Chia 2016: senior races preview
09 Dicembre 2016Turkish athletes will start as favourite in both senior races on 11th December in Sardinia
Men’s senior race (10.150 km; start at 13.10): It will be the final race and the longest competition of the 23rd edition of the European Cross Country Championships with 88 athletes expected to run. Despite the absence of reigning European champion Ali Kaya, who has pulled out from the under 23 race, where he was originally expected to run. Turkey will line up a top team. The Turkish team will be captained by former Kenyan Polat Kemboi Arikan, who won two 10000m European titles in 2012 and 2016 and the European cross country gold medal in 2014. The Turkish team also features two European silver medallists Aras Kaya (3000m steeplecahse) and Kaan Kigen Ozbilen (half marathon). Spain is aiming to defend their 2015 team title with a strong squad featuring Ilias Fifa, who won the 5000m European gold medal in Amsterdam, and Adel Mechaal, silver in that race and European cross bronze medallist last year, but also Antonio Abadia, European bronze medallist in the 10000m, and Ayad Lamdassem, European cross silver medallist in 2010. Other names to watch will be British Andrew Butchart, who finished sixth in the 5000m at the Olympic Games in Rio, and his compatriot Andy Vernon, who is a multimedallist in this event. The Italian team will be represented by Stefano La Rosa, who will make his 11th appearance in these Championships. The 31-year-old Tuscan runner achieved his best result two years ago when he finished eighth in the individual race and won the team bronze medal in Bulgaria. The member of the Carabinieri athletics team from Grosseto, who is focused on marathon running, crowned his dream to take part at the Olympic Games in the 42 km event in Rio de Janeiro. On 20th November he finished seventh in the International cross country race in Soria (Spain).
The Italian team will feature the athletes who achieved the best results in the qualifying races for Chia: Giuseppe Gerratana (first in Castel Romano), Marouan Razine, a runner from Piedmont of Moroccan origin (first at the Carsolina race), the steeplechase specialist Andrea Sanguinetti from Emilia (winner in Osimo). The home team will be completed by Marco Salami and 10000m European Under 23 bronze medallist Yassine Rachik.
The 2015 podium: 1 Ali Kaya (Turkey); 2 Alemayehu Bezabeh (Spain); 3 Adel Mechaal (Spain); Team ranking: 1 Spain; 2 France; 3 Great Britain; 4 Italy
Women’s senior race (8150m; start at 12.30): The reigning European Cross country champion Sifan Hassan will not defend her title. The 82-women field features a lot of athletes, who won medals at international major events: Yasemin Can, reigning 5000m and 10000m European champion, will start as the strong favourite among the 82 entered athletes. She was born in Kenya under the name of Vivian Jemutai but has got the Turkish citizenship since 2015. She will turn 20 on 11th December on race day. A strong Irish cross country specialist such as Fionnuala McCormack who won two consecutive European titles in 2011 and 2012, will try to spoil her birthday. Another name to watch will be Trihas Gebre, a Spanish runner of Ethiopian origin, who won the 10000m European Cup in Cagliari on her last visit to Sardinia. In the same season she finished 15th at the World Cross Country Championships in China but first among the European runners. Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal arrives in Sardinia with two European bronze medals in her bag won at the 2015 European Cross Country Championships and at the 2016 in the 10000m at the European Championships in Amsterdam.
Also to watch will be the British team, who will be looking to confirm the results of the past editions. They feature 2014 European Cross Country champion Gemma Steel and Steph Twell, who finished third at the European Championships in the 5000m. Turkey’s Ozlem Kaya is the European bronze medallist in the 3000m steeplechase, and France’s Sophie Duarte won the European title in Belgrade 2013. Another athlete who starts with a strong ambition will be 22-year-old Belgian Louise Carton, reigning European U23 champion, who opted to run in the senior race rather than to defend the title in her age category. The best Italian runner in the history of this event was Nadia Ejjafini, who finished fourth in Velenje 2011. The Italian team “subscribed” to the fifth place, a result they achieved seven times (1994, 1997, 1999, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2015), although they reached their best ever result with the fourth place in 2013. In that edition Veronica Inglese finished eighth. The European half marathon silver medallist has been forced to pull out of this year’s edition because of flu. Silvia La Barbera, reigning Italian cross country champion, has replaced Inglese. Federica Dal Ri will make her sixth appearance at this event, although the family record (and not only) is held by her husband Gabriele De Nard, who has just ended his career after 17 “caps” in this event. Steeplechase specialist Valeria Roffino, the national team triathlete Sara Dossena, 2015 European U23 team bronze medallist Francesca Bertoni from Emilia Romagna, who has not turned 23 yet, and Sara Brogiato from Piedmont will complete the Italian senior team.
The 2015 Podium: 1 Sifan Hassan (Ned); 2 Kate Avery (Gbr); 3 Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal (Nor); Team ranking: 1 Great Britain, 2 France; 3 Ireland; 5 Italy
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