Shubenkov adds senior to under-23 gold
01.07.2012
Sergey Shubenkov, Russia’s 21-year-old European under 23 champion over the 110m hurdles, added the European senior title in impressive fashion here as he held off the pressing challenge of the men either side of him – Garfield Darien of France and Artur Noga of Poland – to take gold in 13.16 before dancing an exuberant jig of joy, his face a wide smile.
Shubenkov maintained his form despite the presence of the two larger men, and moved marginally ahead of the final three flights of hurdles. Darien – beaten by Shubenkov in Torino at the start of the month - took silver in 13.20, with Noga earning bronze with an effort of 13.27 which equalled the Polish record. Alexander John of Germany just missed out on the podium with a season's best time of 13.38.
The young Russian had announced his intentions in the clearest possible fashion by reaching the final as the fastest qualifier, finishing two metres clear of the field in 13.09sec, a national record which improved his own European best of the year – the 13.18 he ran in France on May 31 – by 0.09sec and lifted him to fifth in the world rankings.
Shubenkov smiled broadly and shook his head as he received the congratulations of others in the field, before making a sweeping bow to the crowd as the stadium announcer confirmed his time as a new national record.
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