The Electronic Telegraph Sunday 24 June 2001 Tom Knight OUTSTANDING victories for Mark Lewis-Francis and Susan Jones provided much-needed consolation as Britain's men's team sunk to fifth place, their worst performance in the European Cup for 22 years. Lewis-Francis shrugged off any nervousness on his senior outdoor international debut to win the 100 metres in 10.13sec while Jones equalled the 19-year-old British record of 1.95m to take the high jump. The youngsters provided two of Britain's meagre tally of four victories on a weekend of disappointments. At least the women's team fared better than the men. Captained by Katharine Merry and inspired by the performances of their two winners, Jones and Kathy Butler in the 3,000m, Britain's women finished fourth, their best position since 1997. Britain's men's team were always going to struggle to hold on to the trophy they won last year in Gateshead and so it proved in the Weserstadion yesterday. The mountain they had to climb was best illustrated by the final event, the 4 x 400m relay, where the British team included Du'aine Ladejo, now a 400m hurdler, Iwan Thomas, whose lack of form was highlighted by his sixth place in the individual race and Mark Richardson, making his first appearance since his doping ban was lifted. They finished fourth. Victory in that race went to Poland, who were immediately crowned overall champions, 12 months after being promoted to the Super League. Germany failed to raise themselves in front of the home crowd - they finished below Britain. In a British team hit by so many withdrawals, even Lewis-Francis was drafted in as only the fourth-choice sprinter. But there was no danger of the 18-year-old letting the side down. Among those he beat was Kostas Kenderis, the Greek who won the Olympic 200m title in Sydney. Lewis-Francis, the world junior champion, is already bracing himself for his race in Glasgow on Sunday against Maurice Greene, the Olympic 100m champion. Said Lewis-Francis: "When I saw Kenderis on the start line, it started me shaking but it also psyched me up. Now I can't wait to meet Greene. "These guys are only human. I still have a lot to learn but I'm running well." If Lewis-Francis represents hope for the future, Jonathan Edwards, at 35, continues to dominate the present. The Olympic triple jump champion produced the men's only other win with his first round leap of 17.26m. Even then, he suffered a scare when Christos Meletoglou of Greece grabbed second place with 17.19m. Said Edwards: "I'm still suffering with the injury I picked up in Helsinki last week. I thought it was cramp but I now know one of my ribs is slightly out of place." Britain were grateful for the second places achieved by Marlon Devonish in the 200m and Chris Tomlinson in the long jump. There were also points from Simon Lees and John Mayock, who were third in the 800m and 3,000m respectively. Despite this dismal showing, there was no sign of panic from Britain's performance director, Max Jones. He said: "This is not a crisis. We were missing a lot of our big hitters and if the competition was held in three weeks, we would win it. "The state of British athletics will be judged on what happens at the world championships in Edmonton." For Jones, a first appearance at a world championships will go some way to making up for missing the Olympics. Last summer, she achieved the qualifying mark for Sydney too late to be selected. "It was my own fault, she said. "I had the ability and I should have done it sooner." In equalling the British record, set in 1982 by Diana Davies, Jones, 23, from Wigan, achieved the qualifying standard for Edmonton and ensured an increase in her Lottery funding. Britain's encouraging performances included a runners-up spot for Janine Whitlock in the pole vault and a third place for Lorraine Shaw in the hammer. But, in her first track race of the season, Paula Radcliffe had to be content with second place in the 5,000m. The world cross-country champion was beaten by Yelena Zadorozhnaya, of Russia. Eamonn Condon www.RunnersGoal.com
