PARIS: Ivan Ukhov held off Jaroslav Baba to win the men's high jump and Anna Avdeyeva narrowly beat Christina Schwanitz in the women's shot put as Russia increased its medal tally at the European Indoor Championships Saturday. Ukhov cleared 2.38 meters – the best jump this year –after being locked on 2.34 with Baba of the Czech Republic and Aleksandr Shustov of Russia, who took bronze. Avdeyeva set her winning mark of 18.70 meters with her second throw. Germany's Schwanitz threw 18.65 with her third to ensure a tight finish but failed to get past 18.50 on her next three attempts. Yelena Arzhakova grabbed another gold on a good day for Russia by winning the women's 1,500 meters. Arzhakova beat Spain's Nuria Fernandez, with Russia's Yekaterina Martynova taking the bronze. Pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie of France got the crowd going as he cleared 6.03 meters, before setting the mark at 6.16 with an eye on Sergey Bubka's world record. Lavillenie won comfortably ahead of countryman Jerome Clavier (5.76) and Germany's Malte Mohr (5.71). Leslie Djhone of France easily won the men's 400 meters in 45.54, with Germany's Thomas Schneider nearly a second behind, overtaking Britain's Richard Buck in a sprint to the line. French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre cruised into the men's 60 final with a personal best of 6.55 seconds. Britain's Dwain Chambers won his heat in 6.61 to set up an eagerly awaited final. Ukhov declined the chance to try for 2.40 and instead went for a new European high jump record but failed with three attempts at 2.44. Russia had to settle for silver in the women's 400, Olesya Krasnomovets narrowly losing to Denisa Rosolova of the Czech Republic despite leading into the final straight. Rosolova timed 51.73. Kseniya Zadorina of Russia took the bronze. Mo Farah successfully defended his 3,000 title after withstanding a late burst from Hayle Ibrahimov of Azerbaijan. The Briton clocked 7 minutes, 53 seconds, with Ibrahimov finishing in 7:53.32 and Turkey's Halil Akkas crossing in 7:54.19. Josephine Terlecki gave Germany another medal by taking the bronze with a personal best of 18.09. Also Saturday, Sebastian Bayer of Germany defended his long jump title, with Frenchman Kafetien Gomis taking silver and Morten Jensen of Denmark getting bronze. Simona La Mantia of Italy won the women's triple jump. La Mantia twice managed 14.60 to beat Russia's Olesya Zabara and Slovakia's Dana Veldakova, who both had personal bests with 14.45 and 14.39 respectively.
