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| Antoinette Nana Djimou Ida delighted the home crowd by winning the pentathlon gold medal at Paris Bercy on Friday evening. |
Antoinette Nana Djimou Ida brought the house down at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy this afternoon as she held her nerve in a nail-biting 800m to overhaul Austra Skujyte in a dramatic 800m, the final event of the women’s pentathlon.
The former Cameroonian turned bronze from Turin into gold in Paris, amassing 4723 points after finishing fourth in 2:18.99.
It was mighty close. The Frenchwoman needed to beat Skujyte by seven seconds after her winning long jump meant she trailed the Lithuanian by 83 points. But Skujyte, who’s 800m PB is nearly two seconds quicker, crossed the line a weary sixth in 2:26.54, handing Nana Djimou the host nation’s first gold of the championships by 17 points.
The former Cameroonian was fifth at the world indoors in Doha last year, but winning here in front of her home crowd was something else.
“I don't know what to say,” she said. “I can’t believe it. But it's fantastic. The 800m was not my best race, but I just had to run. So, I ran.”
Skujyte, who’d led the competition since her massive 17.53 shot put this morning, had to be satisfied with another runners-up place to go with her heptathlon silver from the 2004 Olympics, while Remona Fransen capped her astonishing day by taking bronze with yet another personal best.
The Dutchwoman knocked more than two seconds from her PB to finish second behind middle distance specialist Karolina Tyminska in 2:16.24. It was her eighth PB of the day from five events. In the space of nine and a half hours, she has improved by leaps and bounds in every discipline and finished her first ever championships with 4665 points, 389 better than her previous best.
Indeed, the 25-year-old had begun this afternoon’s events where she left off this morning – breaking PBs. The reigning Dutch indoor long jump champion, she leapt over 6m for the first time to 6.07, 9cm beyond her best.
She still lost ground on the two leaders, however, as Nana Djimou won the competition with 6.34 to stay 96 points clear in second, while Skujyte remained ahead overall after improving with each of her three efforts to 6.25.
Tyminska closed the gap in fourth to 84 points with 6.33 setting up an attempted medal run in the final event. The Pole so nearly stole a podium place with a bold front-running effort, clocking 2:14.06 to finish with 4612 overall.
Knowing she has a superior 800m, it seemed all Skujyte had to do was hold her form to become Lithuania’s first ever champion in this event after she’d finished fourth in 2007.
Earlier in the day, she’d produced the longest pentathlon shot put ever seen at a European Indoor Championships but in the end it was not enough. As Nana Djimou was roared home by the crowd over the final lap of the gruelling 800m, the 31-year-old’s hopes faded and gold slipped from her grasp.
Nana Djimou’s cause may have been aided by the absence of Britain’s world champion Jessica Ennis, but for the hosts the 25-year-old’s victory was a fabulous way to kick off the championships.
After an agonising wait while the points were totted up, she leapt for joy as the result was announced, draped her nation’s triclour around her shoulders and struggled through a tearful trackside interview.
“I dreamt about hearing my national anthem,” she said. “I have to say thank you to my coach, Sebastien Levicq, because I hesitated a lot before doing the indoor season. And I didn't get so much training. I haven't performed so well in all the events today, but in the end I succeeded.”
While it takes nothing away from her performance, it’s worth recording that Nana Djimou’s total was some 214 points less than Ennis scored to win the world indoors in Doha last year.
As a final note, Zuzana Hejinova won the first 800m race in 2:09.94, the quickest ever at a European indoor championships meaning the Czech finished seventh overall.