Stunning Dwain Chambers wins 100m at Euro Team Champs

Chambers storms to 100m glory in Norway (UK only)

Great Britain's Dwain Chambers produced a stunning performance to win the men's 100m at the European Team Championships in Bergen on Saturday.

Chambers ran 9.99 seconds to break the championship record as he finished ahead of Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre.

"Most importantly I got vital points for the team. I knew it would be tough competition," Chambers told BBC Sport.

David Greene (400m hurdles), Mo Farah (5000m), Martyn Rooney (400m) and Colin McCourt (1500m) also won for GB.

Chambers' victory was a welcome boost ahead of the European Championships in Barcelona next month where the British athlete is expected to represent GB and come under stiff competition from the 20-year-old Frenchman Lemaitre.

Lemaitre was the fastest man in Europe this season prior to Saturday's race with Chambers coming home just 0.02 slower than his personal best - set in 1999.

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"He's going to come back at me hard," said Chambers. "I have to watch my back, stay injury-free and hopefully just stay one step ahead of the game because he'll be going for gold in Barcelona."

Welshman Greene, who ran 49.53 seconds, told BBC Sport: "I knew there was a lot of expectation on my shoulders, but I had experience from last year and that stood me in good stead."

"The wind threw my race plan out of the window but it allowed it me to bring it home strong in the back straight with a strong head wind."

"I'm in good shape and looking forward to the trials but I don't want to peak until Barcelona - maybe I'll do a few relays before then."

Greene finished ahead of 2006 European champion Periklis Iakovakis and Russia's Aleksandr Derevyagin.

Rooney wins thrilling Euro 400m

In the men's 400m Rooney continued his fine season with a narrow victory in a time of 45.67secs, 0.05 ahead of two-time Olympic finalist Leslie Djhone with Russian teenager Vladimir Krasnov third.

"First, 12 points: I came here to win, I don't care about the time. I came here to do a job. The wind was not good for 400m but I'm happy about the race," Rooney told BBC Sport.

McCourt's victory seemed unlikely with 150m to go, with the GB athlete back in sixth place, but he found space on the inside and kicked for victory, sprinting home in three minutes 46.70secs to earn maximum points.

"I thought I could win it, I'm in good shape, I just wanted to beat the German, Spaniard and the Italian," McCourt told BBC Sport.

"I thought I was in a good place before I hit the back straight and then I was just trying to get out. I was lucky to get up on the inside, but when I got to 150m (to go) I knew I had won the race."

Farah came home in 13:46.93 as he earned yet another victory for GB on day one.

"It wasn't easy conditions but it was nice to win it, especially as I was team captain and I wanted to set an example," Farah said.

"I'm happy with how it went and hopefully I can improve in Barcelona."

Laura Turner's victory in the B-final of the women's 100m saw her come equal third with her season's best time of 11.31 secs breaking the championship record.

"I did a lot better then I expected and I'm happy to be going in the right direction," said Turner.

Eilidh Child claimed a superb second place in the women's 400m hurdles in a time of 56.48 secs as GB continued to rack up the points in Norway.

But in the men's hammer, Alex Smith could only manage a best throw of 66.72m, which put him in 11th place with Belarus' Pavel Kryvitski taking victory with an effort of 77.79m.

Barbara Parker earned nine points for GB after coming fourth in the women's 3000m steeplechase.

And Kim Wall's victory in the 400m B-final in a time of 53.48 secs saw her finish sixth overall, while Chris Tomlinson was third in the long jump as he continues his recovery from a recent ankle injury.

Tom Parsons was second in the high-jump while Goldie Sayers saved the best until last, throwing 59.25 metres in the javelin to also come second.

Day one ended with the 4x100m sprint relays, with GB's women picking up nine points after finishing fourth in a time of 43.77secs. And Britain's men fared slightly better, finishing second behind the quartet from Italy.

It left Britain in second place overall after day one with GB's athletes claiming five individual victories on a successful day.

Britain are competing over two days against teams from France, Germany, Belarus, Finland, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and the Ukraine.

Germany won the competition's inaugural event last year.