Chasing a place in Chia
24 Ottobre 2016It is now just 48 days until the season’s major finale with the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Chia and the beautiful Italian setting was on the minds of many at the weekend
A series of national cross country championships took place, with indications of who could make their team for the event on 11 December. Ukraine and the SPAR European Cross Country Championships have quite a connection, with the reputation created by the legendary Serhiy Lebid who won gold nine times. And at their national championships in Bila Tserkva, their official qualifying competition for Chia, Dmytro Syruk (31:29) won the main men’s 10km from Roman Romanenko (31:33) and Ivan Strebkov (31:39) as Yuliya Shmatenko took the women’s 8km in 28:28, a second ahead of Viktoriya Pohyrelska (28:29) with Valentyna Kilyarska in third (28:31). In the under-23 longer races, Mykola Nyzhnyk (25:33) won the men’s event over 8km and Nataliya Strebkova (22:02) took the women’s over 6 km while Natalya Pryshchepa, Ukraine’s European 800m champion in Amsterdam in July, celebrated another victory as she won the under-23 4km race in 15:06.
Belgium’s Louise Carton was one of the stars of last winter, topped off by her winning gold in the under-23 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Hyères. Still only 22, she is eligible to defend her title and has started well, as part of the AC Meetjesland team which won the traditional relays that opened the CrossCup series in Gent. Carton ran the third leg, taking over from Axana Schaeverbeke and Zenobie Vangansbeke, as Meetjesland triumphed in 17:23, with Olympic Running Team winning the men’s race in 24:41.
In Vasteras, Charlotta Fougberg had a busy 24 hours at the Swedish Cross Country Championships. On Saturday, Fougberg, the 2014 European 3000m steeplechase silver medallist, was second in the 4km (13:26) as Sarah Lahti won in 13:14 and then, a day later, she doubled her distance to triumph in the 8km (27:42). At the Romanian championships, Alexandru Soare won the men’s 10km with Ancuta Bobocel first in the women’s 8km.
Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal had a superb summer with European 10,000m bronze and on Saturday in Hole, she won the Hytteplanmila 10 km road race in 32:08 while on Sunday in Portsmouth, Chris Thompson (47:23) had enough power over 10 miles to become the first British winner since 2009 at the Great South Run as he beat Andy Vernon (48:18). And in Boston, France’s Liv Westphal won the 5km at the Boston Mayor's Cup Cross Country in 16:53 ahead of American Amy Van Alstine (16:57).
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