The men's 20km race walk was completed this morning around the city centre of Zurich, with an exceptionally close finish before the medals were decided. Going into the final strides four competitors were still in with a chance, but it was Miguel Angel Lopez of Spain who prevailed in 1 hour 19 mins 44 secs. He narrowly edged out the two Russians, with Ivanov finishing just one second behind Lopez but one second ahead of Strelkov in third. Euro leader this season, Dmytrenko, was the unfortunate man in fourth, only two seconds off gold! Britain's Tom Bosworth had a solid performance in twelfth.
Back in the stadium, conditions were far from ideal for the high jump and hurdles events on display. It seemed to effect Ryzhykova of Ukraine as already struggling in her 400m hurdles heat, she crashed to the floor after hitting a hurdle in the final straight. Britain's Eilidh Child, fresh from silver at the Commonwealths had no such problems in winning her heat in the fastest qualifying time of 55.32 secs. Child's main challenge for gold may come from Rosolova who qualified comfortably from her heat, but also look out for Barbosa and Titimets.
The men's high jump qualifying proved more difficult than expected for many, but the three members of the elite post 2.40 metres group in the field all successfully reached the final, as Bondarenko, Ukhov and Protsenko all cleared the relatively modest qualifying height of 2.23m.
Chris Baker of Britain joins them in the final, after quirkily sporting a reverse baseball cap for his early jumps.
Men's 110m hurdles heats also got underway, with a three way tie for fastest qualifier at 13.29 secs between favourite Lagarde of France, defending champion Shubenkov of Russia and Will Sharman of Britain. Bascou, Traber and Britain's Clarke may also feature in the medal chances, as could former champion Andy Turner, who scraped through the round as a fastest loser in what will be his final major championships' event.
The women's 800m heats allowed a relatively comfortable passage through to the semi finals for the main contenders, with defending champion Lynsey Sharp of Britain in confident mood qualifying second fastest behind her compatriot Alison Leonard. Both won their heats, as did the impressive Arzamasova and Rogozina. Jess Judd struggled at the finish in her heat but is also through.
The final day of the men's decathlon continued, with the medals still wide open. Abele and Freimuth of Germany had quick 110m hurdles events to close on the lead, but their countrymen Kazmirek and Krauchanka of Belarus were still out front after 7 events after solid hurdles and discus throw disciplines. Freimuth's competition best 48.81m throw enough to place him in third at that stage overall. With only 77 points covering the top three and 120 points between 1st and 5th after seven events, a close finish to the competition this evening could be likely.
