Stockholm: Holders Russia are in pole position after a solid performance on the track at the European Team Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Victories in the men's 400 metres and long jump plus the women's 800, 3,000 and 3,000 steeplechase helped the Russians reach 213 points after the first day of the two-day event.
Germany are in second place on 183.5 ahead of Britain and the Ukraine. France's Christophe Lemaitre clocked a championship record time of 9.95 seconds in winning the 100 to help lift France into fifth place in the 12-team competition.
Hosts Sweden will be determined to improve their performance after a forgettable first day left them bottom of the table.
Only long jumper Michel Torneus gave the home fans something to cheer when he came second to Russia's Alexsandr Menkov.
His leap of 8.19 metres was just one centimetre less than Menkov's championship record jump.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, June 19, 2011, 10:11