McKean and Whittle set up a Europa Cup triumph

their history last night.

In the most dramatic finale, the no-chance UK men's team won the

Europa Cup final at Gateshead, clinching outright victory when Whittle

propelled his dead legs and lungs across the line to give Britain their

ninth win in the last event, the 4 x 400 metres relay.

The men toppled the Soviet Union and East Germany for the first time,

claiming a place in the Barcelona World Cup, also a unique achievement.

And the British women equalled their best finish, with third place

behind the Eastern-bloc pair.

Britain led the Soviet Union by just one point with only the relay to

come. They already had clinched a place in the World Cup, which goes to

the first two nations in this event, but they had to finish at least one

place in front of the Russians to win outright.

This was a scratch relay squad, denuded of the star quarter-milers of

recent seasons, but if they lacked class, they compensated with a

Kiplingesque refusal to quit when only will-power drove them on. And as

they rose to the occasion, the Gateshead stadium boiled over.

Not since Meadowbank responded similarly to Lachie Stewart beating Ron

Clarke for the Commonwealth 10,000m title in 1970 has there been an

atmosphere to match this final drama.

Peter Crampton, and Kriss Akabusi -- already an individual winner --

built the platform, just holding the Soviet assault at bay. There was

all to run for when Todd Bennett took the baton in fourth place. But at

the end of an inspired leg, the Russians were 15 metres adrift. It was

three abreast -- Britain, Spain, and West Germany -- at the final

changeover. A dropped baton would have spelled disaster, but after

Whittle had locked it in a vice-like fist, it was victory or nothing.

Both he and Ralph Luebke of Germany came off the final bend exhausted.

Shoulder to shoulder they dug in until, just 10 metres from the line,

Whittle inched ahead, winning by just .17 of a second.

''All my life I have dreamed of coming up the home straight with a

major championship victory at stake,'' said Whittle, who ironically sees

his future at 800m. ''But you can keep it. That hurt too much. I want an

easy middle leg in future.''

But as the UK stormed to seven track and two field victories --

another record -- every single competitor was a hero, with every

individual point required for the cause. But no-one stood taller than

McKean, who finally came of age as he captured his third successive 800

metres crown.

Three years ago he was summoned as a reserve, replacing Sebastian Coe,

when he won the first of these titles in his international debut year.

But the Scot now is totally justified as heir to the crown of the world

record-holder.

The Bellshill man, crucified for two inept major championship

performances, again nailed his critics with the perfect riposte

yesterday when he dominated the international arena as never before.

When he led the way home in 1min 46.94sec, it gave Britain their seventh

victory of the match, surpassing their previous best. But it also wrote

another glorious chapter for McKean, who in the past two weeks has

broken the Scottish native and national records.

The opposition gave McKean the freedom of the track, standing back in

fatal awe. And when the bell was reached in 54.31sec, there was nobody

in the world who could outkick the former Lanarkshire labourer.

For the first time in his life at this level, the Bellshill Bullet led

from gun to tape. ''I felt they gave me an awful lot of respect,'' he

said. It was respect he earned a week ago, however, by his awesome

victory over Olympic champion Paul Ereng.

When McKean goes to Zurich for his next race, against the Kenyan a

week on Wednesday, he will find that same respect. He has paid all his

dues. He is a man reborn.

Not that such praise will mean anything to him. In fact, he will know

nothing about it. ''No disrespect,'' he said to the Fourth Estate, ''but

the scarring I got from the media brought my confidence down in the

first place. Now I just don't read the papers. Today I had a

second-and-a-half up my sleeve. I can't believe how easy it was. Now I

can concentrate on trying to get my time down. I've got the fast races

to come, and now I believe in myself.''

He also displayed a hitherto hidden slick line in repartee. When Steve

Ovett urged him to smile more, he quipped: ''If I had a face like his,

I'd need to.''

However, the whole British camp was smiling as team manager Les Jones

was decanted fully clothed into the water jump.

