Fernandez wins first gold in rainy 20-km walk
Patrick Vignal
Spain's Francisco Fernandez claimed the first gold medal of the European athletics championships with an impressive victory under driving rain in the men's 20 kilometre walk on Tuesday.
Fernandez led almost from start to finish to win in a championship record time of one hour 18 minutes 37 seconds.
The Spaniard moved ahead just after the competitors left for a relatively undemanding course set in a park surrounding the Olympic stadium and was never challenged until he returned to the arena.
Olympic bronze medallist Vladimir Andreyev of Russia came a distant 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.
The 25-year-old Fernandez, who emerged as the big favourite by clocking a world's best time of 1:17:22 last April in Turku, Finland, soon built a commanding lead and looked comfortable despite the awful weather conditions.
Double Olympic champion Robert Korzeniowski of Poland made life easier for the Spaniard by deciding to concentrate on the 50 kilometres walk, the final of which is on Thursday.
Fernandez survived a scare with the stadium in sight, narrowly avoiding a fall after colliding with a race official, but nothing could stop him from winning his first major title in the senior ranks.
A former junior world champion, Fernandez won the bronze medal at the previous European championships in Budapest but had a reputation for under-achieving when it mattered.
"Many people said I couldn't win at big event but this time I proved them wrong," he said proudly.
"I don't want to whinge about the weather because when you win you can't complain."
Molina, who completed a memorable day for Spain with a surprise bronze medal, was not moaning either.
"I knew that Francisco would be the champion so I was just looking for a medal," said the 23-year-old. "This is my first European championships and it's a big success.
Veteran Andreyev, 35, had never entered the European championships either and was delighted with his silver medal.
"I love that kind of weather," he said. "I didn't have any problems with the rain.
"I'm not that young anymore and this is a very good result for me."
