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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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2010 European Cross Country Championships

The 2010 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that took place on 12 December in Albufeira, Portugal. It was the second time that the country hosted the event, building upon the 1997 edition held in Oeiras.

Serhiy Lebid won the men's race for his ninth victory of the championship – a record for the competition. France took the men's team title. Jessica Augusto comprehensively won the women's race for the host nation and also led the Portuguese team to a team gold medal. At total of 468 athletes from a record number of 34 nations competed at the event.

Competition

Preparation

The race took place on a purpose-built course near the city, which also hosts the annual Almond Blossom Cross Country. Albufeira was chosen as the host at the 120th European Athletics Council Meeting in October 2008, defeating a rival bid from Velenje (which was chosen for the 2011 edition instead).

Hayley Yelling entered the race as the defending women's champion while Alemayehu Bezabeh, the reigning men's champion, did not take part in the competition. High-profile investigations into doping in Spain immediately preceded the championships and Bezabeh was among the athletes implicated in Operación Galgo. As both the reigning champion and the 2009 silver medallist Mo Farah were absent, the men's race was seen as a relatively open competition, with Ukrainian Serhiy Lebid, Spanish runners Ayad Lamdassem and Jesús España being the foremost protagonists. The withdrawal of Rosa Morató (runner-up in 2009) left Jessica Augusto as the provisional favourite for the women's race. Forming a strong team, three other Portuguese runners (Ana Dulce Félix, Marisa Barros and Sara Moreira) were expected to challenge for medals, as were Yelling and Adriënne Herzog (also directly implicated in Operación Galgo), who was third the previous year.

Races

The men's race

The men's race remained relatively tight until the final lap. Six men were on equal footing at the bell: Lebid, Lamdassem, French duo Morhad Amdouni and Abdellatif Meftah, and Rui Pedro Silva and Yousef El Kalai, both representing the hosts. Lamdassem was the first to move away from the pack, seizing the lead, and only Lebid followed. The Ukrainian overhauled Lamdassem in the final stages and maintained a clear lead to win his ninth title – a record for the competition. Lamdassem just held off a late sprint from El Kalai to take the runner-up spot. Meftah and Amdouni finished shortly after for fourth and fifth, leading the French men to a team victory.

Jessica Augusto made her gold medal intentions known as she took the lead in the opening stages. The Portuguese athlete never relinquished the position and produced a largely unrivalled, solo performance. Spaniard Alessandra Aguilar shadowed her in the middle part of the race but later dropped out of contention. With Augusto clear in front, Binnaz Uslu, Ana Dulce Félix, Fionnuala Britton and Tetyana Holovchenko battled for the minor medals in the second half of the race. Félix and Uslu fought for the runner-up spot with the Turk eventually winning out. Augusto's lead was so significant that she slowed and celebrated throughout the home straight, still crossing the line with a five-second advantage. Félix took the bronze just ahead Britton, helping the Portuguese women to the team gold medal, and Holovchenko rounded out the top five.

Hassan Chahdi of France took the men's under-23 title while Ethiopian-born Meryem Erdoğan won the women's under-23 section for Turkey. The junior races were won by Abdelaziz Merzougui and Charlotte Purdue.

Race results

Senior men

Serhiy Lebid took the men's title for a record ninth time.
Individual race
Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s)
Serhiy Lebid  Ukraine 29:15
Ayad Lamdassem  Spain 29:18
Yousef El Kalai  Portugal 29:19
4 Abdellatif Meftah  France 29:21
5 Morhad Amdouni  France 29:21
6 Andrea Lalli  Italy 29:28
7 Eduardo Mbengani  Portugal 29:29
8 Rui Pedro Silva  Portugal 29:32
9 Jesús España  Spain 29:32
10 Mokhtar Benhari  France 29:34
11 Yevgeniy Rybakov  Russia 29:35
12 Steffen Uliczka  Germany 29:36
Rui Pedro Silva was eighth and earned a team silver with Portugal.
Team race
Rank Team Points
 France
Meftah
Amdouni
Benhari
Driss El Himer
33
 Portugal
El Kalai
Mbengani
Rui Pedro Silva
Rui Silva
35
 Spain
Lamdassem
España
Ricardo Serrano
Francisco Javier López
58
4  Italy 96
5  United Kingdom 99
6  Russia 106
7  Ireland 142
8  Denmark 181
  • Totals: 75 entrants, 74 starters, 71 finishers, 10 teams.

