Stambolova gives Bulgaria first 400m Euro title; Diniz wins walk

By John Bagratuni Aug 10, 2006, 17:52 GMT

Bulgarian Vanya Stambolova (R) celebrates while crossing the finish line to win the women\'s 400m final in front of Belarus\' Ilona Usovich (L) at the European Athletics Championships 2006 in Gothenburg, Thursday 10 August 2006. EPA/KERIM OKTEN

Gothenburg, Sweden - Vanya Stambolova lived up to her status as revelation of the year on Thursday when she gave Bulgaria the first ever European championship title in the women's 400 metres.

Stambolova, 22, produced a strong finish to win with 49.85 seconds.

Tatyana Veshokurova of Russia took second in 50.15 seconds while compatriot and season-leader Olga Zaitseva faded to third in 50.28 seconds after leading into the home stretch.

'The race was fine but the time not really,' said Stambolova, who lowered her personal best to 49.64 earlier this season and made the podium at the Golden League meets in Rome and Paris.

The evening session was to see four further finals: the men's 200m, 400m hurdles, and the women's 800m and discus.

Earlier, unheralded Frenchman Yohan Diniz defied a torrential thunderstorm in the late stages to win the first title on offer Thursday, the men's 50-kilometre walk in 3:41:39 hours.

Veteran Spaniard Jesus Angel Garcia, the 1993 world champion, came second in 3:42:48, Yuriy Andronov of Russia took third in 3:43:46, while long-time leader Trond Nymark faded to fourth and Russian top favourite Denis Nizhegorodov was disqualified before the 20km mark.

'I am full of joy. I changed my technique after being disqualified at the world championships last year. I let the others exhaust themselves early on and accelerated after the 30km mark,' said Diniz, admitting that 'no one had me on the radar screen.'

He added in reference to the weather: 'The thunderstorm may have destabilized the others, but for me it was a welcome refreshment.'

Torrential rain and thunder set in when the walkers had passed the 40km mark and led to an early end of pole vault qualifying, with all 18 remaining athletes allowed into Saturday's final, including 2002 champion Alex Averbukh of Israel and German hope Tim Lobinger.

'It is a rare experience, but a very wise decision by the competition management,' said Lobinger.

The adverse weather also delayed the long-jump portion of the decathlon where defending champion and Olympic gold medallist Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic was leading with 3,480 points after three events.

In other early action in the evening session, the 100m champion Kim Gevaert of Belgium started the quest for a sprint double by making the 200m semis with 22.83 seconds in the heats dominated by Russian Yuliya Gushchina (22.69).

The 2002 champion Muriel Hurtis-Houari of France also advanced with 23.27 seconds.

'I will try my best and we will then see if it is good enough,' Gevaert said.

Khalid Zoubaa of France led the men's 5,000m heats into Sunday's final with 13:46.32 minutes.