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| Nevin Yanit of Türkiye is delighted after retaining her European 100m hurdles title with a blistering run of 12.81 in Helsinki on Saturday. |
In the second semi-final of the 100m hurdles here tonight on the penultimate day of the European Athletics Championships, Nevin Yanit, of Türkiye, produced a superb run to win her heat in 12.92.
The defending champion blasted from the blocks and could not be stopped.
Surely she could not repeat that type of performance a few hours later in the final? Surely she could.
As the gun fired, she was gone.
Her sprinting style is immense, like a woman that will let nothing stand in her way, which when you are a sprint hurdler is perhaps not the best approach.
In her way were 10 barriers, let alone Bulgarian Alina Talay who had run 13.03 to win the other semi-final.
But Yanit, 26, was not troubled as she climbed over the obstacles in style, her teeth gritted and her arms rattling away at such break-neck speed.
As the final hurdle came, Talay closed in but Yanit was home.
She crossed the line smiling and clenching her fists before running to the stands and climbing to celebrate with her team.
Before these European Athletics Championships she had not broken 13 seconds this summer, but in the first round she ran 12.78, recorded that 12.92 in the semis and then won gold in 12.81 followed by two Belarusians - Talay in 12.91 and Ekaterina Poplavskaya in 12.97.
Talay said: 'It was really an amazing race. I fought for second place and I am so happy we got second and third place.'
It was a brilliant performance from Yanit, though she will still have a long way to go to make an impression at the Olympic Games in London as Australian Sally Pearson leads the world rankings with 12.49.
But that will not be on her mind this evening.
She hurriedly picked up a Turkish flag and defied the theory that is harder to retain a title than win it in the first place.
When she triumphed in Barcelona in 12.63, it was a Turkish record and though the time was slower tonight, it did not matter.
Often when a champion is looking to defend their crown, they know the others are watching them closer than ever because they are the one to beat.
The pressure can be immense, the tension too much.
But not for Yanit, whose concentration did not falter once and neither did she lose her balance or her control.
At that pace it could happen because her whole body shakes and one minor error could become a major one.
The track was slippery, yet there was no let-up in her style as she became the fourth hurdler to defend the
women's event at the European Athletics Championships.
She joins some legendary names including Dutch superstar Fanny Blankers-Koen who won the 80m hurdles crown in 1946 in Oslo and 1950 in Brussels.
Now that is some company to be in - and Yanit said: 'I came here to defend my title and I did.
'Maybe the time wasn't that good but my gold medal shows that Turkish athletics is now at a high level. My coach said 'Don't care about the time, just get the medal'. But I am confident I can achieve more.'