Markovc stuns field to win 3,000m gold

AMY-ELOISE MARKOVC emerged from obscurity to become a European champion last night by securing 3,000m gold in Poland. The Us-based 25-year-old was wearing a British vest in a championships for the first time and ended up as the first home athlete to take a medal in Torun. she burst from the pack of a distinctly modest field and held off the challenges of France’s Alice Finot and British team-mate verity ockenden on the straight to win in 8min46.43sec. it wouldn’t have made the top five when laura muir won the title in Glasgow two years ago, which illustrates the underwhelming nature of these championships, but that will not matter to markovc (below) — who moved to the Us from stockport as a child. ‘it is a dream come true,’ said markovc. ‘i was further back than i wanted to be early on but i stayed calm and it worked out.’ Jamie Webb, the 800m favourite, qualified for the semi-final in 1:48.72. Holly mills was fifth in the pentathlon, with Nafi Thiam, the great rival of katarina Johnson-Thomson, setting an ominously strong personal best in winning gold. meanwhile, Andrew Pozzi fears his olympic dream is under threat from Brexit red tape as he fights to continue training in italy. The 28-year-old is expected to be a contender in Tokyo, but ahead of his 60m hurdles first round today he is fighting the complex aftershocks of the Uk’s exit from the EU. Under the rules, he can only stay at his training base in Formia for 90 days in any 180-day period. With the olympics less than five months away, Pozzi will be forced to take formal residency in italy or leave the training group where he has revitalised his career. Pozzi said: ‘it is certainly going to be difficult. Getting information about the best way to continue in italy has been very difficult. For an athlete, it is not sustainable and it is not the way to prepare, so we are working on that at the moment. it is tricky.’ meanwhile, sir mo Farah battled challenging conditions yesterday to win his first race in six months at the low-key Djibouti half-marathon.