Briton adds 200m to her 100m gold at the Alexander Stadium as Rhasidat Adeleke breaks Irish record for silver and Asher-Smith lands bronze.

"Are you not entertained?" cried Amy Hunt as she looked straight down the TV camera to herald becoming the European 200m champion.

Judging by the noise being made by the crowd of over 20,000 people at the Alexander Stadium to witness the 24-year-old completing the 100m/200m double on Thursday evening (August 13), they most certainly were.

The line, borrowed from the film Gladiator, was apt as Hunt really had to fight for this one - both on and off the track.

British record-holder and former world champion Dina Asher-Smith had led coming off the bend in the women's 200m final as the roars poured down from the stands.

For a brief while, the two Britons were neck and neck down the straight in lanes seven and eight. But it was Hunt – who is going for gold in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x100m mixed relays at these championships – who began to edge ahead. Although tying up, she still hit the line first in 22.19 (0.7), the fastest time in Europe this year. 

As the battle of the home athletes raged, Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke was mounting a significant challenge of her own and clocked a national record of 22.28 to push the winner all the way and take silver. With her bronze, in 22.29, Asher-Smith now has a career total of nine European medals to her name, while British champion Success Eduan finished sixth with 22.66. 

The 200m is Hunt's favourite distance and the event in which she came to prominence after breaking the under-18 word record in 2019. But she revealed that, this year, it has presented challenges.

“I have had a lot of health things going on this year – some really, really low [blood] pressure," she said. “The 200s have been really scary. I have been nearly fainting after a lot of my 200s this year. I had just to go into that one, get on the bend and be really brave."

There were no wobbles once her second gold medal in four days has been secured and she had become the first British sprinter to complete the sprint double at a European Championships since Asher-Smith in Berlin 2018. 

Hunt said: “Two out of four. Honestly, I think the 100m is the hardest mentally and the 200m is the hardest physically.

“It was an amazing race. I was thinking about my coach [Marco Airale].  He said before I went in: 'Just imagine me in lane 10 with a stopwatch and a whistle. Just keep those thighs up. Just keep going. I was thinking of him and trying not to make the mistake of getting caught up in other people’s battles.

“The crowd were amazing. This is becoming a magical week and one I will remember for the rest of my life. There’s no celebrating, no champagne until Sunday night because I have a debt to the ladies [in the relays]. We have to make sure we show them who is the best sprint nation in Europe."

Meanwhile, the 2022 European champion Zharnel Hughes progressed from the semi-finals of the men’s 200m, but had a seemingly tetchy exchange with Timothé Mumenthaler on the way to victory in 20.05 (1.6). The Swiss clocked a PB of 20.09 in second place.

Germany’s Owen Ansah was quickest qualifier overall in winning heat three with a PB of 20.04 (0.5) that equalled the European lead and, in that same race, British 19-year-old Ebuka Nwokeji did not progress, clocking 20.83 for sixth place.

On a night that saw Mark English take 800m gold, there was further drama in the climax to the women’s 3000m steeplechase as Germany’s Lea Meyer, who had led for much of the race, missed out on a medal entirely after a spectacular fall at the final water jump. 

Her compatriot Gesa Krause had just moved into the lead at that point but any ideas of an all-German battle for gold evaporated when Meyer crashed to the floor. 

Instead, Krause pulled away to win her third European title in 9:12.69, followed by French defending champion Alice Finot (9:14.24) and German team-mate Olivia Gürth (9:15.33). A distraught Meyer had to settle for fourth in 9:17.07, while Great Britain’s Elise Thorner – the fastest woman in Europe this year – looked short of her best form in fifth with 9:18.14.

There was further German success in the men’s decathlon as Leo Neugebauer secured his first European title by just 38 points from team-mate Niklas Kaul. 

The reigning world champion and Olympic silver medallist had looked firmly on track for gold but a huge throw of 73.54m in the penultimate event, the javelin, brought Kaul to within 154 points of the leader heading into the 1500m that would decide everything. Kaul managed 4:20.70 to finish fourth-fastest and put the pressure on but Neugebauer clung on to the lead with the run of 4:38.36 that gave him gold. 

The Economics student at the University of Texas finished with a total of 8611 points to Kaul’s 8573, while Norway’s world indoor champion Sander Skotheim landed bronze with 8433.