Sprint hurdler Jakub Szymański strikes gold in front of home fans in Toruń on Saturday ahead of Enrique Llopis and Trey Cunningham.

Few things lift the atmosphere of a major championships than host nation success. So when Jakub Szymański stormed to victory in the men's 60m hurdles final on Saturday night in Toruń, the reaction to his performance almost blew the lid off the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena.

Taking to the blocks just moments after Polish team-mate Natalia Bukowiecka won women's 400m silver, Szymański enjoyed a near-perfect race to clock 7.40 ahead of Enrique Llopis, who clocked a Spanish record of 7.42 in second, with Trey Cunningham of the United States third in 7.43 after having gone No.5 on the world all-time rankings with 7.35 in his semi-final just over an hour earlier.

With Grant Holloway, the three-time champion, missing from the event, Szymański took his chance to succeed the American.

"My goal was the national record as I thought it would take around 7.35-7.37 to win," said  Szymański, whose best is 7.37, "but major championship finals are a different thing.

"I have run times in the 7.40 range multiple times so the key was to just hold my nerve. I predicted Cunningham would have problems. The only surprise was the Spaniard, who finished ahead of him."

Szymański won the European indoor title last winter but was knocked out in the semi-finals at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing.

"Last year, I was heartbroken to miss out on the final in Nanjing when medals ended up being won in very slow times. Now, the weight has fallen off my shoulders. I thought of avenging that loss every day and night and now I have done it.

"I worked hard with myself to get over what happened then. Records can be beaten at any time but winning gold is just extra special."