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BBC

Great Britain's Jessica Ennis won European heptathlon gold after dominating the 800m finale to fend off her closest rival Nataliya Dobrynska.

Ennis ran 2 minutes 10.18 seconds, 2.12sec ahead of second-placed Ukrainian Dobrynska, to rack up a championship record 6,823 points total.

Olympic champion Dobrynska, who needed to beat Ennis by 1.2sec to strike gold, was 45 points adrift to claim silver.

German Jennifer Oeser took bronze with a total of 6,683 points.

Ennis's gold was one of three for Britain on Saturday, and there were two silver medals as well.

GB's total of 16 medals overall is one more than head coach Charles van Commenee's stated target, with a day remaining in the championships.

"It's been nerve-wracking having all the athletes on my heels," admitted Ennis, who led the competition from start to finish but was pushed all the way by Dobrynska.

"It feels so good to win again. I had to raise my game, and I'm so proud to come out on top again.

"Before the 800m I just wanted to win and I have! I'm so made up."

Earlier, Dobrynska cut Ennis's overnight lead of 110 points to 18 after strong performances in the long jump and javelin.

World champion Ennis produced consistent leaps of 6.28m, 6.41m and 6.43m - just 8cm short of her personal best - in the first discipline of the day, the long jump.

But 28-year-old Dobrynska jumped 6.56m in her second round - 7cm down on her own best mark - to close the gap on Ennis to 68 points.

In the javelin, Ennis threw a personal best 46.71m, however, Dobrynska continued to apply pressure on the Sheffield athlete with a throw of 49.25m.

The 24-year-old Briton, though, showed why she was expected to stave off Dobrynska's challenge in the 800m finale when she stormed to the front of the field from the gun.

The Ukrainian briefly went ahead going into the final bend but Ennis reasserted her authority on the race before eventually storming down the home straight to win in a season-best time.

Her gold-winning personal best total surpasses Swede Carolina Kluft's 2006 championship-best mark by 83 points but was was a mere eight shy of former Olympic champion Denise Lewis's British record.

"It would have been good to have broken the British record but before the 800 I just wanted to win," reflected Ennis.

"There's a lot of pressure and expectation but I'm so happy with myself how I dealt with it."

In two years' time, that pressure is likely to be significantly greater as she goes for gold at the London 2012 Olympics.

BBC

Mo Farah pulled off a stunning double at the European Championships, winning the 5,000m final to add to his 10,000m gold from the opening day.

Farah became the first runner to do the Euro distance double for 20 years, emulating the achievement of Italy's Salvatore Amin in Split in 1990.

Defending champion Jesus Espana was second, with Hayle Ibrahimov third.

Great Britain's Chris Thompson, who was second in the 10,000m final, finished in eighth place.

Farah took the lead earlier than expected and produced a superb burst of speed in the final lap to burn off the challenge of Espana, who beat him in the European final four years ago by just half a second.

Afterwards, the double champion told BBC Sport he was struggling to take in the size of his achievement, but the memory of what happened last time had inspired him to victory.

"I can't believe I'm a double champion - if you'd said to me three months ago I could have one gold, I'd settle for that," he said.

"Four years ago I got beaten by half a second and I had that in my mind.

"I was checking on the big screen how far behind he was, on the last lap I was thinking 'dig in, dig in'.

"I was hurting but thinking 'don't let him come past me', I was working so hard - as I crossed the line I thought 'I can't believe I finished first'."

Jessica Ennis what an amazing athlete well done.