<h2>ECCC Cross Country</h2>
The ECCC Cross Country is one of the longest standing and most established cross country fixtures on the calendar, even predating the SPAR European Cross Country Championships by more than three decades.
The first edition of the ECCC Cross Country was held in Arlon, Belgium in 1962 - the venue for the first 13 editions of the championships. But the first event looked and felt very different to the last iteration of the ECCC Cross Country which was held in Oeiras, Portugal.
It was only in 1982 when a women&rsquo;s event was added to the ECCC Cross Country for the first time and the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s competitions were held in different venues until 2005 when the championships became a combined event. Men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s U20 races were added to the programme in 2006 with a mixed relay the latest addition to the timetable in 2021.&nbsp;
Notable past individual winners have included many of the greats of European distance running such as Karel Lismont (1972, 1974, 1979), Carlos Lopes (1977, 1982, 1985), Francesco Panetta (1987-88) and Paulo Guerra (1995-97, 1999) and Sergey Lebid (2001) on the men&rsquo;s side and Albertina Dias (1994-96), Carla Sacramento (1998, 2002) and Fernanda Ribeiro (2005) on the women&rsquo;s side.
The most successful clubs in the senior events are Sporting Clube de Portugal who have won 15 titles in the men&rsquo;s race - including six in a row between 1981-1986 and again between 1989-1994 - and Sporting Braga on the women&rsquo;s side who won seven successive titles between 1987-1993.
At the most recent edition of the ECCC Cross Country in Albufeira on 25 February, Playas de Castellon dominated proceedings again. Likina Amebaw and Thierry Ndikumwenayo secured individual victories for the Spanish club and also won the mixed relay title for the third year in succession.&nbsp;

News

Information

Past Editions

Next Editions

2024 results

Final Entries

Biographies (men)

Biographies (women)

ECCC Cross Country

European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country

Start lists (senior men)

Start lists (senior women)

Start lists (mixed relay)

Start lists (U20 men)

Start lists (U20 women)

Timetable

Biograhies (men)

Team Manual

Course Map

Participating Clubs

2023 ECCC Cross Country | Men's race replay

2023 ECCC Cross Country | Women's race replay

2023 ECCC Cross Country | Mixed relay replay

2023 ECCC Cross Country | Men's U20 race replay

2023 ECCC Cross Country | Women's U20 race replay

2023 ECCC Cross Country | Replay

There is just one month to go before the cream of the continent&rsquo;s athletics clubs clash at the European Champions Clubs Cup Cross Country in Albufeira, Portugal on 25 February.&nbsp;
By far the biggest and most prestigious cross country event on the European club scene with a history long predating even the SPAR European Cross Country Championships dating back to 1962,&nbsp; 106 teams representing 85 clubs from 22 nations feature on this year's provisional entries.&nbsp;
The championships will be streamed in its entirety through&nbsp;<a href="https://eurovisionsport.com/explore/federation/europeanathletics" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eurovision Sport</a> with separate English, French and Spanish commentaries and there will be extensive coverage of the event on the European Athletics website and social media channels.
An estimated 400 athletes will take to the prestigious Portuguese venue, which also hosted the 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships. It is also the 12th occasion in which Albufeira has hosted a version of the championships.
For only the second time, the men and women will race over the same distances with the senior races over a five-lap course totalling 9.28km while the U20s contest races of three laps totalling 5.62km. The mixed relay is over four shorter legs and has a total distance of 6.13km.
<h2 dir="ltr">Can Playas de Castellon dominate again on away turf?</h2>
Spanish club Playas de Castellon cleaned up the senior men&rsquo;s and senior women&rsquo;s team titles and the mixed relay titles - not to mention the individual senior men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s U20 titles - when hosting last year&rsquo;s event at Oropesa del Mar.
They will return to try and defend their titles this year and it is expected that 2022 and 2023 individual men's winner Rodrigue Kwizera - who has already signalled he is in fine form again this winter after finishing second in the high-class Elgoibar World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting earlier this month - and 2022 women's race winner Likina Amebaw will head their teams.
With 15 senior men&rsquo;s titles and two senior women&rsquo;s titles to their name, Lisbon-based Sporting Clube de Portugal are the most successful club in the competition&rsquo;s 62-year history and are sure to put in a strong challenge on home turf across all events.
In the U20 events, famed Turkish club Fenerbahce Sports Club will be seeking to retain their U20 men&rsquo;s title whilst in the U20 women&rsquo;s race, 2022 and 2023 winners Mica Romă are absent, leaving an opening for new champions with 2018 and 2019 U20 champions Fenerbahce looking to regain their title and become the first club to lift both junior team titles in the same year since the U20 races were inaugurated in 2006.
<h2 dir="ltr">From Lopes to Lebid</h2>
The event&rsquo;s rich history includes former champions such as 1984 Olympic 10,000m champion Albero Cova (1984 and 1986), Olympic marathon gold medallist Carlos Lopes of Portugal (1982), nine-time European cross country champion Serhiy Lebid of Ukraine (2001), former world cross country champion Albertina Dias of Portugal (1994-95-96) and 1996 Olympic 10,000m champion Fernanda Ribeiro (2005)
Notably, Ireland's Dean Casey and Finland's Ilona Mononen won the the U20 race in Oeiras, Portugal in 2022 before going on to win bronze medals in the same age group at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Turin&nbsp; the following December.&nbsp;&nbsp;
This year&rsquo;s event is combined with the Cross Internacional das Amendoeiras em Flor, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour meeting, the final Gold level event of the 2023/24 season and an important stop for many runners on the road to the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on 30 March.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics
&nbsp;

