Chia 2016: facts and figures

08 Dicembre 2016

Three days to go to the 2016 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Chia. A European Athletics Championships event will be hosted for the first time in Sardinia, which had already hosted the 10000m European Cup in 2015. The first foreign teams are expected to arrive to the Chia Laguna Resort, the headquarter of the European Cross Country Championships, where the Italian team have been on a training camp for a few days. No less than 498 athletes from 33 countries are entered, plus members of the technical staff and officials. There are six competitions in three hours and a half. The programme starts at 10.15 with the women’s under 20 race and finishes at 13.10 with the men’s senior race. About 300 very young runners of the FIDAL Regional Committee of Sardinia will run an opening lap of the cross country course. The Opening Ceremony is scheduled at 10 with the flag parade and the official speeches. The event will take place in the heart of a fascinating naturalistic area marked by the characteristic lagoon populated by flamingos. The crowd entrance is free. Big parking areas have been set (here is the map) for those who want to reach this place one hour far away from Cagliari.

For the third time in history Italy hosts the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Chia (Cagliari) on 11th December after the editions held in Ferrara (1998) and San Giorgio su Legnano (2006). Italy has organized the highest number of editions tying Great Britain, which hosted the first two editions in Alnwick (1994 and 1995) and in Edinburgh (2003).

In the men’s senior race only one athlete among the entrants in this year’s edition has already won this event: Turkey’s Polat Kemboi Arikan clinched the men’s senior title in 2014, while his compatriot and defending champion Ali Kaya has withdrawn. He was expected to line up in the under 23 race with the goal to complete the set of titles in the three different categories, as he won the junior title in 2013. Only Andrea Lalli has managed to complete the hat-trick of titles in the three different categories (junior in 2006, under 23 in 2008 and senior in 2012). Among the entrants there are Frenchman Florian Carvalho and Romanian Ancuta Bobocel, who have two titles in two different categories. Ukraine’s Serhiy Lebid holds the record of 19 appearances at this event and won 9 gold medals. The second athlete with most appearances is Italian Gabriele De Nard (17), who ended his career a few days ago. Both runners will not be in Sardinia but another Italian runner Stefano La Rosa holds the third position of this special ranking and will line up for the 11th time next Sunday, like Dutchman Michel Butter.

On the women’s side Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack is going to become the athlete with most appearances, as she will line up for the 14th time. The Irish athlete is aiming to become the most successful runner in the history of this event. She won two consecutive gold medals in 2011 and 2012 tying the record held by Paula Radcliffe (1998 and 2003) and Hayley Yelling (2004 and 2009). In the women’s under 20 race German defending champion Kostanze Klosterhalfen could become the second multiple winner in the history of these championships after Steph Twell, who collected three consecutive European Junior titles from 2006 to 2008. When she won her third title, she led to a sensational sweep of her team, who ranked six athletes in the first six places.

Great Britain has been the most successful national team in the history of these championships with 129 medals (including 59 gold medals) ahead of France and Spain. Italy is ranked eighth with 8 gold medals, 4 silver and 12 bronze for a total of 24 medals. No less than 28 countries have reached the podium, including 24 with at least one gold medal.

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