''This is the greatest single achievement in the history of British

athletics,'' said Frank Dick, the national coaching director, who, only

months ago, was being manoeuvred towards resigning.

Everyone contributed to the success. There were predictable victories

yesterday from John Regis (200m, 20.62) and Colin Jackson (110m hurdles,

13.56).

For Regis, cousin of footballer Cyrille Regis, it was a particularly

satisfying return to Tyneside. ''I was rejected by Newcastle United when

Kevin Keegan was playing there. I was on a month's trial. I used to fly

down the wing and belt the ball over,'' he said. ''But they wanted

someone with finesse, like Kenny Dalglish.''

Tom Hanlon of Edinburgh took fourth (8-35.81) in a practical

steeplechase, but produced a sub-60sec final lap. Inverness's Jayne

Barnetson cleared 1.85m for equal fourth in the high-jump. No British

woman had an individual victory, but they stuck to a task made easier by

a significant decline in the former high standard of Eastern European

performances, a factor surely not unconnected with the intensifying war

against drug abuse.

Not to be upstaged by the men, the UK women beat the 14-year-old

national record in the 4 x 400m relay in their finale to a superlative

second day.

Britain's first-day lead of 63 points to 52 over the Soviet Union had

left the East Germans third on 50, taking even the most optimistic by

surprise. But the warning shot had been fired in the initial event when

the wounded army warrant officer, Kriss Akabusi, tipped for no better

than third in the 400m hurdles, gunned down ageing European

record-holder Harald Schmid.

There was a first Europa final win for Britain in both the high jump

and javelin, and Linford Christie became the only man to retain the 100m

crown before anchoring the sprint relay squad to victory in a UK

all-comers' best of 38.39.

Dalton Grant, ranked joint twenty-fifth in the world last year,

started at 2.20 metres -- higher than any Briton has cleared in this

competition -- and ended the outright winner on a countback, having

cleared 2.32m. In the process, he raised his own UK outdoor record by a

centimetre (he has done 2.35m indoors) and beat both the former world

record-holder, Rudolf Povarnitsyn, and Gerd Wessig, the 1980 Olympic

champion.

Steve Backley, 20, dominated the javelin from the first throw of the

competition. His opening effort of 79.62m demoralised the opposition,

which included the world record-holder Jan Zelezny, and would have been

good enough to win in itself. But Backley, who hypnotises himself,

visualising every detail of each throw in advance, went on to mesmerise

his rivals by sending three raking throws beyond the 80m line, winning

with 82.92m.

Akabusi, sidelined for four weeks and then able to train on only 10

days in the past 28 with a hamstring injury, clocked 48.95sec. to stay

one place ahead of Schmid, the five-times European gold medallist, just

as he had done in Seoul.

Schmid has scored more Europa Cup points than any other athlete in the

history of the competition, but Akabusi says: ''I will consider myself a

novice at this event until I break David Hemery's 21-year-old UK record

of 48.12.''

Linda Keough ran herself almost to a standstill in the women's 400m as

she took a surprise second place. But in the men's one-lap event, a

drained Brian Whittle slumped from second to fifth in the home straight,

although he still recorded 46.19, a time inside his native record.

''Everyone was doing so well that I had to go for it,'' said the Troon

man, who has retained UK No.1 status in this event despite stepping up

to 800m.

Yvonne Murray, in the 3000m, was another who gave everything. The

early pedestrian pace -- 38 seconds for the opening 200m -- forced her

to take the initiative. She succeeded in shaking off six of her rivals,

including former world mile record-holder Natalia Arteymova. But the

Olympic 1500m champion, Paula Ivan, proved more durable, and predictably

the Rumanian sat in and then sprinted home with a 62-second final lap to

leave Murray second.

Murray was reprimanded for going to the medal presentation in the

singlet of her sponsor, garage entrepreneur Glen Henderson. ''I had no

option,'' said Yvonne, somebody stole my Great Britain tracksuit while I

was racing.''