BARCELONA 2010: Bernard delighted with high jump bronze at Europeans

By Nick Clowes, Sportsbeat, in Barcelona

BRITISH high jumper Martyn Bernard was singing and dancing in the rain as he secured the biggest result of his career with a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships.

JOY: Martyn Bernard cries out with relief in the rain after clearing 2.29 meters in the high jump final of the European Athletics Championships. He won bronze (Reuters)

Bernard only just edged into the final and despite a torrential downpour held his nerve to jump a season's best 2.29 metres.

However, it wasn't all easy with two early failures at 2.23m before he cleared his third and final attempt. He failed his first go at 2.26m before electing to move up to 2.29m, which he soared over at the first attempt.

"A medal at major championships sounds good to me," said Bernard, the first British high jump medallist at European level since Dalton Grant won silver in 1998.

"When I was on my third attempt at 2.23m it was not looking good for me.

"It was difficult in the wet. I had an umbrella so I was having a bit of a dance - what else could I do?

"I just love being at major championships. I did not get to go to Berlin last year because of injury and was not expecting to get here because at one point my ankle was looking like a pin cushion.

"At 2.31m I had one attempt that was close but my bum just clipped it - maybe I had one ice cream too many in the training camp!

"It is just a great thing to get a medal at a major championship. Maybe I won't have as much ice cream next time so I can get one of the top two spots."

But while Bernard refused to let the conditions detract from his performance, British team-mate and fellow Olympic finalist Tom Parsons admitted the rain got to him, after three successive failures at 2.19m.

"I don't know what to say to be honest. There is no way I wouldn't have jumped 2.19 in good weather but there are no excuses," said Parsons, who had looked much more impressive than Bernard in qualifying.

"It's the worst conditions I think I have every been in - you could hear your feet squelching as you went along but everyone else managed to clear it, so what can I say?

"I probably haven't done enough practice in the rain but I should have cleared it and I didn't."

Russia's Aleksander Shustov took gold after clearing 2.33m while team-mate Ivan Ukhov claimed silver.