BARCELONA, Spain — Myriam Soumaire of France won the women's 200 meters at the European Championships on Saturday to deny Russia's women another gold medal.
Soumaire surged to the front of the field from the outside lane to win in 22.32 seconds, the best time in Europe this season. She and Yelizaveta Bryzhina of Ukraine passed Aleksandra Fedoriva just as the Russian seemed set for gold after coming out of the bend in the lead. Russian women had won five medals Friday night.
Poland picked up its first gold when Marcin Lewandowski won the 800 meters.
Lewandowski hung on the heels of Britain's Michael Rimmer going around the final bend before moving ahead to finish in 1 minute, 47.07 seconds at Barcelona's Olympic stadium. Poland's Adam Kszczot took the bronze.
Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus won the shot put, edging Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski of Poland and defending champion Ralf Bartels of Germany.
"After some difficult seasons I'm back where I want to be," said former world champion Mikhnevich, whose second throw of 68 feet, 11¼ inches edged Majewski by a half inch.
Jessica Ennis of Britain maintained a slim lead of 18 points in the heptathlon over Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska of Ukraine going into the final event.
Ennis managed a personal-best 153-3 in the javelin to lead going into the 800.
Earlier, Zivile Balciunaite of Lithuania won the women's marathon and 50-year-old Merlene Ottey made history as the oldest athlete to compete at the event when she ran in the women's 400 relay.
Balciunaite covered the 26.2 miles around the streets of Barcelona in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 14 seconds to earn her first major triumph.
"I love to run in the heat, it suits me very well," said Balciunaite, who slowly worked her way up the field before taking the lead for good after 19 miles. "The circuit helped a lot as well — no hills, no turns, just perfect."
Ottey, a naturalized Slovenian born in Jamaica, surpassed the age record held by 47-year-old French marathon runner Nicole Brakebusch-Leveque.
Though Slovenia failed to get out of the heats, Ottey said the experience was a highlight of her career.
"It's right up there with all the medals I have won," said Ottey, who has won 29 medals in major competitions, including seven Olympic Games, starting at Moscow in 1980. "It didn't cross my mind (at 40) that I would still be running now. I thought I would retire."
Associated Press Writer Ben Hayward contributed to this report.