Final entries published for 2022 SPAR European Cross Country Championships

Preview | Can anyone dethrone Ingebrigtsen in the shadow of La Mandria Castle?

Preview | Reigning champion Grøvdal renews rivalry with Can and Klosterhalfen in La Mandria Park 

Preview | Italy poised to challenge the Brits for mixed relay gold in La Mandria Park

Preview | Home favourite Battocletti to target fourth successive title in La Mandria Park

Preview | Rising Nordic talents to clash in the U20 races in La Mandria Park

Flashback to Chia 2016 | The arrival of Jakob Ingebrigtsen

<h2>SPAR European Cross Country Championships</h2>
<p dir="ltr">This 2024 SPAR European Cross Country Championships was held in Antalya, T&uuml;rkiye and marked the 30th edition of a championships which was added to the calendar in 1994.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jakob Ingebrigtsen maintained his unbeaten run at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, winning his seventh individual gold medal and his third senior gold medal, beating Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa who returned to the podium individually for the first time since 2019.</p>
<p dir="ltr">His teammate Nadia Battocletti made history by becoming the first woman in championship history to win individual titles across all three age-groups, the Roma 2024 5000m and 10,000m champion upgrading her 2023 silver medal from to gold in 2024.&nbsp;Additionally, there was also gold for Italy in the mixed relay.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Once again, Great Britain topped the medal table in Antalya. The British squad won three individual gold medals with Innes FitzGerald and Will Barnicoat defending their women's U20 and men's U23 titles with Phoebe Anderson making it a Great Britain U23 double by taking gold in the women's race in this age category.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After just missing out on U20 gold last year, 2024 European Athletics Rising Star Niels Laros from the Netherlands made amends by kicking to an expected victory in the men's U20 race.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Intriguingly, Great Britain have now won 199 medals in SPAR European Cross Country Championships history which means someone will have the honour of picking up their 200th medal at the 2025 edition which takes place in&nbsp;Lagoa, Portugal.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Results

News

Team & Media Information

Past Editions

Next Editions

Statistics Handbook (Antalya 2024)

Results Book (Antalya 2024)

SPAR European Cross Country Championships

Mixed relay replay | Antalya 2024

Senior women's race replay | Antalya 2024

Senior men's race replay | Antalya 2024 

Amazing Antalya! 2024 highlights

Jakob Ingebrigtsen interview | Antalya 2024

Nadia Battocletti interview | Antalya 2024 

Niels Laros interview | Antalya 2024

Crazy cross country finishes!

What a day! Extended highlights | Brussels 2023

Extended highlights | 2022 SPAR European Cross Country Championships

Historic gold for France! Senior men's replay | Brussels 2023

Grøvdal reigns again! Women's senior replay | Brussels 2023

Champions d'Europe! Mixed relay replay | Brussels 2023

Pure domination! Women's U23 replay | Brussels 2023

Lagoa 2025

<p><strong>Jakob Ingebrigtsen won his third senior men&rsquo;s title and his seventh individual title overall at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, T&uuml;rkiye on Sunday (8).&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>Still only 24, the Norwegian already sits comfortably among the greats of European distance running and he added another yet chapter to his burgeoning list of accolades in perfect running conditions in Dokuma Park.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://live.european-athletics.com/EXC2024/lrs/schedule/ATH/AllDays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Ingebrigtsen untroubled</h2>
<p>Looking utterly untroubled, he saw off the best of Europe's other distance runners in serene style, leaving Italy&rsquo;s two-time U20 winner Yemaneberhan Crippa to win silver to add to the bronze he took five years ago in Lisbon while bronze on this occasion went to event debutant Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Spain.</p>
<p><iframe title="Who else but Jakob? 😎 A third European cross country title and he made it look easy. 🥶" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sXZ6cdtbCQ0" width="356" height="634" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe></p>
<p>Crippa made the early running alongside Great Britain&rsquo;s Hugo Milner &ndash; fourth last year in Brussels &ndash; with Ingebrigtsen content to keep a watching brief in third in a large lead pack.&nbsp;</p>
<p>On the second lap, Milner pushed the pace on with France's defending champion Yann Schrub, 2016 U23 winner Isaac Kimeli of Belgium and Sweden&rsquo;s Andreas Almgren, who was fourth in the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships 10,000m and Ingebrigtsen's regular training partner, also able to maintain the pace with Ingebrigtsen, Crippa and Ndikumwenayo.</p>
<p>On penultimate fourth lap, Ingebrigtsen decided it was time to go to the front and raise the tempo. Only Crippa was brave enough to go with him.</p>
<p>From that point, it was highly likely there was only ever going to be one winner, and the peerless Norwegian gradually went through his impressive set of gears and the Roma 2024 half marathon champion Crippa had to settle in for silver.</p>
<p>In the closing straight, Ingebrigtsen looked like he could run all day and crossed the line with plenty left in the tank, clocking 22:16 over the 7832m course while Crippa took a deserved silver medal eight second behind.</p>
<h2>"Something special"</h2>
<p>"Cross country is something that I really enjoy. It's very different from my other competitions, there's something special and exciting about around 100 people being at the starting line, going for the first turn," reflected Ingebrigtsen.<br><br>"There's a lot of fighting and pushing and shoving, there's a lot of things that could happen. The course was so challenging and tactical, as well as technical. It's all about using the energy wisely and trying to manoeuvre," he added.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1733662497/GettyImages-2188843808_1.jpg"></p>
<p>A tired-looking Ndikumwenayo clung on for bronze in 22:31 while Kimeli fourth (22:33), Almgren fifth (22:34) and Schrub sixth (22:35).</p>
<p>The team title went to Spain with just 18 points. Nassim Hassaous in seventh and Abdessamad Oukhelfen eighth ably supported Ndikumwenayo, with two-time medallist Adel Mechaal also finishing in 10th place.</p>
<p>Last year's senior men's team winners Belgium, led home by Kimeli, took the silver medal this time with 37 points and Great Britain grabbed the bronze with 39 points for their 200th medal in SPAR European Cross Country Championships history.</p>
<p><strong>Chris Broadbent for European Athletics</strong></p>

