Turner takes his chance to join growing list of British winners

(REUTERS)

Another night in the Montjuic Olympic Stadium; another British gold at the European Championships.

Following in the footsteps of Mo Farah and Phillips Idowu, Andy Turner snatched the hand of opportunity when it was thrust in his direction in the midst of the men's 110m hurdles final here last night. Actually, it was more like he ripped the thing off to claim the third gold of the championships for the Great Britain team.

There is the promise of much more of the precious stuff to come, possibly even a run of four tonight, with Jessica Ennis 110 points clear in the heptathlon; the Welshmen Dai Greene and Rhys Williams lining up as the two fastest qualifiers for the 400m hurdles final; Michael Rimmer going into the 800m final looking like the man to beat; and Farah seeking a 5,000m gold to match the one he won from the 10,000m on the opening night.

There was a glut of "minor" medals last night – silver for Christian Malcolm in the 200m; silver and bronze for Michael Bingham and Martyn Rooney in the 400m; bronze for Perri Shakes-Drayton in the 400m hurdles; bronze for Jenny Meadows in the 800m. That made it six in all on the night and 11 in total for Britain. The record haul of 18 gleaned from Split in 1990 is looking in serious danger.

It was Turner's time to shine with a golden glint last night. In Gothenburg four years ago the Nottinghamshire man won bronze. This time round, the 29-year-old – who was dropped from Lottery funding in 2008 but put back on the list last autumn – took two steps up to the top of the podium. When Petr Svoboda of the Czech Republic stuttered just before the eighth of the 10 flights, Turner burst through to the front to win in 13.28sec.

"I saw Phillips do it last night and I liked it," he said, draped in a Union flag in the bowels of the stadium. "I've dreamt of doing that: just crossing the line and winning a major final. I'm just so happy. For the past two years I've been chipping away and working hard and all those lows have finally been worth it."

A former Notts County youth team footballer, Turner is third British man to win the European Championship high hurdles title, following Don Finlay, who triumphed in 1938, and Colin Jackson, who won four in a row, in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. "I just smelt the gold medal," Turner said, reflecting on his decisive burst. "You just find that extra gear."

A training partner of the Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu in the north London-based sprint group coached by Lloyd Cowan, Turner added: "I love track and field. I love what I do. I don't want to prove anything to other people. I just want to prove it to myself.

"This whole championships has been amazing. All the other medallists so far have sent shivers down my spine. Mark Lewis-Francis getting silver in the 100m: I loved that. Mo Farah and Chris Thompson getting gold and bronze in the 10,000m: that got all the team fired up. And then Phillips winning the triple jump and Martyn Bernard getting bronze in the high jump last night was amazing.

"I just wanted that so bad. I walked round the stadium the other day and I stood by the rostrum. I looked at the gold medal spot and thought, 'I want to stand on that so bad'." And at the end of last night's session, there he was: holding back the tears with the gold medal around his neck.

Sadly, there was no place in the final – let alone on the podium – for Turner's team-mate William Sharman. The Belgrave Harrier had been fancied to finish in the medal mix after clocking 12.9sec, albeit hand-timed and with wind assistance, in Madrid a fortnight ago but he failed even to make it to the finishing line in the opening semi-final last night.

A former timekeeper on the Gladiators television show, Sharman was one contender who proved a little too ready at the start. He was out of his blocks well ahead of his seven rivals and disqualified for a false start. The net result was the disappointment of a premature exit for the Northampton athlete, who had been the highest-placed European in the World Championships final in Berlin last summer.

"There's no excuse; I false started Sharman, a classically trained pianist, said, facing the music. For Turner, the music was still to come: the strains of the British national anthem ringing around the arena as he stood on top of the podium. It has become a familiar tune in these parts already this week. And it could get a bit repetitive on what promises to be a super Saturday for this truly great British team.