Helen Clitheroe lands 3,000m gold to gild Britain's medals haul

TEAM captain Helen Clitheroe led by example with gold in the 3,000 metres as Britain ended the European Indoor Championships with eight medals, twice as many as in Turin two years ago.

Jenny Meadows won silver in the 800m and returned to the track an hour later to anchor the 4x400m relay team, which included Scotland's Lee McConnell, to another.

Dwain Chambers and the men's 4x400m team also claimed silver on the final day of competition in Paris.

But perhaps the most significant result came from 17-year-old sprinter Jodie Williams, who was just 0.01 seconds away from a medal in the 60m on her senior debut.

At the other end of the age spectrum, the 37-year-old Clitheroe was delighted to claim her first major title after holding off a determined challenge from Russia's Olesya Syreva to win by just three hundredths of a second.

"It's an absolute dream come true for me," Clitheroe said. "I've been trying so long to get on a podium, and to get on and win a gold medal at 37 is just unbelievable. I'm so delighted.

"I've definitely thought of giving up before. Especially in the last couple of years there's been times when I've walked off the track, depressed, with my head down and you just think 'What am I doing this for?'

"It's just because my husband Neil has kept believing in me. He said you're a long time retired, don't give up until you're ready and do it on your terms so that's what I'm doing. It's just great to get a bit of payback for all of the hard work I've put in over the years.

"My dream is to run in the Olympics in London, and this just makes me believe that I can get on the team."

Barring injury, Williams will certainly compete in London, but even exceeding expectations here will not persuade the A-level student to change her mind and compete at the World Championships in Daegu this year.

"It's made me more sure that I am not ready for worlds yet," Williams insisted after finishing fourth in 7.21s, equalling the personal best she set in the semi- finals. "It's frustrating to be so close to a medal but I was just happy to be in that race.

"It's been an amazing experience. I have come a long way as an athlete to be out there competing against those athletes and in front of that crowd. Sixty metres is my worst event so I am happy to come here and get fourth.

"I'll be back at school on Tuesday and it's going to be strange but I'll have a lot of work to catch up on."

In the women's 800m, Meadows led from the start and it looked as though her tactics would pay off until Russia's Yevgeniya Zinurova edged ahead just metres from the line.Meadows finished 0.31s behind, with team-mate Marilyn Okoro fading to fifth.

"I'm disappointed not to be the champion, especially after seeing my room-mate Helen (Clitheroe], that was a great start to my race," Meadows said.

But the 29-year-old could be proud of her performance in the 4x400m relay as she ran a superb final leg to hold off France and ensure silver for herself and fellow 800m specialist Marilyn Okoro, Kelly Sotherton and Lee McConnell.

Chambers was 0.01s away from defending his 60m title as Portugal's Francis Obikwelu, at 32 the same age as Chambers, claimed a surprise win.

But Chambers was happy to beat home favourite Christophe Lemaitre into third place after finishing fifth behind the Frenchman in the outdoor championships in Barcelona last summer. Lemaitre suffered from one of his notoriously bad starts and slumped on his haunches shaking his head, after disappointing the Paris crowd despite earlier dominating qualifying.

"I can put that nightmare to sleep now," Chambers said. "Psychologically it's 1-1 between us now. I thought I'd got the title but it was a great race. I can look forward to the summer now."

The only disappointment for Britain on the final day came in the men's 800m, where Andrew Osagie finished fourth after looking well placed for a medal.

"I'm a bit disappointed but there are so many positives," Osagie said. "I made my first final and winning the semi-final yesterday was a major high. I gave everything I could."

The highlight of the day for the home crowd came in the triple jump, where Teddy Tamgho broke his own indoor triple jump world record yesterday, leaping 17.92 metres.

The 21-year-old Frenchman had set his previous mark of 17.91 at the French indoor championships last month.

Tamgho, who is coached by former long jump Olympic champion Ivan Pedroso of Cuba, broke the record on his second attempt and equalled it at his fourth jump.

"The competition was very tough and intense, more than I expected," Tamgho said after adding the European indoor title to the world gold he won last year in Doha.

Defending champion Fabrizio Donato of Italy finished second with 17.73, ahead of Marian Oprea of Romania, who reached 17.62.