Ireland, who have had only one gold medal winner at the European Athletics Championships since the event began in Italy 90 years ago, added four more names to that honoured roster tonight thanks to an astonishing effort from the 4x400m mixed relay team.
In an event making its debut at these championships, Thomas Barr, Rhasidat Adeleke, Chris O'Donnell and Sharlene Mawdsley clocked a national record of 3:09.92 to emulate the achievement of Sonia O’Sullivan, who earned a total of three track titles at the 1994 and 1998 editions.
Even an athlete of the talent and commitment of Femke Bol could not prevent the Irish from living up to their fondest dreams tonight.
While she moved the Dutch from distant fourth to bronze on the last leg, almost overtaking the home silver medallists as she recorded the fastest female split time of 49.21, the world 400m hurdles champion was not able to repeat her heroics at last year’s World Championships in the women's 4x400m, when she managed to bring her team home for gold in similar circumstances.
Ultimately there was no way Ireland were going to lose this one. Their two female runners, in particular, gave inspired displays. Their headily-rising 21-year-old talent Adeleke produced an irresistible power surge on the second leg as she moved from fourth to create a five-metres lead for her team in a split of 49.53.
And after taking over in second place from Barr, Mawdsley – traumatically disqualified for obstruction after appearing to have reached this year’s 400m final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships - produced her own inspired final effort to move into the lead again and bring the green shirts home for gold, clocking 49.40 on anchor.
Bol, biding her time as a distant fourth-placer, ended at top speed, moving past Belgium’s Helena Ponette and bringing the Dutch home third in 3:10.73, just a step away from the Italian’s last runner Alice Mangione, who secured silver in a national record of 3:10.69.
Belgium had the consolation of a national record of 3:11.03 in fourth.
The elder statesman of the quartet Thomas Barr said: "I think we surprised a lot of people here and we definitely surprised ourselves. But we also had a great confidence that if there is a right day, there is no reason why we could not come home with a medal.
"And I was secretly confident that with the team that we have out here and how well they were running at the moment - especially after World Relays, I was secretly confident that we could come home with the gold. And that is exactly what we did."
Superman Ceh back on top as Alekna loses discus title
Kristjan Ceh tonight became the first male Slovenian athlete to win a European title as, two years after taking men’s discus silver in Munich, he dominated a final he was not expected to win.
Since taking European silver and world gold in 2022, Ceh, who is 2.06m/6ft 7in tall , has seen his stature diminished by Sweden’s Olympic champion Daniel Stahl, who took over as world champion last summer, and Lithuania’s 21-year-old defending champion Mykolas Alekna, who set a world record of 74.35m in April.
If Alekna is Boy Wonder, Ceh - whose stature and glasses put one in mind of Clarke Kent - has tonight been re-confirmed as Superman.
After a flawed opener, Alekna took a second-lead with an effort of 66.98m that surpassed Stahl’s mark of 66.68. But the lead was short-lived as Ceh’s second throw went out to 68.08m. Game on. Or was it game over?
After a third-round foul, Alekna got it right again and looked hopeful as the disc flew out beyond the 65 metre arc – but it fell at 67.48m. Better, but not enough…
Stahl, meanwhile, had improved to 66.84m in third place, just six centimetres ahead of Austria’s Lukas Weisshaidinger.
The latter, however, had a surprise in store with his penultimate throw which went out to 67.70m, moving him into silver medal position and taking the Swede out of the podium positions.
What could Alekna do in response. Immediately, another foul. In the stands, the camera caught his father Virgilijus, European discus champion in 2006, put his hands on his head.
Ceh then underlined his A-game was present as he registered the second best throw of the competition, 67.93m.
Stahl, on his last effort, stalled – his discus sending the netting around the circle billowing. Alekna, too, could do no more, his sixth effort producing a fourth foul.
Only Weisshaidinger could frustrate Ceh now – and a last throw of 64.42m wasn’t going to do it. The athlete who resembles Superman was, once again, flying high. And just to underline his super powers on the night, he finished with 68.05m.
"I finally got my self-confidence back, I felt ready, technically it was going quite well in the training so I was 100 per cent prepared. Still, there were some technical imperfections which I need to work on and I think I will be in even better shape in Paris," said Ceh.
Schilder retains women’s shot put title, Van Klinken stays on course for medal double
The women’s shot put final saw Jorinde Van Klinken, who has said she is aiming at a medal in both the shot put and discus in Rome, realise the first of those ambitions as she took silver in the former event behind her Dutch team-mate Jessica Schilder, the defending champion.
Schilder revisited the form she showed in 2022, when she also won world indoor and outdoor bronze, securing the title with her opening effort of 18.77m.
Van Klinken’s second-round effort of 18.67m proved enough for silver, with Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye, who won a surprise world indoor silver in Glasgow earlier this year, returning to the podium thanks to a fifth-round effort of 18.62.
Mike Rowbottom for European Athletics