Ingebrigtsen wins third senior title in dominant style in Antalya 2024  

<p><strong>Nadia Battocletti crowned a brilliant 2024 as she won her third continental title of the year by winning the senior women&rsquo;s race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, T&uuml;rkiye on Sunday (8).&nbsp;</strong></p>
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<p>And there was a return to form for both 2022 European 5000m champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany as well as home favourite and four-time previous champion Yasemin Can, who took silver and bronze respectively.&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://live.european-athletics.com/EXC2024/lrs/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Battocletti completes golden collections</h2>
<p>But the plaudits went to the Italian, who claimed a sensational 5000m/10,000m double in front of an adoring home crowd at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships in June.</p>
<p>This latest victory, in addition to the Olympic 10,000m silver she won this summer, brings an end a superlative championships year for Battocletti.</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1733658101/Photo_08-12-2024_13_36_32.jpg"></p>
<p>The result in Antalya also made her the first female - and just the second athlete ever after her male compatriot Andrea Lalli - to win titles in all three age groups at the event, having previously won the women&rsquo;s U20 title in 2018 and 2019 and then the women&rsquo;s U23 gold in 2021 and 2022.</p>
<h2>Another exam passed</h2>
<p>Battocletti won silver last year behind three-time winner Karoline Bjerkeli Gr&oslash;vdal but In the absence of the Norwegian, who withdrew due to illness earlier this week, the 24-year-old naturally started out as the favourite.&nbsp;</p>
<p>And the University of Trento student, who completed an engineering exam on Thursday, again answered all the questions posed to her. &nbsp;</p>
<p>France&rsquo;s Manon Trapp was a surprise early leader, a judo exponent who converted to running in 2017, she stretched out to a 50-metre lead in the opening long lap and showed her fighting spirit as she maintained it through second lap.</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1733658136/GettyImages-2188840261.png"></p>
<p>By then, the chasing pack had begun to break up, but was headed by Battocletti, four-time winner Can and Romania&rsquo;s Delvine Relin Meringor, with Germany&rsquo;s Klosterhalfen and Jana van Lent of Belgium also prominent.</p>
<p>However, with two laps to go, Trapp was enveloped by her more illustrious competitors.</p>
<p>On the final lap, the leading pack was whittled down to five with Trapp having been cut adrift. With the final 1510m circuit to navigate, Battocletti wound up the tempo, consistently gaining crucial metres over the hills and slowly but surely established a gap between herself and her rivals.</p>
<p>Allowing herself a broad smile in the closing strides, she broke the tape in 25:43 with Klosterhalfen matching her result from two years ago in silver with 25:54 and the 2022 European 10,000m champion Can giving the home fans something to shout about, claiming bronze a further six seconds back.</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1733667134/Photo_08-12-2024_13_38_52.jpg"></p>
<p>Meringor was fourth in 26:03 with van Lent a surprising and hugely creditable fifth in 26:04 while the bold Trapp faded to eighth in 26:17.</p>
<p>Adding a cherry to Battocletti&rsquo;s cake, Italy also won the team title - the first time the <em>Azzurri </em>had ever got a team medal of any description in this category - with Elisa Palmero (13th) and Ludovica Cavalli (19th) scoring 33 points to come home just three points ahead of Great Britain while Belgium repeated their position on home soil in Brussels and finished third.</p>
<p>Afterwards, Battocletti said: "I was thinking before the race that it would be tough. I ran in Alcobendas (in Spain) two weeks ago, the course is different, it's a more technical course. It's tougher than here. So, it was a good test."</p>
<p>On Italy's first ever senior women's team podium place, let alone title, she said: "We made history. I'm so proud of the girls. We ran together since childhood, so we knew each other quite well."</p>
<p><strong>Chris Broadbent for European Athletics</strong></p>

