BIRMINGHAM, England, (Reuters):

Britain's Jason Gardener sent the home crowd wild as he tore down the track to a fourth consecutive European indoor 60 metres title yesterday and helped the hosts to a record medal haul.

Gardener's gold and victory by the men's relay team on top of success on Saturday in the men's triple jump and women's 400 metres put Britain on top of the medal table with 10 in total. Their previous best was nine in 1989.

Gardener blasted out of the blocks and led from start to finish for victory in 6.51 seconds. The 31-year-old threw his arms in the air and jumped for joy after crossing the lineahead of training partner Craig Pickering.

"I just wanted it so much. It meant more to me than the first one (in 2000)," Gardener told reporters. "This gives me realistic ambitions for a summer campaign."

Belgian sprinter Kim Gevaert claimed her third title in the women's final, with Greece's Katerina Thanou back in sixth in her first international competition since a two-year suspension for doping violations.

"It doesn't matter that I didn't get a medal," former champion Thanou said. "The point is I'm enjoying competing."

Championship history

Poland's Lidia Chojecka made championship history by adding the 3,000 metres gold to the 1,500 she won on Saturday.

Chojecka made her move with two laps to go, going past long-time leader Jo Pavey of Britain and then pulling away from Spain's European 5,000 champion Marta Dominguez.

"I am tired now," Chojecka, told reporters. "I thought coming into the championships I would get a medal and even a gold but I did not know in which event. The weekend couldn't have gone better for me."

Czech Roman Sebrle became the oldest man to win the heptathlon title, snatching victory from Russian Aleksandr Pogorelov on the last discipline, the 1,000 metres.

It was a hat-trick of European indoor golds for the 32-year-old, whose total of 6,196 points was the best in the world this year.