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Frenchman Romain Barras, 30, finally got a reward after years of struggle and was crowned European champion in Barcelona. The Calais-born athlete, who broke the 8000 barrier for the first time in July 2003 and went on to win the World University Games later
European Athletics (EAA) – Men’s multi-events: Barras shines at the big stage
Frenchman Romain Barras, 30, finally got a reward after years of struggle and was crowned European champion in Barcelona. The Calais-born athlete, who broke the 8000 barrier for the first time in July 2003 and went on to win the World University Games later that year in Daegu with then personal best 8196, has competed in all the major championships between 2004 to 2010.
However his best finish until Barcelona was a fifth place in Beijing at the 2008 Olympics.
The 2010 season proved to be best season for the Frenchman, who broke the 8300 limit for the first time in Tallinn in June where he won the European Cup Combined Events with 8313 personal best and then crossed the 8400 mark in Barcelona grabbing the European Championships gold medal having scored a personal best of 8453 points.
The battle for the gold in Barcelona was fierce one with plenty of athletes still in contention for the medals and the win too. 23-year-old Dutchman Eelco Sintnicolaas set a huge personal best in Barcelona adding almost 300 points to his previous best 8159 from Götzis earlier this season with a total score of 8436 total score, enough for the silver medal.
Sintnicolaas, the European U23 champion in 2009, came to the season 8112 personal best, a result that brought him the gold at the European U23 Championships in Kaunas and was not really really among the favourites to win a medal in Barcelona.
Sintnicoolas however hit eight personal bests in the competition out of 11 (10 events + total score) surprising everyone. The highlight must have been a 5.45m pole vault PB which brought him to the medal race during day two.
25-year-old Ukrainian Oleksiy Kasyanov, a leader during the first day in many recent major championships including Barcelona, could not start day two at the European Championships and did not finish the decathlon. Kasyanov had won the Kladno meeting with 8381 season’s best score, less than 100 points below his 8479 PB earning a 4th place finish at the world championships in Berlin making him a clear medal favourite.
24-year-old Belarussian Andrei Krauchanka finished with a bronze medal in Barcelona with 8370 season’s best, but he too was a bit behind his top form in 2010.
In 2007, he scored his PB 8617p for the world lead and 8585p in 2008, the year he won the silver at the Olympics, but hasn’t been at his best since.
27-year-old Estonian Mikk Pahaphill posted his best outdoor performance in Barcelona finishing in fourth place with 8298p personal best score. In 2009, the Estonian won the European Athletics Indoor Championships heptathlon gold medal in Torino.
Notable stats:
Multi-events
2010 head-to-head between best Europeans:
Romain Barras FRA – Eelco Sintnicolaas NED 3-0
Romain Barras FRA – Andrei Krauchanka BLR 3-0
Eelco Sintnicolaas NED – Andrei Krauchanka BLR 3-0
Romain Barras FRA – Mikk Pahapill EST 4-0
Andrei Krauchanka BLR – Mikk Pahapill EST 2-0
Eelco Sintnicolaas NED – Mikk Pahapill EST 3-0
Career head-to-head between best Europeans:
Romain Barras FRA – Eelco Sintnicolaas NED 5-0
Romain Barras FRA – Andrei Krauchanka BLR 7-6
Eelco Sintnicolaas NED – Andrei Krauchanka BLR 3-0
Romain Barras FRA – Mikk Pahapill EST 11-1
Andrei Krauchanka BLR – Mikk Pahapill EST 5-0
Eelco Sintnicolaas NED – Mikk Pahapill EST 3-0
European Athletics (EAA)
