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Britain end championships on high

04/03/2007

Great Britain finished the 29th Indoor European Championships on a high after topping the table with ten medals.

After a season plagued by illness, Jason Gardener won gold in the 60m to seal his fourth title in the championships.

The veteran ran 6.51 seconds, the fastest time in Europe this year, to beat Craig Pickering into second place.

There were two false starts in the final which included Briton Ryan Scott being disqualified.

The jubilant Gardner heaped praise on rising star Pickering.

"I had to dig deep and use all my experience to come through it," Gardener said.

"I'm delighted with my time, but I'm also pleased for Craig because he has had to deal with a lot of pressure. He deserves this."

Elsewhere, the men's 4x400m relay team of Robert Tobin, Dale Garland, Philip Taylor and Steve Green won gold despite finishing behind Germany.

Germany's relay team were disqualified after Bastian Swillim tripped his Russian rival, who was leading the race at the time.

In the high jump, Martyn Bernard had earlier won Britain's sixth medal after winning the bronze.

Bernard jumped 2.29m with his final attempt behind Swedish pair Linus Thornblad and Stefan Holm.

In the women's competition, the 4x400m relay team won bronze to finish behind Belarus and winners Russia.

The team of Nicola Sanders, Emma Duck, Kim Wall and Lee McConnell clocked a British record of three minutes, 28.69 seconds.

But there was bitter disappointment for Jo Pavey who finished sixth in the 3,000m after suffering from flu all week while Lisa Dobrisky ran a personal best to take fifth place.

Poland's Lidia Chojecka took gold in eight minutes and 43.25 seconds to add to her 3,000m win.

In the 60m, Jeanette Kwakye ran a personal best of 7.20 seconds but missed out on bronze in a photo finish.

Marilyn Okoro and Jennie Meadows finished outside the medals in the 800m which was won by Jolanda Ceplak of Slovenia.

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