by Alfonz Juck
This is the flash back on the 2021 SPAR European Athletics Cross Country Championships, provided by EME News (Steven Mills and Paul Halford for Alfonz Juck), the premier global daily newsletter on athletes for the serious athletic enthusiast.
The EA Cross Country Championships were a huge success and record-breaking! Here are some updates from EME News!
DUBLIN FLASH-BACK
DUBLIN (IRL): Alina Reh has outlined her plans for 2022 after winning individual bronze at the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin, informs Leichtathletik.de. “At the end of the week, I will run the German Cross Country Championship in Sonsbeck. After Christmas, I’m going to Monte Gordo in Portugal for two weeks with Hanna Klein and others. I would like to contest two indoor races in Karlsruhe and Leipzig. After the start of the outdoor season at the German 10,000m championships in Pliezhausen, the focus is on the European championships in Munich. It is still open whether I will also include the World Championships in Eugene with my trainer Jürgen Kerl,” she said.
DUBLIN (IRL): Jakob Ingebrigtsen required some medical attention after winning the men’s title at the European Cross Country Championships due to getting spiked in the race, informs NRK.
DUBLIN (IRL): Nadia Battocletti has said she has developed mentally as well as physically this season, informs FIDAL. After winning the U23 title in Dublin, she said: “The experience of the Olympic Games has given me so much. I came into contact with very strong athletes like Hassan and Ingebrigtsen, I hope to become like them. But in 2021, in addition to all the medals, the certainty of having grown mentally, even more than physically, remains above all. I stopped asking myself the usual doubts about not training well or anything like that. Now I think differently: I think and act like a professional athlete, and I have no limits. I can’t wait for next summer, the Eugene World Championships, the European Championships in Munich,” she said.
DUBLIN (IRL): Karoline Grovdal described winning European cross-country gold as “extra special.” After winning gold, she said: “I have won so many bronze and silver medals at the European level – both on the track and in cross country – so for me to take the gold today means a lot. I am so happy to have been able to do that. It was a really tough and strong field, with so many good athletes on the starting line, so it is extra special to win gold. It was not only until the last lap that I realized that I would be able to take the win.”
DUBLIN (IRL): Yemaneberhan Crippa explained why he came to a halt after he was in medal contention in Dublin’s senior men’s race. “I got a sudden pain in the liver area. There was a lap and a half to go for eight kilometers. I had raced as I wanted, my legs were fine, and I was fighting for the podium…I’m so mad; it will take me a while to swallow it. These are things that happen,” he said.
DUBLIN (IRL): Britain’s Megan Keith spoke of her shock at winning the European under-20 title. “To be honest, I don’t know what happened out there,” she told British Athletics. “I was leading when I didn’t necessarily want to lead it. I knew I had a massive group behind me so I never thought I would win it. The best I hoped for was top five and coming away with a team medal – winning wasn’t in the game plan. It was amazing when I crossed the line. I don’t think I’ve ever run so quickly to a finish line in my life. Now was the time to do it!”
DUBLIN (IRL): Next edition of the event will be held in Torino, Italy, on December 11, 2022, in La Mandria Park. That means Italy will host this championship for the fourth time, the most from all countries. For 2023 the host is not yet decided but is decided that from this edition, the distances among male and female runners will be the same. That means 6 km for U20, 8 km for U23, and 10 km for seniors.
DUBLIN (IRL): Concerning medals won in individual races, Sergiy Lebid leads with 12, followed by Hassan Chahdi, Yeman Crippa, and Paulo Guerra, now added with Jakob Ingebrigtsen all with 5. Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal leads this list for women with 8. As for appearances, Lebid leads the men with 19, and Austrian Andreas Vojta, with 12, moved to 3rd together with Dutch Michel Butter. Fionnuala McCormack leads the women list with 17.
DUBLIN (IRL): The 534 is the new record for participating runners in all races, the previous was 529 in Samorin 2017. The top figure without relay is 525 in Belgrade 2013.
