Serbian goldjust rewards forPozzi
ANDY POZZI struck gold in the 60metres hurdles in Belgrade last night – then confessed he’d come close to calling it quits.
The 24-year-old from Stratford was a junior ace but has seen one title shot after another slip away due to a series of injuries.
But he lived up to his billing as favourite at the Euro Indoor Championships to pip France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde by onehundredth of a second in 7.51.
He said: “It would have been much easier to have gone off and done something else, from the point of security, happiness at many times.
“I’m here because want to be here and feel I have something to give and I wasn’t willing to lose that race.
“It’s the first championships since the World Indoors in 2012 that I’ve come into having done all the work and I’ve known everything’s in there. It’s just about performing on the day.”
Guy Learmonth was floored by a mass sprint for the line as the Scot’s medal hopes went up in flames in the first round of the 800m.
The Borderer, 24, slipped from first to last as reigning champ Adam Kszcot led a fly-by.
He said: “I wanted so much more. I came in ranked fifth and it was really close, bar Kszczot. So I’m absolutely devastated it’s ended like that. I¹ve only got myself to blame.”
Elsewhere, Belgian Nafissatou Thiam won the pentathlon and Germany’s Cindy Roleder took the women’s 60m.