GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Aug 9- Kim Gevaert, dreaming of becoming the little
princess of the European championships, seized the 100 metres crown on Wednesday
but ageing javelin king Jan Zelezny missed out again on the only title to elude
him.
Belgium's Gevaert, who had to be content with two silvers at the last
European championships four years ago in Munich, is the favourite to win two
sprint gold medals here and has already grabbed one in style.
The unassuming 28-year-old confidently led from the gun to cross the line in
11.06 seconds, finishing comfortably ahead of the Russian pair of Yekaterina
Grigoryeva and Irina Khabarova, who took silver and bronze respectively, both in
11.22 seconds.
Asked before the competition whether she might turn out to be the queen of
the Gothenburg, Gevaert had modestly said: "A queen? No. Kajsa (Bergqvist) and
Carolina (Kluft), those are the queens. I'd be happy if I could be a little
princess."
After becoming Belgium's first female European champion, she proudly said: "I
made Belgian history today. The pressure was enormous and I was very nervous but
during the race I managed to stay calm."
Minutes after Gevaert lived up to expectations, Zelezny totally missed his
final throw to finish third in the javelin contest, won by Norway's Olympic
champion Andreas Thorkildsen ahead of Finn Tero Pitkamaki.
BREATHTAKING FINAL
Three-times Olympic and world champion Zelezny failed to roll back the years
at the same Ullevi stadium where he had won world championship gold 11 years
ago.
The 40-year-old Czech world record holder, who will retire later this year
and will be remembered as the greatest javelin thrower in history, has
surprisingly never finished higher than third at European championships.
"Some people did not trust me but I showed them that despite my age I can
still throw with the younger boys," he said.
The day that saw Gevaert steal the limelight from one of he greatest names in
athletics ended with a breathtaking 400 metres final in which Frenchman Marc
Raquil produced a fantastic late surge to deny Russian Vladislav Frolov.
Raquil won in 45.02 seconds while Frolov had to be content with the silver in
45.09.
France had been hoping for their first one-two at European championships in
37 years but it was not to be, Leslie Djhone settling for the bronze in 45.40.
On a memorable day for the French, Mehdi Baala easily won the 1,500 metres,
becoming the first man since Briton Steve Cram in 1986 to retain the European
title for that event.
Baala won in 3:39.02 with world indoor champion Ivan Heshko of Ukraine
finishing a distant second in 3:39.50 and Spaniard Juan Carlos Higuero
completing the podium in 3:39.62.
