Baala holds his own in classic

Now more than ever it takes the European championships to remind us about old-style middle-distance running. Without the all-conquering Africans, there's something mildly romantic about a dozen runners toeing the line, most of them believing they can actually win - just like in last night's 1,500 metres final.

This was a classically run race, with tactics as important as speed. In the end the decisive surge was delivered 300 metres from home by Mehdi Baala of France. Four years ago Baala won this title in a photo finish, this time he could afford to raise his arms in triumph well before the line. His time, 3:39.02, was enough to hold off the big kick of Ukraine's Ivan Heshko, who ran 3:39.50, with Spain's Juan Carlos Higuero third in 3:39.62.

Baala is only the second man to retain this title - Britain's Steve Cram won in 1982 and 1986.

"To defend my title, that's a dream come true," said the 27-year-old, who fittingly added: "It could be the last medal for me, because at the world championships I think it's too difficult for me to win a medal anymore."

Higuero is apparently considering doubling up in the 5,000 metres, though there was nothing much about his finishing speed that suggests Alistair Cragg won't be able to handle him. Spain also took fourth and fifth, in Arturo Casado and Sergio Gallardo.

The only true novice in the field was Ireland's Liam Reale, who had surpassed his own expectations to get this far. The young Limerickman ran a brave and smart race, sitting in the group early on, then moving on the last lap from 10th to eighth, where he finished in 3:42.65.

"That was my plan," admitted the 23-year-old, "to finish strong over the last 500 metres, and get myself a good place. To be honest top eight was my goal, and I managed that. I knew there'd be moves later on, but I couldn't go with them all. I had to make one move.

"But I really enjoyed it out there. You have to make the most of championships like this. That's what I did, just relax, and not worry about the guys with fancy times behind me. This time last year, if you mentioned Liam Reale, people would have told you he was a very good junior and is a bit of a has-been . . . I was also cut from my grant last year, and looking back now, I probably deserved to get dropped.

"So I had something to prove coming out here. And hopefully I can really build on this over the next few years."

Reale is already in good company; Marcus O'Sullivan and Frank O'Mara were the last Irishmen to make this final, in 1986, and before that Ray Flynn and Eamonn Coghlan. His best years are clearly ahead of him.

Later, Sweden's hopes of a second gold medal fell short in the men's high jump despite the deafening support from another sell-out crowd at the Ullevi Stadium. Stefan Holm was aiming to add the European title to his world and Olympic titles, but the pressure may just have got to him and he had to settle for the bronze with a leap of 2.34 metres.

Holm failed three times at 2.36, but Russia's Andrey Silnov cleared it to secure the title.

The last event of the night, the men's 400-metre final, brought back memories of David Gillick's disappointment 24 hours earlier. Marc Raquil of France swept past Russia's Vladislav Frolov in the closing strides to win in 45.02. It was either a perfectly timed run or Raquil was lucky, because the Russian thought he'd won it. Instead he got silver in 45.09, the other Frenchman, Leslie Djhone, taking the bronze in 45.40.

That time, however, wouldn't have been out of Gillick's reach had he made a slight improvement on his best. The young Dubliner, of course, watched the race from the stands, still cursing his semi-final performance. He'll know the time to make total amends is four years away.