Europe victorious at IAAF Continental Cup, Marrakech 2014

They won the first and last events of the weekend, but in between those victories hosts Africa could not hold off the might of the two strongest teams in the IAAF Continental Cup as Europe lifted the team trophy at the end of two days of competition in Marrakech.

Europe had a comfortable lead overnight, which they extended on the second day after winning half of the 20 events.

But the best event of the day was arguably the women’s 100m hurdles.

Having recently won the Diamond Race, Dawn Harper Nelson of the Americas lined up in Marrakech as the big favourite. European champion Tiffany Porter pushed her all the way, but the 2008 Olympic champion had the edge at the end, winning in a championship record and African all-comers’ record of 12.47.

In second, Porter also dipped below both of the previous records with her time of 12.51, breaking Jessica Ennis-Hill’s British record in the process.

Europe’s Cindy Roleder placed third in 13.02 with Lavonne Idlette of the Americas in fourth as the top two teams both bagged 13 points.

That set the tone for much of the rest of the day as Europe extended their lead with Americas in second, always a safe distance ahead of Africa.

European champions Shubenkov, Schippers and Schwanitz all victorious