Britain win 50 Euro masters golds in Torun including five for Clare Elms

Briton is top distance runner while Irie Hill, Helen Godsell, Caroline Powell and Darren Scott are in record-breaking form at European Masters Indoor Champs in Poland

Britain won a half century of gold and 165 medals at the championships which featured a full range of indoor events starting at the M35s and all the way up to the M95s plus winter throws and a cross- country and marathon.

The most successful UK athlete in terms of golds was W60 record-setter Clare Elms who was the only athlete in Torun to win the 800m, 1500m, 3000m and cross-country quadruple and had the Euro Masters had a 10km and half-marathon like the World Masters and not a marathon, then she probably would have attempted even more. The day after her 1500m win, she was competing for her club Kent AC in the area road relays in Milton Keynes.

Mother of four girls, Nia Rutter, who has appeared in Gladiators in the past, won two golds and seven medals to be the most bemedalled Brit overall.

In terms of records this time, the most successful Briton was Helen Godsell, who set a W70 world mark at 200m and an European record at 60m.

Irie Hill improved her own world mark in the W55 pole vault while M55 Darren Scott at 200m and W70 Caroline Powell at 400m, set European records.

The biggest name there was Dwain Chambers who won the M45 at a canter in his first masters championships and the former world indoor champion says he will be back for more.

Given his past misdemeanour, some believe he shouldn’t be getting the attention, but his presence was welcomed by the athletes and his races were the best attended and it gave a buzz to an event that otherwise would have been largely ignored by the media.

Britain’s most successful event though was the hurdles with seven victories including four successive golds for the men.

Hurdles champions Joe Appiah and Mensah Elliott

The Poles had a few recent internationals competing and with home advantage and filling almost every event they won 102 golds and 250 medals though Germany got 261 medals and 94 golds. Spain were unusually the third most successful nation with 56 golds but Britain won 37 more medals than the Spaniards.

Another ex-international who won a gold at Torun was Moscow Olympian Ian Richards, who won two walks titles, and former 1:45 performer Paul Forbes, who dominated the 800m.

Chris Monk

M70 Chris Monk did not win a medal this time – he was fourth in the 60m and had to pull out of the 200m – but the 1973 European Cup…