Christophe Lemaitre overcame another poor start to win the men's 200 meters and secure a sprint double, while Russia dominated the women's events at the European Athletics Championships Friday. Lemaitre again recovered from an atrocious start and wobbly run around the bend to surge past four runners and snatch victory by a hundredth of a second, clocking 20.37 seconds at Barcelona's Olympic stadium Friday. “Coming out of the bend my legs were so heavy. But you have to push to the end to have a chance,” Lemaitre said. “I really pushed with everything I had to do it.” The 20-year-old Frenchman had to power through the field over the last 60 meters in a similar finish to Wednesday's win in the 100, when he stumbled out of the blocks but recovered to secure his first major triumph. “My start was not as good as I expected,” Lemaitre said. “Now I am so glad to be a winner.” Christian Malcolm of Britain took silver with a season-best run of 20.38 while Martial Mbanjock won another bronze after finishing third in the 100. The Frenchman's time was 20.42 seconds. “I didn't see Lemaitre, I didn't even hear him come,” Malcolm said. “I really thought I got it.” Tatyana Firova led a Russian sweep of the 400 to begin a flurry of victories that saw Russian women claim five golds. Russia tops the medal standings with eight golds for an overall count of 19 medals. France has 10 medals overall, while Andy Turner's 110-meter hurdles win gave Britain its third gold. Germany also got its third through Betty Heidler's hammer throw victory. Svetlana Feofanova won the pole vault with a leap of 4.75 meters – 10 centimeters better than German pair Silke Spiegelburg and Lisa Ryzih, who settled for silver and bronze, respectively. “I just depend on myself, I don't care about my rivals,” said Feofanova, who claimed the title left vacant by Russian countrywoman Yelena Isinbayeva, who opted to skip the championships. “This is my victory.” Yuliya Zarudneva of Russia held off world champion Marta Dominguez of Spain in a sprint over the last 50 meters to win the women's 3,000 steeplechase in 9:17.57. While Dominguez picked up Spain's first medal, Arturo Casado soon after won the host nation's first gold in the men's 1,500, with countryman Manuel Olmedo taking bronze behind Germany's Carsten Schlagen. “I am the happiest man in the world right now,” said Casado, whose previous best result was European indoor bronze. Natalya Antyukh won the women's 400-meter hurdles and Mariya Savinova capped the Russian blitz by taking the 800 with a late attack that left the Netherlands' Yvonne Hak settling for silver. Kevin Borlee surged from sixth around the final bend to take men's 400 gold for Belgium in 45.08 seconds, with British pair Michael Bingham and Martyn Rooney both finishing with the same time but divided in that order by a photo finish. France began the day with gold as Yohann Diniz successfully defended his 50-kilometer walk title on the streets of the Catalan capital. Diniz won the men's event in 3 hours, 40 minutes, 37 seconds after leading from the start while surviving a nasty fall. “I knew I was going to win the race from the very beginning,” Diniz said. “Although I tripped, it was no problem.” Jessica Ennis of Britain led the women's heptathlon with 4,080 points after clocking a championship record 23.21 seconds in the 200 meters. Nataliya Dobrynska of the Ukraine was second with 3,970 points thanks in part to her shot put win, while Germany's Jennifer Oeser was third (3,841) with three events remaining.
