Idowu targets full house

Britain’s Phillips Idowu is already targeting the one gold medal missing from his collection after claiming the European title with a superb performance in Barcelona yesterday.

Idowu set a new personal best of 17.81 metres in the triple jump final to beat Romania’s Marian Oprea and France’s Teddy Tamgho to the title on a rain-swept night in the Olympic Stadium.

The 31-year-old is now the reigning World, European and Commonwealth champion, with Portugal’s Nelson Evora only denying him the Olympic title in Beijing in 2008 by five centimetres.

And the Londoner admitted the Olympics in his home city in 2012 are now foremost in his mind.

“There’s one more medal in my career I need to win and that’s in a couple of years’ time,” he said.

“I just want to get home to my babies and my family. My job in Barcelona is done.

“I came here to win the medal, I won the medal and now I want to go home and celebrate and look forward to the end of the season and preparation towards 2012.”

Idowu led from start to finish with jumps of 17.46m, 17.47m and 17.40m followed by 17.81m in the fourth round, eclipsing his previous personal best of 17.73m set in winning the world title in Berlin last year.

Tamgho was expected to be the major threat after jumping a world-leading 17.98m in New York in June, but the 21-year-old had to settle for bronze with a best of 17.45m, Oprea taking a surprise silver with 17.51m in the fifth round.

Asked about his personal best, Idowu added: “I knew I had to do that. I knew back in March (at the world indoors in Doha) with the way Teddy was jumping it would need a PB, a big jump to win.”

Earlier, Russia’s Aleksander Shustov defied heavy rain to win gold in a thrilling high jump competition.

The contest started in a torrential downpour but Shustov held his nerve to beat compatriot and pre-event favourite Ivan Ukhov to the title.

Shustov was the only athlete to clear 2.33 metres, with Ukhov second (2.31m) and Britain’s Martyn Bernard third (2.29m).

There was good news for France in the decathlon, Romain Barras taking the gold by just 17 points from Holland’s Eelco Sintnicolaas.

After two gruelling days of competition, Barras crossed the line in the final event, the 1,500m, just ahead of Sintnicolaas for a total of 8,453 points. Andrei Krauchanka, of Belarus, took the bronze medal.

There was a surprise in the women’s javelin as Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova, of the Czech Republic, was beaten in third place.

Spotakova led until the fifth round with her opening throw of 65.36m, but was then overtaken by German duo Linda Stahl and Christina Obergfoll with throws of 66.81 and 65.58 respectively.

And there was further success for Germany in the women’s 100m as Verena Sailer set a new personal best of 11.10s to claim gold ahead of French duo Veronique Mang (11.11) and Myriam Soumare (11.18).