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Turner hurdles his way to European gold

Andy Turner produced a season's best for victory © Getty Images

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European Championships: Day four gallery

Andy Turner claimed Great Britain's third gold medal of the European Athletics Championships on Friday with a superb run in the final of the men's 110m hurdles.

Turner had looked distinctly average earlier in the evening when qualifying from the semi-finals, but he found his form in the main event to clock a season's best 13.28s for victory. The 29-year-old from Nottingham adds to Britain's other two golds picked up by Mo Farah and Phillips Idowu.

In fairness, Turner owed a great debt to Czech hurdler Petr Svoboda, who looked on course for a dominant victory before he clipped the eighth hurdle. That should not take anything away from Turner's achievement though, after he produced a flawless run to take full advantage as he accelerated right to the line.

"I'm lost for words, I'm overjoyed," said Turner. "I came here hoping to win the gold medal, but it was between five or six of us. I always said it would come down to whichever one of us had the cleanest race. Fortunately for me, Petr Svoboda didn't."

The race of the night came in the men's 400m, which saw Britain's Michael Bingham claim the silver medal, but only after Martyn Rooney faded into third after leading with 10 metres remaining. Drawn on the inside lane, Rooney stormed down the home straight and looked a sure winner, only to then completely lose his rhythm as Belgium's Kevin Borlee snatched gold in 45.08s. Bingham arrived late to take silver in 45.23s, which was exactly the same time clocked by bronze medallist Rooney.

Michael Bingham and Martyn Rooney claimed silver and bronze for Britain © Getty Images

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Christian Malcolm missed out on the 200m gold medal by 0.01s as Christophe Lemaitre added to his earlier 100m final triumph on Friday. Malcolm, who took silver in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, ran a brilliant bend as Lemaitre's transition left plenty to be desired. However, the Frenchman hunted the leader down with metres to go and Malcolm eventually lost it on the dip. Marlon Devonish also ran a good bend in the final, but the veteran lacked the power down the home straight as he came home in fourth.

The medals kept coming for Britain as Perri Shakes-Drayton picked up something of a bonus bronze medal in the women's 400m hurdles. Shakes-Drayton ran a personal best 54.18s to get on the podium, losing out to eventual winner Natalya Antyukh of Russia. Eilidh Child gained good experience despite finishing last.

Jenny Meadows also added bronze in a hugely competitive women's 800m final. The 2009 World Championship bronze medallist repeated the feat on the European stage, going off fast before hanging on as Russia's Mariya Savinova took gold in 1:58.22s. Jenna Simpson finished fifth after she got herself into a poor position on the final lap.

Andy Baddeley, one of Britain's strongest medal hopes, walked away empty handed in the men's 1500m, fading inside the last 100m after exiting the bend in second position. Spain's Arturo Casado took gold, with Baddeley in fifth while Colin McCourt and Tom Lancashire were ninth and 10th respectively.

In the women's heptathlon, Jessica Ennis built a significant lead on Friday, throwing 14.05m in the shot put before going close to her lifetime best in the 200m. Ennis crossed the line in 23.21s, 0.06s short of her personal best, which would have been good enough to qualify for the 200m final. The time gives her a 110-point lead over main rival Nataliya Dobrynska going into day two.

Elsewhere, Chris Tomlinson booked himself a date in the men's long jump final, reaching the qualification target with his second jump. Tomlinson has been tipped for future Olympic gold, and he showed a glimpse of that talent with a leap of 8.20m to qualify for Sunday's final.

Christian Malcolm was beaten on the dip © Getty Images

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Lisa Dobriskey continues to look like a strong medal hope for Britain in the women's 1500m after she qualified second for Sunday's final. Dobriskey recorded a time of 4:06.00s to progress automatically, and there was more good news as Hannah England and Stephanie Twell both went through as fastest losers despite finishing sixth and eighth respectively.

Hattie Dean can be extremely proud of her effort after she narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the women's 3000m steeplechase. Dean finished 0.37s outside the medals as Russia's Yuliya Zarudneva held on for gold ahead of Spain's Marta Dominguez.

In the women's 200m semi-finals, there was disappointment for Emily Freeman, who could only finish fifth to miss out on a place in the final. Freeman clocked a season's best 23.21s but both her and Ireland's Niamh Whelan missed out.

And there was a Russian 1-2-3 in the women's 400m final, as Tatyana Firova clocked a Europe-leading time of 49.89s to see off compatriots Kseniya Ustalova and Antonina Krivoshapka to take gold.

Also among the medals was Svetlana Feofanova, who won the women's pole vault with a Europe-leading height of 4.75m, and Betty Heidler, who took the women's hammer with a throw of 76.38m.

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