Dasaolu caps off golden night in Zurich to be crowned fastest man in Europe

JAMES DASAOLU completed a night to remember for Great Britain by earning the title of Europe’s fastest man.

Yesterday always looked like it could be a medal-laden day for the British team and it has not disappointed, with six medals arriving on a wonderful night of athletics in Zurich.

First Mo Farah returned to the track after illness to win 10,000m gold ahead of team-mate Andy Vernon, then 23-year-old Ashleigh Nelson won bronze in the 100m. The medal rush continued as Tiffany Porter won her battle with French record-holder Cindy Billaud to take the 100m hurdles, before Dasaolu and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey rounded things off in the last event of the night.

Despite starting this season late due to injury, Dasaolu has consistently finished around the 10-second mark and sent a warning shot to his European rivals by beating reigning champion Christophe Lemaitre in the semi-final.

The 26-year-old again had the better of the Frenchman in the Letzigrund Stadium finale, finishing seven hundredths of a second ahead of him in a time of 10.06 seconds.

Behind Lemaitre were the British duo of Aikines-Aryeetey and Dwain Chambers, with the former edging out the 36-year-old to secure bronze after keeping his cool following a yellow card warning for twitching in the blocks.

“It’s great to be the European champion,” Dasaolu said. “I’m still trying to take it all in.”