From now to the Athens Olympics in 2004, Konstantinos Kenteris can start thinking about pressure. Ian O'Riordan reports from Munich

Last night here he won the European Championship 200 metre title to add to the World and Olympic titles he already holds, and some of those in his native Greece are probably preparing for the perfect homecoming.

And by running 19.85 seconds he's only added to the expectation. Before last night his best of 20.03 had left Kenteris a little outside the greatest names in sprint history, but now only the re-emergence of Michael Johnson would seem likely to threaten his reign at 200 metres.

Such was his dominance here that a finger salute was raised high above his head even before he crossed the line. Only the 19.72 European record of the legendary Italian Pietro Mennea - run at altitude - is a faster time by a non-black athlete.

Nigerian-born Francis Obikwelu, now running for Portugal, took silver in 20.21, with Britain's Marlon Devonish the bronze in 20.24.

For Muriel Hurtis, the winner of the women's 200 metre title, there is more immediate pressure as she now goes into next summer's World Championships in Paris as the new name in French sprinting - and a natural successor to Marie-Jose Perec. Last night she ran 22.43 seconds - the fastest in Europe this year - to take gold ahead of Belgium's Kim Gevaert (22.53).

There was another French victory in the 400 metre hurdles when Stephane Diagana comfortably took the title he's so craved for much of the last decade. The 33-year-old clocked 47.58 to blitz the challenge of his Czech rival Jiri Muzik (48.43) and Poland's Pawel Januszewski (48.46).

For two of Ireland's top sprinters - one still emerging and the other still producing his best old form - it was a night that brought them close to contesting the European finals. Ciara Sheehy had already underlined her consistent progression of recent seasons to make the 200 metre semi-final, and last night came within one place of going even better and contesting her first final.

But in another bizarre blip on the German organisation of the championships, Sheehy had to endure some late alteration to the starting line-ups before taking her blocks in lane one of the first semi-final. When she returned to the athletes' village after the heats on Thursday night she had been informed she would be running in lane eight of the second semi-final.

A similar start list was distributed to the media yesterday morning.

However, the two semi-finals were then redrawn later in the morning after the Italian athlete Daniela Graglia, originally disqualified in the heats, was reinstated. So from the slightly more advantageous lane eight, Sheehy suddenly found herself with the disadvantage of lane one. And it was only when she arrived in the call room before her race at 6.0 in the evening that she was informed about it.

In truth she still ran close to her best, taking fifth in 23.47 seconds behind the eventual champion Hurtis (22.46). The top four in each semi-final went straight through so Sheehy immediately knew her fate.

"I got the best start I could but it really is a very tight bend when you're running in lane one," she said. "And there is definitely a big difference between that and lane eight. A smaller sprinter can sometimes handle it better, but from 120 metres I felt the other athletes had got away from me.

"And I am a little angry about it. To me there seemed to be some sort of mix up before the start. But from the first draw I knew I was the fourth fastest in the race and I was prepared to really go for it.

"Then, when we got into the call room and I discovered I was in the first heat there were some athletes there that I didn't know about. It was a bit frustrating, and I think my focus was affected a little bit."

With a season's best of 23.21 seconds, Sheehy was clearly in shape to contest a place in the final. The fourth place athlete just ahead of her, Alenka Bikar of Slovenia, clocked 23.18 and the fourth qualifier in the second heat, Jacqueline Poelman of Holland, ran 23.14. Both times would have been within Sheehy's range with a more favourable lane draw.

"I'm happy that I ran as best as I could and all I can do now is look forward to another championships," added Sheehy, who is still a few weeks short of her 22nd birthday. "I know I have progressed this season and it still leaves me in the top 10 in Europe and I have to be happy enough with that."

For Gary Ryan, his trail to the men's final fell short a little earlier. In contrast, he found himself drawn in lane eight of the first semi-final, and though he once again dipped under 21 seconds, his sixth place finish in 20.98 wasn't enough for a place in the final.

Not that he was overly disappointed. At 30, some of his best years are behind him, especially as his problems with asthma have grown worse in recent times.

"Sure I've my share of problems over the last year," he said, "and there were times I felt down about the sport. But I've had an uplifting experience here with two satisfying runs. I intend to keep going for a couple more years now, and hopefully avoid injury. Cause I think I can still run my fastest times."