EuroCross Chia 2016: Under 20 preview
05 Dicembre 2016The two U20 competitions will open the 23rd edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Champions in Sardinia
Preparations are underway on the fields of Chia. The finishing touches are made to the course, which will host the 23rd edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships on Sunday 11th December. No less than 498 athletes from 33 countries will fight for the 12 titles at stake (six at both individual and team levels). The thirty-six italian runners, who are going to compete in Chia, are reaching this fascinating resort on the Southern coast of Sardinia, one hour far away from Cagliari. During the training camp the Italian team athletes made a warm-up training on the course, which runs through a naturalistic area on the backdrop of a lagoon populated by flamingos. Rain and a temperature of 17 degrees welcomed Italian team athletes, but the ground made up of a mix of soil and grass seems to remain firm. We are now starting our event by event preview.
Women’s under 20 race (4150m, starts at 10.15): No less than 91 athletes will line up, including German Kostanze Klosterhalfen, reigning European U20 cross country champion and world junior bronze medallist in the 3000m. The race also features last year’s European cross country under 20 silver and bronze medallists Harriet Knowles-Jones from Great Britain and Alina Reh from Germany. Another athlete to watch is Anna Emilie Moller from Denmark, who won two medals at the European Junior Championships in Eskilstuna (silver in the 5000m and bronze in the 3000m) and finished fifth at the World U20 Championships in the 3000m steeplechase. The stand-out name of the Italian team will be Francesca Tommasi. The talented middle-distance runner, who has recovered from a series of injury problems, which sidelined her for a long time, will be running in Chia alongside Federica and Giulia Zanne, twin sisters from Lombardia (the latter won the European Mountain Running Junior silver medal), under 18 runner Michela Cesarò and Eleonora Curtabbi, who both run for the Cus Torino athletics club, and Federica Zenoni. The Italian team has never won a medal in this age category in the 22 editions of these Championships.
The 2015 podium: Individual race: 1 Kostanze Klosterhalfen (Germany); 2 Harriet Knowles-Jones (Great Britain); 3 Alina Reh (Germany); Team ranking: 1 Germany; 2 Great Britain; 3 Denmark
Men’s under 20 race (6150m, starts at 10.40): The Italian under 20 team has collected ten medals (five gold, one silver and four bronze) in the history of the European Cross Country Championships. Italy enjoyed two successful editions in Samokov 2014 and Hyères 2015 marked by the two gold medals won by Yeman Crippa, Said Ettaqy’s individual bronze medal in 2014 and the two team medals in Samokov 2014 (gold) and in Hyères 2015 (silver). As Crippa will run in the under 23 race, the top name of the Italian team will be Yohanes Chiappinelli. The 3000m steeplechase European Junior champion finished fifth at the World Under 20 Championships in Bydgoszcz setting the Italian Under 20 record with 8:32.66. He finished fifth in the individual race at the 2014 European Cross Country Championships. One year ago the 19-year-old finished 20th, but had to grit his teeth after twisting his ankle. Reigning 10000m European Junior champion Pietro Riva has been forced to pull out of this event due to a plantar fascitis. The Italian team reflects the new face of Italy. Like Chiappinelli, Ademe Cuneo was born in Ethiopia, but was adopted by an Italian family. Mustafà Belghiti and Ahmed Ouhda have Moroccan origins. Jacopo De Marchi is a young runner from Cervignano del Friuli. Sergiy Polikarpenko hails from Zaporozhye in the Ukraine, the city of the unforgettable high jump star Vladimir Yashchenko. Sergiy’s father Volodymyr was an international triathlete, who took part in three editions of the Olympic Games and won a european bronze medal. Back to Chia 2016, the stand-out athlete at international level will be 2015 European U20 silver medallist Fabien Palcau from France. Among the 96 athletes, who will face off on the 6150m course at 10.40, the names to watch are also Jordi Torrents from Spain, who reached the final at the World Under 20 Championships in the 1500m, and two under 18 athletes Elzan Bibic from Serbia (European U18 gold medallist in the 3000m and eighth in the World Under 20 Championships in the 5000m, but first among European runners) and Jakob Ingebritsen from Norway, younger brother of Henrik and Filip, who won the 1500m European senior gold medal respectively in 2012 and 2016.
The 2015 podium: Individual race: 1 Yeman Crippa (Italy); 2 Fabien Palcau (France); 3 El Mahdi Lahouifi (Spain); Team ranking: 1 France; 2 Italy; 3 Great Britain
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