THE old guard of British athletics, double Olympic champion Mo Farah, and the newest kid on the blocks, schoolgirl Jessica Judd, delivered nobly for Britain yesterday in the European Team Championships at Gateshead.
So did Commonwealth silver medallist Eilidh Child, one of five UK winners on the opening day. She carved more than half a second from her Scottish record in the 400 metres hurdles with a time which ranks fourth in Europe and seventh in the world this year.
Farah, in his first GB outing since the Olympics, won the 5000m in 14:10.00. He received a test from his coach, telling him to blast it at the bell. His closing lap of 50.89, off a modest pace, was two seconds faster than his bell-lap at London 2012.
European indoor double gold medallist Perri Shakes-Drayton took the 400m with the fastest time in Europe this year, and even the men's 4 x 100m quartet broke a record of recurrent failure to safely negotiate the baton for victory – also in Europe's quickest this year.
Yet lapses by those from whom very much more was expected leave Britain third in the 12-nation contest with 181 points, behind Germany (195) and Russia (194). Prospects of a victory to match that in the same arena 24 years ago are remote.
Greg Rutherford, who cleared 8.31m for Olympic gold, could manage only 8.02m for third in the long jump while world champion Dai Greene, almost a second and a half faster than any of his rivals, made "too many mistakes" and was relegated to second in the 400m hurdles. He had been expected to win a fourth consecutive title. Yet the greatest points haemorrhage was in the women's pole vault where Holly Bleasdale failed to record a height – a nightmare repetition of London 2012.
Rutherford was not ready for Russian world leader Aleksandr Menkov, who beat him for the third time this year. With home advantage he will be a potent threat to Rutherford's world title hopes in Moscow.
The 21-year-old Bleasdale's fragility on the big stage, especially in windy conditions, was again manifest as she failed three times at her opening height of 4.25m. She has cleared 4.60m this year – a height only one woman in the field had bettered.
She has been practising in windy conditions to lay the Olympic bogey, but did not mention this. She pleaded Achilles and back problems which caused her almost to withdraw. Cruel reality is that 4.60m would have won the event and put Britain right in the mix. By coming in lower, she could have secured some points.
Child, who won relay gold and individual 400m silver in Gothenburg, won with the most aggressive run of her life, lowering her Scottish best to 54.42, and encouraging world final aspirations.
Wind readings were as high as -4.6 in the sprints, but the Fife woman attacked with it at her back. "I thought I would go for it and try to hang on," she said. "I knew that time was in me. Although the wind was a bit strong, I got the hurdling right. That's the crucial thing. It's about momentum and not stuttering between the hurdles."
Her coach, Malcolm Arnold, had told her: "Take each hurdle individually, and attack every single one."
"If I get everything right, I'd like to think I can go a bit faster than that," Child said.
Jessica Judd, 18, graduated in a windy cauldron which destroyed more experienced performers. Only days after sitting A-Levels, and on her senior GB debut, last year's world junior silver medallist was ranked fourth in the 800m field but confidently hit the front with 200m remaining before winning in 2:00.82.
Scotland's Lennie Waite, a late replacement in the steeplechase, ran a season's best (9:56.19) for fifth, while Mark Dry, rebuilding his hammer technique, finished with 68.30 – 11th, but precisely his ranking.
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