France's Lemaitre on track for European sprint double

REUTERS - France's Christophe Lemaitre is hot favourite to complete a sprint double at the European championships on Friday by adding the 200 metres title to his 100 crown.

Lemaitre, the fastest man in Europe this year over both distances, looked tired in the heats but still recorded the fastest time in the semis of 20.39.

"Tomorrow I will be better physically and with Martial (Mbandjock) and David (Alerte) we can make a big splash," the 20-year-old said.

Home hopes of a medal will be shouldered by Spain's world champion Marta Dominguez in the women's steeplechase final, although Dominguez, who wears a bright pink headband when racing, complained of feeling below-par during the heats.

Her main challenger should be Russian Yuliya Zarudneva, who took silver behind the Spaniard in Berlin last year.

The longest race of the championship, the men's 50-km walk gets underway at 0535.

In the women's events, there are finals in the pole vault (1630), 400 metres (1735), hammer (1820), 400 hurdles (1940) and 800 (1950). The other men's finals are 110 hurdles (1750), 400 (1925) and 1,500 (2000).