Radcliffe steals show for more track gold
Patrick Vignal
Paula Radcliffe ran the race of her life for the second fastest time in history over 10,000 metres in the final of the European championships on Tuesday.
The popular Briton, who suffered years of frustration on the track, clocked a stunning 30 minutes 01.09 seconds on a rainy night in a thrilling conclusion to the first day of action in the Munich festival.
The 28-year-old seized the lead after just over one lap and powered away to shave 12.65 seconds off the previous European record of 30:13.74 set by Norway's Ingrid Kristiansen in July 1986 in Oslo.
Only Chinese Wang Junxia has ever ran faster than Radcliffe did on Tuesday, when she set the world record of 29:31.78 in September 1993 in Beijing.
Nine days after winning her first major title on the track in the 5,000 metres of the Commonwealth Games, the popular Englishwoman outclassed the opposition, including defending champion Sonia O'Sullivan.
"Breaking the record was always in the back of my mind," a jubilant Radcliffe said after her memorable achievement.
"I felt that it was the best way to go out and win the race."
O'Sullivan of Ireland came a distant second in a personal best 30:47.59 while Russian Lyudmila Bikatsheva took the bronze medal in 31:04.00.
FIRST GOLD FOR FERNANDEZ
O'Sullivan and Portugal's Fernanda Ribeiro tried their best to follow Radcliffe but both kept dropping back, with Olympic bronze medallist Ribeiro pulling out just before halfway.
Radcliffe was nearly half a lap ahead at that stage and never ran out of steam in what she described later as a deliberate effort to break the 30-minute barrier.
Spain's Francisco Fernandez had earlier claimed the first medal of the championships with victory in the men's 20-km walk.
Fernandez led almost from start to finish to win in a championship record time of one hour 18 minutes 37 seconds for his first major title.
The Spaniard moved ahead just after the competitors left for a relatively undemanding course set in a park surrounding the Olympic stadium.
Olympic bronze medallist Vladimir Andreyev of Russia came second in 1:19:56 while Spain's Juan Manuel Molina won a close battle with Russian Viktor Burayev for third place in 1:20:36.
Nobody took too much notice to the men's shot put final, which was going on during the Radcliffe show.
Ukraine's Yuriy Bilonog won it for the day's third gold medal, with Denmark's Joachim Olsen and German Ralf Bartels taking silver and bronze respectively.
CHAMBERS CRUISES THROUGH
Britain's Dwain Chambers also shone through the Munich rain, underlining his status as the favourite for the blue riband 100 metres title by cruising through to Wednesday's semi-finals.
The 24-year-old, eager to bounce back after suffering cramp in the final of the Commonwealth Games just over a week ago, clocked the fastest time in the second round of heats in 10.08 seconds.
Chambers, who overcame a false start and produced superb acceleration, could face fellow Britons Darren Campbell, the defending European champion, and Jason Gardener in the final of an event that has not eluded a British sprinter at the European championships since East German Frank Emmelmann won in Athens in 1982.
Greek Ekaterini Thanou, the logical favourite for Wednesday's women's 100 metres final in the absence of many big names, powered her way through to the second round with the fastest qualifying time of 11.07 seconds.
