For the final part of the series on the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, our Day Three focus is on the battle between Aleksandr Menkov and Michael Torneus and Renaud Lavillenie’s hat trick of a win.
In the end it was just two centimetres which separated Michael Torneus from winning Sweden a second gold medal on the final day of their European Athletics Indoor Championships in Gothenburg.
But those centimetres brought gold for one of the stars of 2013, the brilliant Russian Aleksandr Menkov who proved that quality, not quantity, was the key as he won a dramatic long jump title.
Russia had another outstanding Championship, ending top of the table with 14 medals, the same total as in Paris two years earlier.
Menkov has been one of the most consistent European athletes over the last four years and this win was just further evidence of his status.
He would progress to complete a glorious 2013 by winning gold at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow while also taking the Diamond League title in the event.
Gothenburg was his first senior title, having won gold at the European Athletics Junior Championships in Novi Sad in 2009 and the European Under-23 Championships in 2011.
Menkov was facing Sweden’s Torneus, whose aim was to add to the gold glory of teammate Abeba Aregawi the day before.
Round one of the competition set the tone for a fabulous final.
Not only was it Torneus going first but his opening effort sent the crowd wild as he soared to a national record of 8.27m, breaking the previous mark by seven centimetres.
The pressure on Menkov was now at its peak.
Incredibly, he then produced a moment of magic with his first jump taking him one centimetre further to 8.28m.
In the fourth round, Menkov again improved to 8.31m, this jump would prove crucial in the end.
Torneus had no response until the final round. His last effort saw him sail through the air; the crowd held its breath and waited as the scoreboard flashed up…8.29m.
He had broken the national record again and would have been the champion had Menkov not stretched the mark in round four, as Germany’s Christian Rief took bronze with 8.07m.
'I love this arena, it is wonderful to jump here,” said Menkov. “I was prepared to jump long.'
Torneus praised his opponent and said: 'I was happy about beating the national record. Menkov was simply better today. I congratulate him.'
Gold medallist in Turin in 2009 and Paris in 2011, Renaud Lavillenie arrived to Gothenburg seeking a pole vault hat-trick.
He left with the title safe intact after a superb display from the Frenchman who won with 6.01m, but was so close to thinking he had cleared 6.07m.
The bar wobbled and did not fall off but was still called as a foul because it had moved to another part of the frame which had stopped it dropping down.
Although it took him a moment to get over this unfortunate decision, it did not take away the delight of Lavillenie's victory as he defeated Bjorn Otto, who was second with 5.76m, taking silver from his fellow German Malte Mohr on countback.
'The gold medal was the most important thing and I got it with a huge performance,” said Lavillenie.
This ends our review of the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Gothenburg. The next championships will take place in Prague in 2015 with more outstanding performances to come.