Turkish sprinter Yanıt wins gold in 60m hurdles at European championships

ISTANBUL

Nevin Yanıt celebrates wining the final of the women's 60m Hurdles at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, on March 1, 2013. AFP photo

Turkish sprinter Nevin Yanıt added another gold medal to her impressive collection of hardware tonight by winning the 60m hurdles competition at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The double European champion in the 100m hurdles dominated the race from beginning to end, finishing in a time of 7.89 seconds, bettering her previous Turkish record.

Alina Talay of Belarus took the silver medal with a time of 7.94 seconds. Italy’s Veronica Borsi scored the biggest success of her career, clinching the bronze medal with the same time, just ahead of Ireland’s Derval O’Rourke.

Yanıt said after the race that she had come to the championships with the single goal of winning a gold medal.

“I haven’t raced indoor since 2007. I won the gold medal and showed how strong I was in Europe. I work hard and exerted a lot of efforts. It is a blessing to achieve things by virtue of it,” Yanıt said.

Turkish President Abdullah Gül congratulated Yanıt after the race with a statement. Yanıt also finished fifth in the 100m hurdles at last year’s London Olympics.