Senior women

Race winner Jessica Augusto also led Portugal to the team title.
Sara Moreira was one of five Portuguese women in the top ten.
Individual race
Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s)
Jéssica Augusto  Portugal 26:52
Binnaz Uslu  Turkey 26:57
Ana Dulce Félix  Portugal 26:59
4 Fionnuala Britton  Ireland 26:59
5 Tetyana Holovchenko  Ukraine 27:04
6 Marisa Barros  Portugal 27:06
7 Hatti Dean  United Kingdom 27:08
8 Alessandra Aguilar  Spain 27:09
9 Sara Moreira  Portugal 27:26
10 Ana Dias  Portugal 27:27
11 Fatiha Klilech-Fauvel  France 27:27
12 Maria Sig Møller  Denmark 27:31
The Spanish team was led to the bronze by Alessandra Aguilar.
Team race
Rank Team Points
 Portugal
Augusto
Félix
Barros
Moreira
19
 United Kingdom
Dean
Louise Damen
Stephanie Twell
Helen Clitheroe
65
 Spain
Aguilar
Diana Martín
Nuria Fernández
Irene Pelayo
72
4  France 79
5  Russia 101
6  Ireland 132
7  Italy 147
  • Totals: 49 entrants, 49 starters, 47 finishers, 7 teams.

Under-23 men

Individual race
Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s)
Hassan Chahdi  France 24:11
Florian Carvalho  France 24:14
Yegor Nikolayev  Russia 24:15
4 Jeroen d'Hoedt  Belgium 24:23
5 Ricardo Mateus  Portugal 24:25
6 Siarhei Platonau  Belarus 24:28
7 Tiago Costa  Portugal 24:32
8 Sindre Buraas  Norway 24:34
9 Ricky Stevenson  United Kingdom 24:34
10 Florian Orth  Germany 24:44
11 David McCarthy  Ireland 24:46
12 Sebastián Martos  Spain 24:47
Team race
Rank Team Points
 Ireland
McCarthy
Brendan O'Neill
Michael Mulhare
David Rooney
60
 France
Chahdi
Carvalho
Abdelatif Hadjam
Etienne Diemunsch
78
 Spain
Martos
Antonia Abadía
Javier García
Víctor Corrales
79
4  United Kingdom 104
5  Norway 112
6  Belgium 114
7  Portugal 133
8  Germany 134
  • Totals: 102 entrants, 102 starters, 96 finishers, 16 teams.

Under-23 women

Finland's Sandra Eriksson was sixth in the under-23 race.
Individual race
Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s)
Meryem Erdoğan  Turkey 20:08
Cristina Jordán  Spain 20:17
Emma Pallant  United Kingdom 20:28
4 Hanna Nosenko  Ukraine 20:36
5 Roxana Birca  Romania 20:39
6 Sandra Eriksson  Finland 20:41
7 Nathalie Gray  United Kingdom 20:43
8 Viktoriya Pohorielska  Ukraine 20:46
9 Yekatyerina Gorbunova  Russia 20:46
10 Lucie Sekanová  Czech Republic 20:47
11 Patricia Laubertie  France 20:47
12 Natalya Vlasova  Russia 20:47
Team race
Rank Team Points
 United Kingdom
Pallant
Gray
Emily Pidgeon
Sarah Waldron
47
 Russia
Gorbunova
Vlasova
Lyudmila Lebedeva
Alfiya Khasanova
49
 Ukraine
Nosenko
Pohorielska
Olha Skrypak
Lyudmyla Kovalenko
65
4  Spain 94
5  Germany 107
6  Portugal 117
7  France 118
8  Poland 194
  • Totals: 65 entrants, 64 starters, 61 finishers, 8 teams.

Junior men

Individual race
Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s)
Abdelaziz Merzougui  Spain 18:07
Nemanja Cerovac  Serbia 18:07
Rui Pinto  Portugal 18:09
4 Ivan Strebkov  Ukraine 18:09
5 Sondre Nordstad Moen  Norway 18:16
6 Andrey Rusakov  Russia 18:18
7 Jesper van der Wielen  Netherlands 18:19
8 Sándor Szábo  Hungary 18:23
9 Marek Kowalski  Poland 18:25
10 Ryan Saunders  United Kingdom 18:27
11 Romain Collenot-Spriet  France 18:31
12 Shane Quinn  Ireland 18:31
Team race
Rank Team Points
 United Kingdom
Saunders
Jonathan Hay
John McDonnell
Andrew Combs
62
 Portugal
Pinto
Emanuel Rolim
José Costa
Nuno Santos
74
 Russia
Rusakov
Victor Saenko
Ilgizar Safiulin
Nikolai Lialikov
85
4  France 88
5  Ireland 120
6  Ukraine 130
7  Spain 145
8  Belgium 155
  • Totals: 104 entrants, 104 starters, 99 finishers, 17 teams.