One month to go to the Albufeira 2024 ECCC Cross Country

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec ut augue suscipit, vestibulum enim non, dapibus ante. Nullam eleifend, massa ut venenatis dictum, libero elit gravida tellus, a vestibulum tortor ipsum non augue. Maecenas ullamcorper volutpat tincidunt. Praesent lorem ex, dignissim id commodo vel, fermentum nec neque. Integer enim purus, blandit vitae libero porta, venenatis tincidunt ipsum. Cras hendrerit quam vel nulla convallis aliquet. Cras placerat odio vitae lacus hendrerit rutrum. Suspendisse eget accumsan nulla, quis ultrices risus. Ut dui mi, porta ac commodo ac, tempor et elit. Nullam velit augue, mattis non elementum sed, luctus ut metus. Maecenas lacus nibh, ornare sed fermentum eget, posuere eget nulla.&nbsp;

ECCC Cross Country Features

ECCC Cross Country | All Features

The President

Council

Commissions

Head Office

Congress & Convention

Honours

Your Sport For Life

Publications

SPAR has been the principal sponsor of European Athletics since 1996, becoming synonymous with the sport during this period. Athletics is a sport where personal endeavour is combined with team participation to achieve success, and SPAR identifies with this principle through its national partners by ensuring that consumers enjoy shopping at SPAR. SPAR retailers continue to develop the brand through sponsorship awareness and through the critical link with individual athletes who are also customers of independent retailers. SPAR is proud to be involved with European Athletics, an organisation which strives to bring passion and enthusiasm for their sport to viewers, spectators and participants.

SPAR

Eurohold Bulgaria AD is a leading energy and financial group operating mainly in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE). It is listed on the Bulgarian and Warsaw Stock Exchange. Eurohold owns Euroins Insurance Group AD (EIG), one of the largest insurance groups in the region. EIG provides a full range of insurance products, serves over 4 million customers in 13 countries and has over 3000 employees.

Eurohold

Le Gruyère AOP Switzerland began its partnership with European Athletics in 2008 as a top-tier sponsor of all Major Events and the European Athletics U23 and U20  Championships. Le Gruyère is a very high quality natural cheese that has been produced for many centuries in an artisanal method without any additives. VIP guests, athletes and fans have the opportunity to taste this magnificent cheese at European Athletics events sponsored by Le Gruyère AOP Switzerland.

Le Gruyère

Toyo Tires is one of the world's largest tire manufacturers. Toyo Tire Corporation was founded in 1945 in Osaka, Japan. In 1975, the manufacturer opened its European headquarters in Germany. The product range includes winter, summer and all-season tyres for motor vehicles as well as van tyres and special off-road products. The philosophy of Toyo Tires is to combine driving pleasure with top performance. This is reflected in each of the products, as well as in its close partnership with European Athletics.

Toyo Tires

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has been the Official Broadcast Partner of European Athletics since 1981. During this 40-year partnership, the outstanding collaboration between both organisations has always been focused on developing European Athletics into a more attractive product for television, spectators and athletes. Through its operational department Eurovision Services, the EBU is continuously working to promote athletics by offering the most comprehensive coverage of European Athletics events all over Europe.

Conica has been developing and manufacturing innovative seamless flooring solutions for sports, games and leisure for over 40 years and is one of the world's market leaders and innovation drivers in this field.  The user-oriented requirements for technical and sports functional performance as well as usability while guaranteeing the health aspects of the material itself, and for the user, are the focus of Conica's product development.  Conica is part of the Serafin group of companies based in Munich, Germany.

Conica

Polanik is a family company, founded by Wiesław Szczepanik in 1966. It produces athletics equipment having over thousand products in the offer. Polanik fully equips stadiums all over the world and handles the highest-level athletics events. Stars of athletics beat world records using Polanik products. Polanik is held in high regard by many for top quality and advisory services for designers and investors of athletics stadiums.

Polanik

Opened in 1909 and magnificently restored, the Hotel Royal Savoy Lausanne combines Art Nouveau and modernity with genuine panache. Featuring tailor-made service and unbeatable comfort, this legendary venue is located a short walk from the shores of Lac Leman and offers every guest the absolute luxury of feeling truly at home. The Hotel Royal Savoy is proud to be the Preferred Hotel Partner of European Athletics in Lausanne since 2016, offering valuable support and accommodation services to European Athletics business activities throughout the year.

Hotel Royal Savoy Lausanne

Getty Images is the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content – with award winning editorial photographers and videographers covering hundreds of Sports, Entertainment, and News events daily. Digital asset management and distribution services optimize efficiency and content syndication for hundreds of media partners and rights holders.

Getty images

The first companies of Würth MODYF Group were founded in Künzelsau, Germany and Neumarkt, Italy in 1997 as an independent subsidiary of the Würth Group and can thus look back on more than 25 years of experience in the field of workwear and safety footwear.

Würth MODYF Group currently operates companies in ten countries and has more than 400 employees in Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. Smaller sales units support Würth MODYF’s customers in Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium. Würth MODYF Group is continuing to expand internationally, opening new branches all over Europe.

ECCC Cross Country Features News

One month to go to the Albufeira 2024 ECCC Cross Country