30th June 2013 07:47
It could not have been closer, it could not have been more dramatic but the smile on the face of the French athletes told its own story in Tallinn on Sunday afternoon.
With a cleansweep in the final race of the competition, the last heat of the men's 1500m, France was crowned European Cup Combined Events Super League champions.
Entering the 1500m, Estonia, the hosts, had the upper hand in the competition as they led with 39,075 points from France with 38,981 and Russia with 38,944 on a day of late twists and turns.
But the French men showed their dominance on the track as Florian Geffrouais won the 1500m in 4:14.18 from Kevin Mayer in 4:21.95 and Jeremy Lelievre in 4:23.19 to land the team event.
They triumphed with 41,421 from Russia with 41,032 and Estonia with 41,027.
And while it meant team glory for France, it was an individual triumph too for Mayer as he won the decathlon itself with 8390 points from Belarusian Eduard Mikhan, second with 8125, and Estonia's Mikk Pahapill, third with 8099.
Poland finished fifth overall with 38,763 but there was individual delight for Karolina Tyminska who won the heptathlon title with 6347 points from Ukraine's Hanna Melnychenko with 6260 and Estonia's Grit Sadeiko, third with 6221. Great Britain with 38,653 managed to stay in the top league for the next season. However, Ukraine and Italy who finished seventh and eighth with 37,850 and 37,617 points respectively were relegated to the 1st League.
It was some second day in a competition where the joint scores of the top three performers in each team from the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon are added together.
Along with Mayer, Geffrouais was fifth in the decathlon with 7990 and Lelievre seventh with 7880.
In the heptathlon, France's top three finishers were Antoinette Nana Djimou in fourth with 6104, Rokhaya Mbaye in 15th with 5627 and Merryl Mbeng in 19th with 5430.
The second day had begun with Russia, who won the men's and women's Super League 12 months earlier, in third place from Saturday with 17,546, trailing leaders France on 17,954 and Ukraine, second with 17,794.
The first decathlon event to be completed, the 110m hurdles, saw two great performances to move Estonia move into third overall.
Andres Raja ran 14.00 to win the second heat - the fastest of them all to earn 975 points - while in heat three, Raja's teammate Kaarel Joevail won in 14.80, even though he rocked almost every barrier on his way to victory.
France still led the competition after 10 events, with 25,550 points, but Russia had now moved into second with 25,011 from Estonia with 24,995.
In the decathlon itself, Mayer remained in front with 5209 from Mikhan with 5145 with Great Britain's John Lane third with 5033.
In the heptathlon, Melnychenko was in front after the first day with 3794 with Tyminska, who was fourth at the World Championships in Daegu, second with 3671 and Ukraine's Alina Fyodorova third with 3613.
By the end of the first women's discipline on Sunday, the long jump, the gap between first and second had narrowed to just 98 points as Tyminska leaped to 6.41m with her second effort and Melnychenko was in third with 6.33m.
Sandwiched in between them was Estonia's Grit Sadeiko with 6.35m as the host country looked to challenge for the overall Cup.
By the end of the 12th event, the men's discus, France were still leading with 29,945 but Estonia were now a strong second with 29,761 with Russia third with 29,463.
The event itself was won by Mikhan with a best of 48.36m which took him into the individual lead in the decathlon as he achieved that score with his second of three throws.
Estonia took second and fourth place respectively, with Pahaphill reaching 48.08m and Raja recording a distance of 44.94m, with the individual leader Mayer ensuring France stayed in front as he finished fifth with 44.89m.
But with three events left for the men, Mikhan now had 5981 points from Mayer with 5974 and Raja in third with 5795.
But from leading by almost 200 points overall, France then suddenly had to look over their shoulder as Estonia moved even closer after the women's penultimate discipline, the javelin, the 13th of the 17 events.
With her second throw, Nana Djimou hit 50.44m to win for France but Estonia's Mari Klaup was second with 49.92m and Sadeiko third with 46.75m.
Not only did that javelin give a different complexion to the League itself, but also Sadeiko now led the heptathlon with 5364 from Tyminska with 5362 and Melynchenko with 5351.
After 13 events, France were still in front with 32,089 but Estonia were closing in on 32,015 followed by Russia with 31,489.
Within the next two events, so much changed again as the excitement of this competition grew.
Mayer resumed his place at the top of the decathlon as he finished ahead of Mikhan in the pole vault.
It was a discipline won by Russia's Artem Lukyanenko with 5.10m with Mayer in fourth with 4.90m and Mikhan in seventh with 4.70m.
Mayer was now leading the decathlon again with 6854, just 54 ahead of Mikhan, with Lukyanenko third with 6641.
One event remained in the women's heptathlon and the first heat of the 800m decided the individual champion as Tyminska won the race in 2:08.60.
In the end it was the quickest of all the 28 runners who finished, but Tyminska was not too know that and she had to watch the second heat, where leader Sadeiko was in sixth in 2:17.58.
But now, with just two men's event left, the javelin and the 1500m, the balance of power of the whole competition had changed as Estonia had the overall lead with 36,988 from France with 36,874 and Russia with 36,660.
And when Pahapill delivered a first-round throw of 63.63m in the javelin, Estonia's chances of winning the League looked likely as that distance was enough to take this individual event.
Just the men's 1500m remained, and Estonia led overall with 39, 075 points from France with 38,981 and Russia with 38,944 while Mayer was just about home and dry in the decathlon itself.
The final heat of that 1500m became a race to remember for Mayer and France on a weekend when Italy finished bottom of the table with 37,617 with Ukraine, who had started the second day in runners-up spot, one spot above them in seventh.