Schumann wins amid protest

BUDAPEST, Aug 24: Nils Schumann of Germany added the European outdoor 800 metres crown to his indoor title here yesterday but had to surv...

BUDAPEST, Aug 24: Nils Schumann of Germany added the European outdoor 800 metres crown to his indoor title here yesterday but had to survive an official protest by Denmark8217;s 800 metres world record holder Wilson Kipketer.

Kipketer went from first to last after his arm was held on the final bend.Elsewhere Great Britain finished top of the medals table with nine gold, winning three more titles yesterday, which included two championship records from Steve Backley, who was winning his third javelin gold, and Jonathan Edwards, who captured his first European crown, one ahead of the Germans, who won four titles yesterday.

Kipketer, who has now just won once in five races since coming back from a severe bout of malaria, looked comfortable as he employed the frontrunning tactics he used to win the world title last year.But as the leading trio of Kipketer, Schumann and Italian Andrea Longo came round the final bend there was quite a lot of contact between them.

quot;I don8217;t know who it was but someone held on to myarm and that stopped me completely, throwing me out of my rhythm and I lost all my momentum. I felt fine otherwise and knew I would win,quot; the Kenyan-born athlete said.

Schumann, who beat Kipketer in the first round heat, was overcome with his victory as he cried into the the arms of his parents and explained what had happened.

In other events, Ireland8217;s dual world cross country champion Sonia O8217;Sullivan clinched the 5,000-10,000 metres double as she won the shorter distance over her perennial rival Gabriela Szabo.

World and Olympic champion Lars Riedel of Germany and dual Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova of Russia clinched their first European titles.

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O8217;Sullivan, who won world gold at 5000 metres in 1995, seized her moment with around 200 metres to go coming off Szabo8217;s shoulder, where she had been throughout Romanian kicking away to extend her lead the whole way down the straight.

O8217;Sullivan, who has fought her way back from two years of championship misery in the Olympics and the worlds, hadsaid the pace set by Szabo had been ideal for her style of race.

Szabo, who is the world 5,000 metres champion, did not give much credit to O8217;Sullivan as she believed the Irish girl had just fed off her work at the front.

Masterkova, who has been beaten just once this year, confirmed the real order of things in the 1500 metres as she stormed home well clear of world champion Carla Sacramento of Portugal, although the runner-up felt the Spanish-based Russian had not played fair.

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Riedel maintained his unbeaten streak in major championships as a senior when he won his first European crown to add to his roll call of four world championships and the 1996 Olympic gold, throwing 67.07 metres to beat his veteran compatriot and world record holder Jurgen Schult.

Two women retained their titles as Bulgaria8217;s Svetla Dimitrova posted a season8217;s best time for a European in the 100 metres hurdles and Manuela Machado of Portugal won the marathon maintaining her country8217;s unbeaten record of the five runnings of theevent at the European Championship.