Besides the men’s marathon, there were three other running events on the final day of the European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. In a wide-open men’s 800-meter final, Bram Som triumphed. The 26-year-old Dutch won his first big medal in 1:46.56, ahead of David Fiegen (Luxembourg/1:46.59) and Brit Sam Ellis (1:46.64).

The favorite Dmitrijs Milkevics (Latvia), who had already run sub-1:44 this season, finished fourth. The Latvian Federation tried afterwards to protest against Som and Ellis, but that was correctly rejected by the Jury of Appeal. “This gold medal is like a big breakthrough for me, because in past championships I always had difficulties in qualifying,” said Som. “In the final, I only set my mind on the finish. I am happy that there was a small gap.” Close to the finish, Som attacked and just won. With an almost stronger finish, Ellis pushed himself forward through a small gap and passed Milkevics.

While Spaniard Jesus Espana won gold in the 5,000m final, clocking 13:44.70 minutes, the favorite laid on the track. After about 3,700 meters, it looked like Ireland’s Alistair Cragg, who had just increased the pace in the leading position, twisted his foot. Cragg kept on running, but after another 150 meters, he had to give up because of an Achilles problem. Mo Farah (Great Britain) was now leading and determined the pace.

In the end, it was a duel between Farah and Espana. The Spaniard attacked in the last curve and passed Farah, but in the final meters Farah almost overtook him again. The 23-year-old Brit finished just .09 seconds back, while Juan Carlos Higuero (Spain/13:46.48) secured third place. “This is a great success for Spain,” said Espana.

The best performance of the day came from Tatjana Tomashowa. The Russian won the 1500m in a new championships record of 3:56.91. In an unusually fast championship race, two other runners broke 4:00 minutes: Chizhenko, who led most of the race, won silver in 3:57.61, and Daniela Yordanova (Bulgaria) prevented a triple success for Russia with her third-place finish of 3:59.37. With a strong finish in the last 40 meters, she passed the Russian Yelena Soboleva (4:00.36). “We worked on my speed in preparation and I improved my 400m time, and that helped me a lot in the finish,” said Tomashova. “This is my first gold in a European Championship, and though I am also world champion, this is special.”