JO PAVEY WINNING THE 10000 METRES GOLD

In a career that has spanned more than two decades,

Britain

’s Jo Pavey has won silver and bronze medals at the European Athletics Championships – but until tonight, never a gold. Here in the Letzigrund Stadium, the 40-year-old mother-of-two achieved what will surely be the crowning moment of her career as she deployed all her experience and sheer guts in the 10,000m to go one better than her European silver medal of four years ago. Ten days after taking Commonwealth 5000m bronze, Pavey had secured another place on a major championship podium – the best place of all. And in doing so she became the oldest ever female to win a European gold, taking that distinction from

Russia

’s Lyubov Gurina, who won the 800m in 1994 aged 37.

“It’s hard to believe,” she said, her voice still clearly signalling her birthplace in Devon. “I don’t really know how I was able to win it at this age. It feels like I might be dreaming or something.

“I didn’t feel that confident because it felt like a long way, and I had to keep telling myself that this was what it felt like in the 10k, and that I had simply got to go for it and give it everything I’d got.”

Asked how she had managed to earn such golden success at this stage of her career, Pavey – who has a four-year-old son, Jacob, and a ten-month old daughter Emily with her husband and coach Gavin, responded : “Maybe it’s because I’m more relaxed in my running. I still train really hard but I’m a busy mum now and I think it has been good for me, and also given me more endurance.”

More: http://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-athletics-championships/news/article=pavey-electrifies-the-letzigrund-stadium/

Source:http://www.european-athletics.org