European Team Championships confirmed women as new force in UK athletics

They reveal that women have replaced men as the dominant force in British athletics. As Russia took the title for the third successive time, it was the UK women who preserved national honour, helping the GB team finish third. The women collected 174 points, 10 more than the men, and that's despite the injured pole vaulter Holly Bleasdale having failed to record a height. Her best this year (4.60 metres) would have been good enough for victory and 12 points which would have elevated the UK to second and emphasised British women's resurgence even more dramatically.

We wondered, in passing, given that her injury was known to team management, why they did not instruct Bleasdale to come in much lower than her opening 4.25 metres. This would have given a better chance of recording a height and critical points. But we digress . . .

Formerly known as the Europa Cup, the contest was restructured in 2009 as a joint men's and women's event for 12 countries, replacing separate eight-nation competitions for each sex.

Since Scotland hosted for the only time (Meadowbank, 1973) the UK men's team have never been out of the top flight, winning the title five times, but the GB women were frequently in a scramble for points, battling for superleague survival.

Indeed, they were relegated in 2004, gained promotion the following year, and went back down immediately. In 2007 they won the First League title, and contested the final edition of the cup. As the UK men took the trophy, the women were an honourable third.

Now it is the women who are upholding national honour. The era of Coe, Cram, Wells, Christie and Jackson is ancient history. Of five individual UK victories last weekend, four were by women. Notable among them was Scotland's Eilidh Child, who smashed her own national record in the 400 metres hurdles, and then led a GB quartet (minus individual 400m hurdles winner Perri Shakes-Drayton) to victory in the 4 x 400m. She was Britain's only double winner.

Russia snatched the overall title with 354½ points in a dramatic finale, but their women contributed a staggering 197 points to their men's 157½. Had these been two competitions in the old style, the Russian men would have been back in fifth, while the British women would have pipped Germany by 1½ points, and finished second.

The result was:

Overall 1 Russia 354½ points, 2 Germany 347½, 3 GB 338, 4 France 310½, 5 Poland 305½, 6 Ukraine 260½

Broken down, the results would have been:

Men 1 Germany 175, 2 France 167, 3 GB 164 (by virtue of more victories), 4 Poland 164, 5 Russia 157½, 6 Italy 125

Women 1 Russia 197, 2 GB 174, 3 Germany 172½, 4 Ukraine 168, 5 France 143½, 6 Poland 141½

So the best British women's performance in the 48-year history of this team contest lay hidden, masked by the new format.

Yet female resurgence should be no great surprise. There is greater strength in depth in British women's athletics than in men's: 25 women ranked in the world top 30 in individual Olympic disciplines last year, and just 20 males.

Child is the only Scot among them, 17th last year and already up to seventh this year with Sunday's national record of 54.42sec. That's the highest world ranking by a Scot for several years. She will have the chance to race the two women immediately ahead of her (Shakes-Drayton, 54.03, and Angela Morosanu of Romania, 53.85) in Birmingham's Diamond League meeting on Sunday. Relay colleague Megan Beesley is also in the field, and all three Brits already have the qualifying time for the World Championships in Moscow.

Scottish athletics is following a similar female-dominated pattern. The 20 women already qualified for Glasgow 2014 outnumber men by 2:1. Of these 20 women, nine are in middle distance and endurance events pioneered by Yvonne Murray and Liz McColgan. Their inspiration to the new generation cannot be overstated. The biggest disappointment is that there is no discernable continuing sprint legacy on the back of Olympic champion Allan Wells and European medallist Cameron Sharp.

Child, however, is proceeding at a distance in which Scotland has significant pedigree. Her fellow Fifer Linsey MacDonald was UK 400m record holder and Olympic medallist at 16; Mel Neef won the Europa Cup 400m title in 1995; Allison Curbishley took Commonwealth silver in 1998, hurdled at European Junior level and still holds the Scottish junior record; Lee McConnell has taken medals at world, European, and Commonweath level, mostly on the flat but one over hurdles; and Sinead Dudgeon was a European and Commonwealth finalist and world semi-finalist.

What they achieved has given Child a pathway to follow.

One final thought on Gateshead. A more aggressive stance might have brought victory. Back in April, if UK Athletics had gone all out to win, it might have been achieved. Had Mo Farah been persuaded to run the 3000m as well as the 5000m another certain 12-point maximum was possible. Injuries did not help: Jessica Ennis-Hill, Robbie Grabarz, Laurence Clarke and Goldie Sayers were missed, but at no time did management appear to put out a three-line whip. An opportunity was missed.

European Team Championships confirmed women as new force in UK athletics