Sebrle was never threatened by his rivals in Gothenburg

The Olympic champion, 31, amassed a total of 8526 points to beat Hungarian Attila Zsivoczky by 130 points with Russian Aleksey Drozdov third.

Sebrle took the lead after two events and went unchallenged over the next eight gruelling disciplines.

Sebrle is the first man since Britain's Daley Thompson in 1986 to win back-to-back European titles.

The Czech had been troubled by injury this season and did not get off to the best start in Sweden, finding himself tied for seventh after clocking 10.98 seconds in the 100m.

But he quickly hauled himself into contention, nailing a leap of 7.72 metres in the long jump to climb to the top of the leaderboard.

I must admit that some of my motivation was missing but now I will celebrate Roman Sebrle

The former footballer consolidated his position with 2.09m in the high jump, 15.53m in the shot put and 49.11 seconds in the 400m to hold a 161-point advantage at the halfway stage.

Sebrle's march continued on day two as he clocked 14.27m in the 110m hurdles and then threw 45.47m in the discus.

The pole vault competition was interrupted by heavy rain but Sebrle returned undeterred to reach a season's best 5.00m in the pole vault.

The Czech then moved 200 points clear of his rivals for the first time after landing 66.90m in the javelin.

Sebrle was proudest of his achievements in the pole vault

A steady 1500m ran in four minutes 46.91 seconds saw Sebrle ease home and collapse, in traditional decathlete fashion, with victory assured.

"I am totally satisfied with my title defence," said Sebrle. "It was a tough competition because of the weather conditions.

"My proudest result was in the pole vault where I managed five metres.

"I must admit that some of my motivation was missing but now I will celebrate and have a holiday with my family."

With Sebrle so far ahead, competition for silver and bronze was tight amongst Russian rivals Aleksandr Pogorelov, Drozdov and Aleksey Sysoyev.

But it was Zsivoczky who crept up from fourth to take silver, showing a battling spirit similar training partner Sebrle over the final 1500m to steal silver.