2010

At the end of the second day of action from the  European championships, the Aviva Great Britain and Northern Ireland team had another medal to celebrate following the men’s 100m final – yet its source was for many rather unexpected.

With Dwain Chambers (coach: Daniel Plummer) the most fancied of the Brits to make inroads on the medals, the thrilling final where second to fifth position could only be split by thousandths of a second, saw a rejuvenated Mark Lewis Francis (Linford Christie) take the silver medal behind France’s Christian Lemaitre, and mark a fairytale return to the major championship scene.

Chambers unfortunately placed in fifth position, clocking the same 10.18 as Lewis Francis, but it was a huge disappointment for the Belgrave Harrier who had looked set for a podium finish.

“Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose – the main guy Christian Lemaitre came here and did what he had to do,” he philosophised.

“Mark deserves to have got a medal – all I can do is just smile about it. I’d just had to rely on my experience and my experience kept me relaxed but wasn’t good enough to win.”

Yet for Lewis Francis, whose career has been blighted by long term injury issues since taking Olympic 4x100m relay gold in 2004, it was a moment of pure joy, having been added to the individual 100m slot following a clear display of form at the Aviva preparation camp in Monte Gordo, and justifying that call by literally taking home the silverware.

“I’m European Silver medallist – wow!” was his initial reaction.

“I got to the final on a lucky star and I got to these championships on a lucky star. 2010 is my year I am the happiest man in the world I cannot complain – I said I’d take fourth place before the final and I ended up with second.

“We stuck to the plan in training for the individual and I was able to run it. I knew it was going to be tough to go out there and do anything crazy. I just wanted to go out there and enjoy the moment.”

Christian Lemaitre crossed the line for gold in 10.11, fulfilling the 2010 potential which has seen him break the ten second barrier and marking a superb new era for French sprinting, with compatriot Martial Mbandjock taking the bronze.

Earlier in the evening teammate, James Dasaolu (Michael Khmel) just missed out on a spot in the final after finishing third in 10.31 in the third semi final. The youngster unimpressed with his showing: “I feel I should have done much better. I’m not happy with that performance at all. I feel I should have made the final.        

I’ve learned a lot from this being my first championship and I’ll learn to deal with the pressure and the nerves and won’t let it happen again.”

In the 400m semi finals, there was a mixed bag of results for the GB men as they lined up against the tough two plus two qualifying requirement – the top two from each race and the two fastest losers from all three races set to make the final.

Martyn Rooney (Nick Dakin), ran close to his season’s best in his – the first of the three heats – and yet was only third placed behind Belgian Jon Borlee who set a national record of 44.71 and Frenchman Leslie Djhone in 44.87. However his  45.00 timing looked a good bet to see him progress to Friday’s final although he was cleared annoyed with his race position:

I knew it would be quick with the number one in Europe and number three lining up,” he said.

“I thought I ran an alright race, but I made a few mistakes. I slowed down at 200m for some stupid reason and I kicked too early – just silly, silly mistakes.

“If I’d have run a proper race I would have been comfortable but I didn’t and that’s stupid. You run like that in a final and you get punished.

In the next race, Michael Bingham (Ken Harndon) was second although he faired better than Rooney with a second place in 44.88 and a certain place in the final, easing up behind Irishman David Gillick who looked impressive with 44.79.

Conrad Williams (Linford Christie) however was unlucky and did not progress. His heat was won by Kevin Borlee in 45.32, and Williams struggled, crossing the line from lane eight in sixth position and 46.60.

Afterwards, he was philosophical about his performance and knew exactly where it had gone wrong:

“It was the semi final you have to run fast to get to the final to show what you’re capable of,” he said.

“I’m disappointed with that. I’m in much better shape than that race. Tactically I got it wrong, I went out too hard for too long. Schoolboy error but I’m the one that’s going to have to deal with it and bounce back from it.

“I like lane 8, it doesn’t matter what lane you’re in, if you don’t stick to your race plan and get it wrong in the first second it’s game over and that’s what I did.”

It meant that the Aviva GB & NI team will have two representatives lining up in the final with Bingham and Rooney ranked in fourth and fifth position, although both will be hoping to make an impact on the podium spots.