Junior women

Individual race
Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s)
Charlotte Purdue  United Kingdom 12:42
Amela Terzić  Serbia 12:59
Emelia Gorecka  United Kingdom 13:00
4 Gulshat Fazlitdinova  Russia 13:03
5 Corrina Harrer  Germany 13:08
6 Zenobie Vangansbeke  Belgium 13:09
7 Ciara Mageean  Ireland 13:16
8 Ioana Doaga  Romania 13:18
9 Lily Partridge  United Kingdom 13:19
10 Annabel Gummow  United Kingdom 13:19
11 Gesa Krause  Germany 13:22
12 Kate Avery  United Kingdom 13:24
Team race
Rank Team Points
 United Kingdom
Purdue
Gorecka
Partridge
Gummow
23
 Germany
Harrer
Krause
Maya Rehberg
Jannika John
53
 Romania
Doaga
Mirela Lavric
Anca Maria Bunea
Dana Elena Login
64
4  Turkey 99
5  Belgium 103
6  Italy 128
7  Spain 149
8  Portugal 165
  • Totals: 76 entrants, 75 starters, 74 finishers, 11 teams.

Total medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Great Britain (GBR)4127
2 Portugal (POR)2237
3 France (FRA)2204
4 Spain (ESP)1236
5 Turkey (TUR)1102
6 Ukraine (UKR)1012
7 Ireland (IRL)1001
8 Serbia (SRB)0202
9 Russia (RUS)0123
10 Germany (GER)0101
11 Romania (ROU)0011
Totals (11 entries)12121236
  • Note: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.

References

  1. ^ Records set in Albufeira Archived 19 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (13 December 2010). Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  2. ^ Albufeira (POR) & Velenje (SLO) to host the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in 2010 & 2011 Archived 2 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (4 October 2008). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  3. ^ Minshull, Phil (10 December 2010). Lebid and Yelling-Higham looking for old gold at European XC Champs – PREVIEW. IAAF. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  4. ^ La Guardia Civil interroga a Nuria Fernández y Reyes Estévez. El País (10 December 2010). Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  5. ^ Purdue carries Britain's hopes while question mark hangs over Spanish entries. Athletics Weekly (11 December 2010). Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  6. ^ Purdue carries Britain's hopes while question mark hangs over Spanish entries. Athletics Weekly (11 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  7. ^ Spain’s Morató out of SPAR European Cross Country Championships Archived 19 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (8 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  8. ^ Minshull, Phil (10 December 2010). Lebid and Yelling-Higham looking for old gold at European XC Champs – PREVIEW. IAAF. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  9. ^ Minshull, Phil (12 December 2010). Lebid collects ninth title while Augusto thrills the locals in Albufeira – European XC Champs. IAAF. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  10. ^ SENIOR MEN'S FINAL: Lebid leaves it late but triumphs again Archived 15 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  11. ^ SENIOR WOMEN'S FINAL: Portugal’s Augusto dominates to take gold Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  12. ^ UNDER 23 MEN'S FINAL: Chahdi and Carvalho make the predictions come true Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  13. ^ UNDER 23 WOMEN'S FINAL: Turkey’s Erdogan fulfils her role as favourite Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  14. ^ JUNIOR MEN'S FINAL: Merzougui ends Spain’s 12-year medal drought Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  15. ^ JUNIOR WOMEN'S FINAL: Purdue finally makes it to the top of the podium Archived 17 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  16. ^ Senior Men – Results Archived 16 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  17. ^ Senior Women – Results Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  18. ^ Under-23 Men – Results Archived 16 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  19. ^ Under-23 Women – Results Archived 16 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  20. ^ Junior Men – Results Archived 16 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  21. ^ Junior Women – Results Archived 16 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (12 December 2010). Retrieved 12 December 2010.

37°05′32″N 8°09′43″W / 37.09222°N 8.16194°W / 37.09222; -8.16194