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Fajdek stretches his lead at the top

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Poland’s Pawel Fajdek saved the best for last to rubberstamp his place at the helm of the world hammer rankings at the 16th European Athletic Festival in Bydgoszcz on Sunday.

The double world champion and European silver medallist would have won with his opening throw (77.70m), but after improving on that in round five (79.80m), he then unleashed a superb 81.71m to seal victory from Finnish duo David Soderberg (75.59m) and Tuomas Seppanen (75.33m).

Fajdek had led the rankings with 80.66m - no-one else has broken 80m - and now he is even further ahead with the major championships on the horizon.

'I am not surprised by this results,' Fajdek said. 'I told myself that in each competition I must throw over 80 metres. I am very glad and that was kind of a gift for my 27th birthday (saturday)'.

It was another fine day, too, for fellow Pole Konrad Bukowiecki who scored another shot put victory over Tomasz Majewski, his countryman and Olympic champion.

European junior champion Bukowiecki won with 20.83m from Majewski (20.17m) and Bulgaria’s Georgi Ivanov (19.56m).

Poland had further success at this European Athletics Outdoor Classic meeting with men’s victories for Adrian Swiderski in the triple jump (16.67m), Robert Sobera in the pole vault (5.60m) and Karol Konieczny in the 800m (1:48.63) and in the women's events, Agata Forkasiewicz (11.50) won the women’s 100m and Tina Matusinska (56.66) triumphed in the 400m hurdles.

In the men’s 100m, Great Britain’s Samuel Osewa ran a personal best of 10.29 to beat Poland’s Karol Zalewski (10.37).

Farah breaks British 3000m record

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It had been 34 years since David Moorcroft set the British 3000m record time of 7:32.96 but that is now the property of Mo Farah after a superb run at the IAAF Diamond League in Birmingham saw him break it by 17 seconds.

Farah brought the meeting to a close with his latest landmark performance as he beat Kenya’s Mathew Kiptanui (7:44.16) and Hilary Kipkorir Maiyo (7:44.99) - and he was not even aware of his achievement.

'I didn't know I had the British record when I crossed the line, I thought I had just missed it,' said Farah, whose previous best outdoors was 7:34.66.

'I was a bit tired on the last lap but I knew I had to dig in.'

Moorcroft tweeted: 'Congratulations @Mo_Farah a fantastic run again.'

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French 800m specialist Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (1:13.21) finished just behind Kenya's David Rudisha (1:13.09) over 600m to break the European record!

If he can extend this kind of shape for an extra 200m, Bosse will be a real threat in Amsterdam and at the Rio Olympics.

In the discus, Poland’s Piotr Malachowski won with 67.50m while Germany’s Olympic champion Robert Harting was second (65.97m), his best since his return from injury.

Think back to the last European Athletics Championships in Zurich and it is impossible to forget the women’s 4x400m final, as France’s Floria Guei amazingly went from fourth to first on the anchor leg, when she looked out of it with 200m to go, to win gold on the line for her nation.

Now she is top of the individual European Athletics rankings just a month away from Amsterdam after winning in Birmingham in 50.84 to beat Jamaica’s Christine Day (50.84) and Australia’s Morgan Mitchell (51.25).

It is impressive form from Guei, as no other European has dipped under 51 seconds this summer.

Talking of relays…and what a performance from Germany’s women in Regensburg on Sunday.

A 4x100m quartet of Tatjana Pinto, Lisa Mayer, Gina Luckenkemper and Rebekka Haase produced a brilliant world lead of 42.00 with the quickest time their country has run since 1991.

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It was a good meeting, too, for Belarusian Alina Talay, the 2012 European champion, who broke her national 100m hurdles record with 12.63 as she beat Germany’s Nadine Hildebrand (12.81) and Pamela Dutkiewicz (12.85).

There is arguably no better place to top the javelin world rankings than Jena, the setting of Jan Zelezny’s world record of 98.48m, which last month celebrated its 20th anniversary.

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On Saturday, Germany’s Thomas Röhler took sole leadership at the top of this year’s lists - he had been sharing it with Egypt’s Ihab Abdelrahman with 87.37m - as he threw 87.91m.

The 11th Meeting Iberoamericano de Atletismo in Huelva on Friday saw a home win in the men’s high jump for Spain's Simon Siverio (2.22m).

A European Athletics Outdoor Classic Meeting, there were European triumphs in the women’s events for Italy’s Maria Benedicta Chigbolu in the 400m (52.68), Poland’s Anna Jagaciak Michalska in the triple jump (13.80m) and Belarusian Alena Sobaleva in the hammer (67.24m).

And one teenager who will be relishing the first European Athletics Youth Championships in Tbilisi next month is Austrian multi-eventer Sarah Lagger.

In Rif this weekend, Lagger, 16, scored a personal heptathlon best of 6066 points at the Austrian Under-18 Championships, a performance which is a world-leading mark for her age category.

There are 91 events across Europe this week. For full information, go to http://www.european-athletics.org/calendar



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