Kyle Langford “kind of knew I had him” after edging out Konstantin Tolokonnikov in a photo finish to clinch the European Junior Championship 800m title in Sweden yesterday.

The Shaftesbury Barnet Harrier pipped his Russian rival by one hundredth of a second to add the European crown to the British senior title he won earlier this month.

Two years ago Langford lost out on a World Youth Championship silver by three hundredths of a second to Tolokonnikov as the pair finished behind Kenya’s Alfred Kipketer – who went on to become World Junior champion last year – and the Watford-born athlete admitted he was pleased to turn the tables.

“It feels a lot better [than the World Youths],” Langford told British Athletics following his victory in Eskilstuna. “I know I had to redeem myself in that sense and not let him (Tolokonnikov) get away with it twice. It nearly happened again today, but I dipped and got the win so I’m really happy about it.”

Langford looked composed in the closing stages of the race when he was forced to bide his time after striking for home, but he admitted to having some concerns at the way the final was unfolding.

He said: “I went to go, but the Pole (Meteusz Borkowski) was coming through pretty fast on the outside so I couldn’t get through the gap. So I held back and went back around. I was quite worried about it, but I felt ridiculously good in my legs so I thought I’d have them on the sprint. The Russian came from far back so it was a bit more over the last 20m of how hard I could push to the line.

“I noticed him with probably about 10m to go, I could feel someone coming behind me and gritted a bit more and dipped and got there. I crossed the line and although he dipped with me, I kind of knew I had him. I just waited for that confirmation on the screen.”

Langford’s winning time was 1.48.99 – more than a second slower than his 1.47.41 personal best. But a quick time was not the priority in Sweden. He wanted another title to add to his British championship.

The athlete explained: “The main thing for me is I train to win championships, I don’t train to run fast, that just comes with it. To win here proves that I’m a good championship racer. Hopefully now I can run a fast time in the Anniversary Games next weekend, which would be a good benchmark for the season.”