BIRMINGHAM – Amy Hunt won a record fourth gold medal in a single edition of the European championships when Britain clinched victory in the mixed 4x100 relay on Sunday.
Hunt had already won two individual titles — the 100 and 200 — and added a third gold Saturday in the women’s 4x100 relay at Alexander Stadium.
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The team of Jeremiah Azu, Dina Asher-Smith, Zharnel Hughes and Hunt won Sunday in a time of 39.97 seconds. Germany was second in 40.11 and Spain third in 40.42.
On the anchor leg, Hunt pulled away from Gina Lückenkemper to cross the line for gold.
“Oh my gosh, I'm over the moon,” Hunt told the BBC. “To finish it off with some of my best friends in the sport ... to do it all together is incredible.”
Asher-Smith won her career eighth European championships gold and became the competition's most decorated athlete.
This was the debut of the mixed 4x100 relay in the European championships.
“It’s good to get to try something new,” Asher-Smith told the BBC, although she added, “I was absolutely terrified.”
Memorable marathons
Amanal Petros made sure there was no photo finish this time.
The German won the men’s marathon at the European championships on Sunday morning by a whopping 7 seconds, less than a year after missing out on gold in a photo finish at the world championships in Tokyo.
Petros crossed the finish line in Birmingham in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 11 seconds — breaking the championships record in the process. Italy’s Pietro Riva took silver with his 2:09:18, three seconds better than Israel’s Gashau Ayale.
Last September, the Eritrean-born Petros settled for silver behind Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu in the closest marathon in world championships history. Both men were officially clocked at 2:09:48, but it was determined that Simbu crossed the line a fraction sooner.
In the women’s marathon Sunday, Finland’s Alisa Vainio dominated the field to finish in 2:22:26, nearly five minutes ahead of silver medalist Lili Anna Vindics-Toth of Hungary. Britain’s Abbie Donnelly took bronze. Vainio broke Christelle Daunay’s championship record from 2014 by almost three minutes.
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