Obikwelu takes 100m gold as Brits fail to challenge
Francis Obikwelu wins European gold in 9.99secs
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Mark Lewis-Francis and Dwain Chambers both made it through to the semi-finals of the men's 100m but showed contrasting form in the process. |  |
Tuesday, 08, Aug 2006 10:59
Portugal's Francis Obikwelu recovered from a slow start to leave his rivals trailing in his wake and win European Championship 100m gold in Gothenburg this afternoon.
Although the slowest of the field to rise from his blocks, the Olympic silver medallist surged through in the latter half of the race to win by a clear margin in a new championship record of 9.99secs.
His distinctive high-stepping style took him home in front of Russia's Andrey Yepishin and Slovenia's Matic Osovnikar in third.
Britain's sprinters, who were last week blasted by former 200m star John Regis as 'one-hour professionals', did little to deflect such criticism with Mark Lewis-Francis coming in fifth and Dwain Chambers seventh.
Obikwelu told the BBC of his delight of adding to his Athens medal and establishing himself amongst the world's elite for athletics' blue riband event.
"I feel on top of the world. Today was a great day for me - I've been working four years for this. When it gets to the major championships, I always step it up," he said.
Lewis-Francis by contrast had to settle for the consolation of running a season's best of 10.16secs and he promised that next season would see a significant improvement on this.
"It's coming, but it's coming too late. Improvements are coming out slowly - you'll see the best of me next year," he said.