Reyes Estevez is the new crown prince of European miling after reducing his opposition to anonymity in the final of the 1,500 metres championship in Budapest yesterday. Ireland's Niall Bruton finished last.
Estevez, at 22 the youngest of Spain's three finalists, displayed the maturity of a veteran when picking his way through the field to win, going away from Portugal's Rui Silva and fellow Spaniard Fermin Cacho in three minutes 41.31 seconds.
After being embroiled in trouble on the last lap, Andres Diaz, the fastest of the three Spaniards, could finish only 11th, just in front of Bruton in last place. The Irishman was timed at 3-47.48.
Silva, just 21, was the big surprise of the race, cutting out much of the early work and still conserving sufficient strength to overhaul Cacho in the charge to the line.
Yet, on the night, there was no questioning either the style or authority which Estevez, the reignng European Under-23 champion, brought to the race. Always in the perfect position, he simply destroyed his opposition with a last lap of 53.4 seconds and with Diaz caught up in the worst of the traffic, there was no possibility of anybody catching Estevez.
Bruton gave himself every chance when he showed in third place at the bell but when the heat was turned up he just didn't have the pace to survive. For an athlete who traded on his finishing speed for so long, that was ominous, but in fairness it has to be judged against the injury problems which have littered his season.
Gary Ryan was within a tenth of a second of equalling his national record when qualifying, in third place, for the semi-finals of the 200 metres in a time of 20.76 seconds.
The race was won by Britain's Doug Turner from the Cypriot Andre Marcoullides but, having survived to the next round, Ryan was happy.
"My bend running wasn't as good as I had hoped but since the first priority was to qualify, I am satisfied," he said. Less content was Paul Brizzel who, in his first venture into this level of competition, was last of seven in heat four in 21.25 seconds.
By far the most unlucky Irish competitor of the day was Karen Shinkins who, at the end of an eventful week for her, failed by just four hundreds of a second to secure a place in the final of the 400 metres. She finished fifth, in a time of 52.40 in the first semi-final, won by Germany's Grit Breuer.
Seventh off the last bend, Shinkins produced a brave challenge in the inside lane to draw level with the last of the qualifiers, Olena Rurak, almost on the line. Crucially, however, Rurak dipped first and that was the difference between a place in the final and a spectating role for Shinkins.
"In the sense that I came here and ran faster than I dared hope, I have to be delighted," she said. "And yet, it's disappointing to miss out on the final by such a narrow margin."
Elena Afanaseyeva confirmed herself as the best in Europe by cruising to victory in the women's 800 metres final.
The Russian, who handed Mozambiquean star Maria Mutola her only defeat of the season in Monaco, was a sublimely impressive winner of the women's 800 metres, taking the pace on from the start and kicking away with 300 metres to go.
