1998, Gateshead was selected to host the 2000 Europa Cup after the European Athletic Association switched the event from original host venue Martinique to avoid athletes travelling long distances in an Olympic year. This made Gateshead the first venue to host the event twice. On 16–17 July 2000, spectators at Gateshead once again saw Great Britain's men's team take the title, this time by half a point from Germany in second place; the British victory came despite missing ten first-choice team members. The women's event was won by Russia, who defeated second-placed Germany by thirteen points. Foster's "Gateshead Games" had become the British Grand Prix by 2003, and on 13 July 21-year-old Yelena Isinbayeva set a new world record of 4.82m in the women's pole vault event. Isinbayeva's achievement in the last event of the meet was so unexpected that only 1,000 of the 10,000 spectators witnessed it, the rest having left early. For her achievement, she was given a bonus cheque for $50,000. On 27 June 2004, Isinbayeva returned to Gateshead. This time the event organisers decided to schedule the pole vault event earlier and were rewarded when Isinbayeva defied extremely windy conditions to post a new record mark of 4.87m. Isinbayeva was the second woman to set a world record in the pole vault at Gateshead; Daniela Bartova did so in 1995. In 2006, a crowd of 8,500 saw Asafa Powell equal the world record of 9.77 seconds in the men's 100m. The official, un-rounded time of 9.762 seconds was then the fastest time ever recorded. The meet was also notable for the return to competition of Dwain Chambers after his ban for using performance-enhancing drugs, and for Eliud Kipchoge breaking Foster's stadium record over 3000m that had stood for more than three decades. In 2010, the British Grand Prix at Gateshead was chosen as one of the inaugural fourteen Diamond League events, but although competitors included Tyson Gay, Powell, Jessica Ennis and Vincent Chepkok, the attendance was unusually poor, causing the local press to wonder whether Gateshead's contract for the marquee event would be renewed. Those fears were to prove well-founded when UK Athletics agreed to a three-year contract to stage the event at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. The move prompted one reporter to lament that "the switch is a major blow to both Gateshead International Stadium and North-East sport in general, but can hardly be