PRESS RELEASE

03 March 2007

British athletes have had a good morning in Birmingham on day two of the Championships

Defending 60m Champion Jason Gardener progressed through to this afternoon’s semi-finals with an impressive win in his heat. Gardener crossed the line in 6.59 seconds, whilst his training partner Craig Pickering also won his heat in 6.61 seconds. Fellow Brit Ryan Scott followed France’s Ronald Pognan home to join his compatriot’s in the next round, scheduled for 1520 GMT this afternoon.

“The race went very well, as expected. I'm feeling good and my preparation has gone very well,” said the experienced Gardener, who has won the last three editions of the European Athletics Indoor Championships.

Pickering was pleased to have made it through to the semis after he was pushed all the way by Ireland’s Paul Hession, who was given the same time as Pickering but adjudged to have just crossed the line in second. Hession’s time of 6.61 seconds was a new Irish record.

“It was a good start to the day. It's just still a bit early in the day for me! I'm looking forward to the next round,” said Pickering.

Meanwhile, Britain's Jeanette Kwakye, Joice Maduaka and Montell Douglas – who set a PB of 7.29 seconds in the process – all reached the semi-finals of the women’s 60m, which also takes place this afternoon.

Elsewhere, Britain’s Martyn Bernard had a fantastic morning in the men’s high jump, setting a new personal best of 2.30m to qualify for Sunday's final.

“I'm kind of surprised. I've attempted it a few times and thought I'd been over it, only to be disappointed, so it was a bit of a shock,” said Bernard. “However I knew I was capable of it a long time ago. That's the benchmark of whether you are a high jumper or not."

Chris Tomlinson qualified third for the men’s long jump final, with a jump of 7.96m, whilst another Briton to reach a final was Kate Dennison, who set a new personal best of 4.40m in the pole vault to qualify.

Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou won her 60m heat on her return to international athletics at the European Indoor Championships. The 32-year-old finished in a time of 7.26 seconds.

“The time was OK," Thanou said. "I feel good and I'm looking forward to the rest of the competition."

There was also a surprise in the men’s heats as Poland’s Lukasz Chyla became arguably the biggest name to be eliminated after finishing only fourth in the heat won by Gardener. Despite a personal best of 6.56 last year, and having run 6.64 this winter, Chyla had a poor run and only clocked 6.75 to miss out on the semi-finals by 0.01s.

In the men’s heptathlon, Germany’s Jacob Minah currently leads with 911 points, followed by Francois Gourmet of Belgium just four points behind and Minah’s compatriot Dennis Leyckes with 886 points.