Turner digs deep to lead way as Britain reaps medal success

Turner struck gold in the 110 metres hurdles while Malcolm was still giving interviews trackside after agonisingly missing his own gold in the 200m by just one hundredth of a second.

Michael Bingham and Martyn Rooney then took silver and bronze in another thrilling finish in the 400m, with Perri Shakes-Drayton and Jenny Meadows adding bronze in the 400m hurdles and 800m respectively.

It took the team's tally to 11 medals, matching the total from Gothenburg four years ago, with two days of competition still remaining and Sheffield's world champion Jessica Ennis enjoying a 110-point lead after day one of the heptathlon.

Turner, who regained his lottery funding at the end of 2009 as Malcolm and 100m silver medallist Mark Lewis-Francis lost theirs, trailed Petr Svoboda of the Czech Republic in the early stages of his final. But when Svoboda clattered the seventh hurdle the 29-year-old from Nottingham took full advantage, storming to victory in 13.28 seconds, a season's best and just 0.01s outside his lifetime best. France's Garfield Darien claimed silver with Hungary's Daniel Kiss taking bronze.

"I've dreamed of doing that, just crossing the line and winning a race like that," said Turner, who won bronze in Gothenburg four years ago. "I'm lost for words right now.

"It's been a tough two years. I have been working hard and all those lows have finally been forgotten. It's a dream come true. I came here with the dream of gold. I'm over the moon.

"I knew I was capable, but being capable and doing it when you need to are two different things. I knew if I had a clean race it was mine for the taking.

"I knew Svoboda was up on me but he hit that hurdle. You've got to have 10 good hurdles and he hit that one, and maybe that's what cost him the gold. I just smelt the gold medal. You just find that extra gear. All the other (British) medallists so far have sent shivers down my spine, so I just wanted that so bad."

Team-mate Williams Sharman, fourth in the world championships last year, had earlier been disqualified for a false start in his semi-final.

Minutes earlier Malcolm had led off the bend into the home straight and looked like holding off the fast-finishing Christophe Lemaitre on his inside.

But a desperate lunge at the line saw Lemaitre clock 20.37 seconds to complete the sprint double, with Malcolm just one hundredth of a second behind in a season's best of 20.38. The 31-year-old from Cardiff threw his hands up in disbelief when he saw the result flash up on the giant screen in the stadium, and admitted: "I have mixed emotions.

"I can't believe he caught me on the line. It's hard being so close to winning it but to take a medal, I can't argue with that. Later on I'll be so happy to have a medal. It means a lot. It's been a very tough year but I've come through with a medal."

Malcolm, who finished fourth at the 2002 European Championships in Munich, had won only one outdoor major medal since catapulting onto the world athletics scene in 1998.

The 1998 double World Junior sprint champion won Commonwealth silver at the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, but admitted he considered quitting the sport after losing his lottery funding last year. Marlon Devonish was fourth in 20.62s.

Bingham and Rooney overcame the disadvantage of being in lanes eight and one to claim their medals in a thrilling finish behind Belgium's Kevin Borlee (45.08s).

"It's a little disappointing but I got a medal at the end of the day so it's good," said Bingham.

Shakes-Drayton, 21, also had an unfavourable draw in lane seven but produced a storming finish to add senior bronze and personal best in the 400m hurdles to the European Under-23 title she won last year.

Meadows strangely chose to lead from the start in the 800m and effectively provided the perfect pace for favourite Mariya Savinova, the Russian overtaking Meadows with 100m to go and storming to victory.

Elsewhere, Hatti Dean was a hugely creditable fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase, Kate Dennison sixth in the pole vault final and Andy Baddeley, Colin McCourt and Tom Lancashire a disappointing sixth, ninth and 10th respectively in the 1,500m.

GB medals in barcelona

Mo Farah – Gold, 10,000m

Chris Thompson – Silver, 10,000m

Mark Lewis-Francis – Silver, 100m

Martyn Bernard – Bronze, high jump

Phillips Idowu – Gold, triple jump

Christian Malcolm – Silver, 200m

Andy Turner – Gold, 110 metres hurdles

Michael Bingham – Silver, 400m

Martyn Rooney – Bronze, 400m

Perri Shakes-Drayton – Bronze, 400 metres hurdles

Jenny Meadows – Bronze, 800m