Spaniard wins by one thousandth of a second while Pedro Pichardo leaps to first European gold

In a thrilling 110m hurdles that ended the programme on Wednesday night in Munich, Asier Martinez became the European champion at the age of 22.

A surprise bronze medallist at the World Championships, the Spaniard used every last effort to fight his way past defending champion Pascal Martinot-Lagarde.

The pair were virtually inseparable as they flew towards the line, but a great lean from Martinez gave him gold by just one thousandth of a second as their times of 13.14 (-0.2) gave them a share of the European lead for 2022 but, more importantly for the winner, improved the PB he set in America. Impressively his four best times have been set in the Munich, Eugene and Tokyo finals. He is clearly a championships performer.

Though he lost out so narrowly, Martinot-Lagarde seemed happy with his silver and France also took the bronze through Just Kwaou-Mathey, whose 13.33 edged Swiss Jason Joseph’s 13.35.

Rising star Sasha Zhoya (13.17 this summer) and the world junior record-holder, was the one disappointment for the French team as the 20-year-old crashed badly over the final hurdle and was a clear last in 16.51 though he was only in contention for fifth place.

Britain’s Andrew Pozzi, drawn in lane one, got a reasonable start but lost momentum mid-race and was a below-par sixth in 13.66 to match his position from 2018.

In the semi-finals, Martinez won the first race in 13.25 (-0.2) from Kwaou-Mathey (13.30) and Pozzi finished back in third in 13.48. That time did qualify him for a fastest loser’s spot but noticably the Commonwealth bronze medallist was not interested in sitting in the trackside “hotseats” to await his fate.

Swiss athlete Finley Gaio, meanwhile, waited to watch the next two races and celebrated at the end of the third of his 13.50 gave him a final spot.

The other semis were won by Llopis in 13.30 (-0.3) and Martinot-Lagarde in 13.35 (-0.1) as the other two Britons Miguel Perera (PB 13.58) and David King (13.73 after a poor start) were eliminated.

Triple Jump triumph for Pichardo

Predictably the world and Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo won the men’s triple jump title with ease in his first European Championships.

The former Cuban opened with 17.05m (-0.2) before a 17.50m (-1.1) effectively ended the competition for gold. He fouled his third attempt and passed his fourth and fifth before unleashing a huge final jump that was easily superior to his best mark but was fractionally a foul.

Afterwards he said: “I am really happy with the gold. It looks easy but it is not and is the result of a lot of hard work and I am now the same age as when Jonathan Edwards set his world record. 17.50m isn’t great and I was hoping for more than that.”

Italian Andrea Dallavalle started badly with two no jumps and did well to stay in the competition with a 16.81m (-0.7) in the third round before a 17.04m (0.4) moved him up to second.

Jean-Marc Pontvianne took bronze with a 16.94m (-0.5) leap. He had five no jumps and his last effort would have got him the silver medal but for being a marginal foul.

Britain’s Ben Williams has had numerous no jump problems this year but he started well with a 16.66 (-0.4) which initially put him in a medal position but thereafter was less successful with three no jumps. He produced  a 16.47m in round four and then a 16.53m (-0.1), though gave away 18 centimetres on the board and he finished sixth.

Meanwhile, in the morning session, five-time hammer world champion Pawel Fajdek (79.76m) and Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki (78.78m) predictably led the way in qualifying with Nick Miller throwing 76.09m to progress in ninth.

In an exciting heat one of the men’s 400m hurdles, Britain’s Jacob Paul was a close second in his heat to Victor Coroller’s 49.35, which was fastest overall, in a PB 49.40.

Fast-finishing Seamus Derbyshire also qualified, despite a few technical problems with a 50.08, though Joshua Faulds (51.21) was eliminated as his 50.12 missed out.

World discus champion Kristjan Ceh headed the qualifiers with a superb championships record 69.06m, while Lawrence Okoye qualified eighth best with 62.56m and Nick Percy just missed out with 61.26m in 14^th.