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Chambers & Thanou the fastest

Britain's Dwain Chambers (left) who won the men's 100m sprint in the European athletics championship in Munich on Wednesday. Exaterina Thanou of Greece (right) celebrates after winning the women's 100m. — AP

MUNICH AUG. 8. Britain's Dwain Chambers collected his first major international title on Wednesday, overcoming cold, wet weather and three false starts to clinch the men's 100 metres in 9.96 seconds at the European athletics championship.

Olympic silver medallist Ekaterina Thanou of Greece won the women's dash in 11.10 in a race postponed almost 90 minutes because of a protest by her own national team.

Heike Drechsler of Germany failed in her bid to win a fifth consecutive long jump European title, settling instead for fifth place. Russian favourite Tatyana Kotova won the gold with a leap of 6.85 metres.

Staying focused despite a first false start by compatriot and defending champion Darren Campbell then two others by Greece's Georgios Theodorides, Chambers grabbed control early in the race to cross ahead of Portugal's Francis Obikwelu, runner-up in 10.06.

Campbell, who almost had a second false start but was saved by an even more premature Theodorides, lifted bronze in 10:15. Theodorides was disqualified for his two false starts.

Campbell's bronze, along with the 200 bronze and 4x100 relay gold he won in Manchester, is a promising sign after battling back from an 18-month injury nightmare this season. ``I cannot tell you how excited I am,'' he said. ``Who would've thought I would be here, let alone getting a medal? I'm now looking forward to next year and the Athens Olympics in 2004. The final has told me there's a lot more to come. Here I improved from 10.30 seconds to 10.15 seconds from the semifinal to the final.''

Thanou, who has the third-fastest European time this season, edged Belgium's Kim Gevaert, runner-up in 11.22. Manuela Levorato of Italy took the bronze in 11.23.

It marked the end of a long, frustrating wait for the 27-year-old Thanou. The 100m silver medallist in Sydney, Thanou finished third at the last Europeans in 1998 as well as third at the World championships in 1999 and 2001. Thanou and the other finalists were forced to wait around in the dismal German weather for an hour and half after the Greek team launched a protest, believing one of the racers had made a false start in the semifinals. The protest was eventually rejected but the process ended up scrambling the evening's schedule.

Britain's Jade Johnson and Hungary's Tunde Vaszi, who had identical results of 6.73, followed Kotova, who leads the season's long jump with a leap of 7.42 metres. Johnson took the silver ahead of Vaszi, however, as her second-best jump was better than the Hungarian's.

Jose Manuel Martinez of Spain won a thrilling men's 10,000 final, beating Germany's Dieter Baumann in 27 minutes, 47.65 seconds. Baumann, in his first major competition since sitting out a doping ban, collected his second straight silver in the distance, crossing in 27:47.87. Another Spaniard, Jose Rios, clocked 27:48.29 for the bronze. The two Spaniards led going into the last lap but Baumann kept up the pace and surged past Rios in the final straight.

Baumann, the 5,000 Olympic champion in 1992, was suspended for two years after testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone. The 37-year-old German always insisted on his innocence, claiming his toothpaste had been spiked with the substance.

Ekaterini Voggoli of Greece won the women's discus at 64.31 metres. Russia's Natalya Sadova took the silver with 64.12, while another Greek, Anastasia Kelesidou was third with 63.92.

Hungarian champion Adrian Annus capped his breakthrough year with his first major international title, winning the men's hammer throw with 81.17 metres.

The results:

Men: 100m: 1. Dwain Chambers (Britain) 9.96s; 2. Francis Obikwelu (Portugal) 10.06; 3. Darren Campbell (Britain) 10.15. 10,000m: 1. Jose Manuel Martinez (Spain) 27:47.65; 2. Dieter Baumann (Germany) 27:47.87; 3. Jose Rios (Spain) 27:48.29. Hammer throw: 1. Adrian Annus (Hungary) 81.17m; 2. Vladislav Piskunov (Ukraine) 80.39; 3. Alexandros Papadimitriou (Greece) 80.21.

Women: 100m: 1. Ekaterini Thanou (Greece) 11.10s; 2. Kim Gevaert (Belgium) 11.22; 3. Manuela Levorato (Italy) 11.23. Long jump: 1. Tatyana Kotova (Russia) 6.85m; 2. Jade Johnson (Britain) 6.73; 3. Tunde Vaszi (Hungary) 6.73. Discus: 1. Ekaterini Vogoli (Greece) 64.31m; 2. Natalya Sadova (Russia) 64.12; 3. Anastasia Kelesidou (Greece) 63.92. 20km walk: 1. Olimpiada Ivanova (Russia) 1hr 26min 42s; 2. Yelena Nikolayeva (Russia) 1:28.20; 3. Erica Alfridi (Italy) 1:28.33.

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