On this day in 2010: Phillips Idowu celebrates European triple jump gold

Idowu produced the best jump of his career in Barcelona.

Great Britain’s Phillips Idowu celebrates his victory in the men’s triple jump final (John Giles/PA) (PA Archive)

Great Britain triple jumper Phillips Idowu won gold at the European Championships in Barcelona on this day in 2010.

On a rainy night in Spain, Idowu added to his Commonwealth and world titles by earning victory with the best jump of his career.

The 31-year-old leaped a superb 17.81 metres on his fourth attempt, extending his previous personal best by eight centimetres to finish ahead of Romania’s Marian Oprea.

Idowu said afterwards: “I’ve always worked hard and by the grace of God I’ve come out a gold medallist.”

Idowu’s success was Great Britain’s second gold medal of the 2010 European Championships after Mo Farah had triumphed in the 10,000m.

London-born Idowu had also landed Olympic silver at Beijing in 2008 but injury problems later began to hamper his career and he failed to make it past the qualifying round in his home Games in 2012.

He retired from the sport the following year.