PHILLIPS IDOWU TAKES EUROPEAN TRIPLE JUMP GOLD FOR BRITAIN

This gold medal is for my little boy Prince and I just want to get back to my family now my job in Barcelona is done

Phillips Idowu

PHILLIPS IDOWU leapt out of his skin to claim the European Championship triple jump gold medal in Barcelona.

The Londoner hopped, skipped and jumped further than he ever had before to claim victory with 17.81m.

And that was easily enough to secure first place ahead of French danger man Teddy Tamgho, who could only manage 17.45m for bronze, with Romanian Marian Oprea snatching second.

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Idowu, 31, the reigning world champion and 2008 Olympic silver medallist, said: “I knew I would have to do a personal best, a big jump, to win.

“It’s amazing and I can hardly speak. It’s been a tough year but me and my coach put it all together and we were always planning for this day.

“I’m sure some people thought I didn’t have it in me, so I had to stay ­strong-minded.

“But this gold medal is for my little boy Prince and I just want to get back to my family now my job in Barcelona is done.

“I can now start to prepare for the 2012 Olympics because there is one gold ­missing from my collection.”

Earlier, Wakefield high jumper Martyn Barnard soared to a bronze medal after clearing 2.29m in the final.

Barnard, 25, made a brave decision to move up to that height after failing his first attempt at 2.26m and reaped the ­rewards.

It briefly put him into the lead before Russian duo Alexander Shustov and Ivan Ukhov jumped 2.31m for the top two places.

Barnard said: “I was pretty close to clearing 2.31, so I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t get it, but bronze sounds good to me.”

Marlon Devonish and Christian Malcolm will both take on 100m champion Christophe Lemaitre in tonight’s 200m ­final after qualifying from their semis.

But Laura Turner failed to reach the women’s 100m final after only clocking 11.41secs for fifth place in her qualifier.

Mo Farah and Chris Thompson, the gold and silver medallists in the 10,000m, came safely through their 5,000m heats.

And two Welshmen, Rhys Williams and David Greene, booked their place in the 400m hurdles final with impressive ­performances.

Michael Rimmer was also in control of his 800m semi-final to qualify for ­tomorrow’s medal race.

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