Vila Real de Santo António was the venue for European Club Championships athletics last weekend. Portuguese title holders Sporting Lisbon acquitted themselves well behind serial winners Luch
Moscow with the women’s and men’s teams finishing in third and fourth places respectively.
Sunday’s golden performances from Vânia Silva with the hammer (new Portuguese record) and Naide Gomes in the long jump helped see off Spanish and Italian opposition for a podium place, while Rui Silva’s 3000m and 5000m as well as Francis Obikwelu’s 100m wins went some way to compensate for many absentees among the men’s cadre.
For Britain’s Newham Enison Hurtault and Chris Tomlinson proved too strong for the opposition in the men’s 400m and long jump while the team as a whole could not manage better than fifth place.
