French pole vault star Renaud Lavillenie won the gold medal with a clearance of 5.85m on Saturday.

If Myriam Soumaré’s stunning win in the women’s 200m was the shock of the week, the second French gold of day five was anything but.

Indeed, on a night of surprises it was almost a relief that Renaud Lavillenie won the men’s pole vault gold. Perhaps the most overwhelming favourite in any event here, the 23-year-old did what everyone expected to land his first major outdoor title.

At 5.94, the Frenchman’s world and European lead is 14cm higher than anyone else in the field, so all he had to do was avoid mistakes as the bar moved towards a height none of his opponents could match. And that’s what he did, leaping clear first time at 5.85.

The big surprise was the names of the vaulters trying to match him.

European number two Ralph Holzdeppe was meant to be his nearest rival but the German went out early and finished ninth. Lukasz Michalski has also vaulted 5.80 this year, but he could only manage 5.65 for seventh, while it was the less heralded Pole, Przemyslaw Czerwinski, who emerged to take bronze.

Czerwinski cleared 5.75, 5cm above his best of the year, while Ukraine’s former world junior champion Maksym Mazuryk rose 10cm above his season’s best for silver with 5.80.

He may have been the hottest favourite but the pressure of expectation didn’t seem to affect the 23-year-old Lavillenie who appeared to be relaxed throughout the two and a half hour event, smiling and waving at the crowd, or sitting chatting to his team-mates while victory ceremonies and track races interrupted the competition.

Not that he had a perfect series of jumps. He failed once at his opening height of 5.60, causing a low gasp in the crowd, although, as he said later, “I was testing myself at the beginning.”

His second effort was untidy too but well over. He retreated to the side of the track for some long words with his coach Damien Innocencio and decided to pass at 5.65 and 5.70.

Holzdeppe’s had another shaky start just as he had in the qualifiers. The German had two fails at his opening height of 5.50 and the world junior record holder bowed out at 5.70, a big disappointment at his first European championships.

At 5.60, it was the Italian Giuseppe Gibilisco, Czerwinski and the third Frenchman Robert Mesnil who looked in bets shape.

When the bar reached 5.75 only Mesnil and Gibilisco had clean records while Lavillenie counted just one X by his name. That was soon two, but again he readjusted and had the crowd roaring as he cleared with his second attempt. “At this moment I knew I was on the right track to gold,” he said later.

It wasn’t secure yet, though. Czerwinski briefly moved into the driving seat with a first time clearance, followed by Mazuryk who was finding his best form of the season.

But Lavillenie was just getting going and he grabbed the initiative with a first vault clear at 5.80. Mazuryk cleared too, but only with his second attempt, while Czerwinski failed twice then passed to try 5.85.

Lavillenie was first up, and first over. But it was too high for the Pole after coming here with a season’s best of 5.65. Only Gibilisco has been this high and not this year, not recently, his Italian record of 5.90 stretching back seven years.

He was close on his first try but the 2003 world champion had to accept there’d be no medal this time. Mazuryk failed too but he had a silver while Czerwinski had won bronze for Poland to go with Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz’s silver from 1974.

“I have been waiting for this moment since I started to pole vault and after 14 years I have finally got an international medal,” he said. “It hasn’t been my best performance ever but I was always fourth or fifth in championships so I think I deserved it.”

For Mazuryk it was a welcome change to make the podium after finishing fourth in the worlds last year, while Czerwinski’s previous best championships place was fifth in Göteborg.

For his part, Lavillenie had done what was expected and added the European gold to his world bronze from Berlin. Seeking the championships record and a PB, he put the bar up to 6.02. His first two attempts were not close but with his third he gave the bar the merest brush. It looked for a moment as if it would stay on but then one end came loose.

Not that he was too worried. After all, he is the first French pole vault champion going one better than Mesnil in 2006. “I’m very happy,” he said. “My goal is to remain at this high level and go for the world title next year.”

Bring it on, Mr Hooker.