ATHLETICS: Britain's Hunt and Asher-Smith set European Championships medal records

BIRMINGHAM, England- Britain's Amy Hunt and Dina Asher-Smith made history on Sunday as the former became the first athlete to claim a haul of four gold medals at the same European Championships and the latter the most successful in the competition's 92-year existence.

The 24-year-old Hunt helped Britain win the mixed 4x100 meters relay in a European record time of 39.97 seconds before a sell-out crowd after her success in the individual 100m and 200m plus the women's 4x100m earlier this week.

"Oh my gosh, I am over the moon. I think to finish it off with some of my best friends in the sport is incredible," Hunt, who is also a world silver medallist, told the BBC.

The 30-year-old Asher-Smith now has eight European golds and 11 medals overall after playing her part in a team also featuring Jeremiah Azu and Zharnel Hughes as Britain dominated the sprint events on the final night at the championships.

Georgia Hunter Bell took 1500m gold for the hosts, with the 32-year-old having already won world indoor and Commonwealth titles this year after quitting the sport for five years earlier in her career before making a successful comeback.

She picked up Britain's ninth gold medal overall but that was not enough to claim top spot in the medal table, which went to Italy, who won the final gold of the championships in the men's 4x400m relay, finishing 0.03 seconds ahead of the hosts.

Matthew Hudson-Smith's silver in the event saw the 31-year-old Briton move above French sprinter Christophe Lemaitre as the most decorated man in championship history with nine medals.

Italy finished with 22 medals, including 10 gold. Britain were second on 19 and nine respectively ahead of Germany (21 and six), Netherlands (14 and five) and Norway (six and four).

Writing by Ken Ferris; Editing by Nia Williams/Reuters