Battocletti caps historic year with gold at Antalya 2024

<p><strong>Italy regained the mixed relay title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, T&uuml;rkyie on Sunday (8) after a thrilling sprint finish won by Pietro Arese.&nbsp;</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://live.european-athletics.com/EXC2024/lrs/schedule/ATH/AllDays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The 2024 European Athletics Championships 1500m bronze medallist had the edge on France&rsquo;s Simon Bedard and Great Britain&rsquo;s Tyler Bilyard in the closing straight, after the trio had run abreast on the final 1500m circuit to decide the medals.</p>
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<h2>Early lead for French quartet</h2>
<p>France had made the early running with Antoine Senard - the only returning member of their gold medal-winning team last year &ndash; covering the opening 1710m long lap in 4:29.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Robin van Riel (NED), Joshua Lay (GBR), Sebastiano ParolinI (ITA) and Jesus Gomez (ESP) also made sure their teams were right in the mix at the front, with three seconds covering the top five after one lap of racing.</p>
<p>However, a pivotal second leg saw France, Great Britain and Italy go clear with Marta Zenoni&rsquo;s crucial 4:36 leg over 1510m breaking up the lead pack.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Maddie Deadman&rsquo;s 4:38 clocking and Emilie Girard&rsquo;s 4:43 kept Great Britain and France within range, but Dagmar Smid struggled for the Netherlands and the heavily fancied Spanish quartet slipped out of medal contention after national 1500m record-holder Marta Perez took a heavy fall on the second leg.</p>
<h2>Closest finish ever</h2>
<p>Olympic 1500m finalist Agathe Guillemot advanced the French cause, running 4:33 for her leg, the fastest female 1510m circuit of the whole race, to give the defending champions a narrow lead into the final 1594m leg.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Italy&rsquo;s Sintayehu Vissa and Great Britain&rsquo;s Elise Thorner also ran strong legs of 4:38 each to give the final male runners a level chance of a medal.&nbsp;<br><br>However, Arese&rsquo;s greater pedigree and turn of speed told as he held off Bedard. He had also ran the opening leg when Italy last won this title on home turf in Turin 2022.</p>
<p>He maintained a strong tempo with Bedard and Bilyard, the latter making up ground quickly to get up with his Italian and French rivals at the start of the last lap, and they kept in close contact throughout, but as they entered the finishing straight, Arese went up a gear and left France and Great Britain to fight out silver and bronze, a battle that Bedard won narrowly.</p>
<p>All three teams were timed at 18:02, making it the closest mixed relay in the seven times this event has been part of SPAR European Cross Country Championships, after being inuagurated in 2017.</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1733652580/Photo_08-12-2024_12_15_24.jpg"></p>
<p>&ldquo;It was amazing at the finishing straight,&rdquo; reflected Arese. &ldquo;I was a little bit tired, but I could handle the British and the French guy who ran amazing relays. It was special winning again, because I am the only member from the winning team in 2022 - then last year we finished fourth, so I badly wanted to win again.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>Chris Broadbent for European Athletics</strong></p>

Italy regain mixed relay title in closest ever finish at Antalya 2024

<p><strong>Both the U23 races at the Antalya 2024 SPAR European Cross Country Championships ended with thrilling finishes as the individual gold medals went to Great Britain&rsquo;s Will Barnicoat and Phoebe Anderson on Sunday (8).</strong></p>
<p>Barnicoat was given the same time as a French rival in Brussels 12 months ago but this time he had the 'luxury' of a one-second advantage over Ireland&rsquo;s Nick Griggs as the pair battled for honours in the closing stages of the 6332m race before the Briton proved to be just the stronger and defended his title.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://live.european-athletics.com/EXC2024/lrs/schedule/ATH/AllDays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;The Briton won in 18:27 with Griggs, last year&rsquo;s U20 bronze medallist, one-second in arrears. With both men still in the U23 ranks in 2025, when the championships will be staged in Lagoa, Portugal, another tumultuous battle could be on the cards this time next year.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">BarniGOAT! 🐐 <br><br>A third successive title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships for Will Barnicoat! ✨<br><br>It&rsquo;s back-to-back U23 titles in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Antalya2024?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Antalya2024</a>. 🫡 <a href="https://t.co/Bs0JRjL8T4">pic.twitter.com/Bs0JRjL8T4</a></p>
&mdash; European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1865707939551387735?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
<p>It was an exciting climax to a race, which had drama in almost the first metre when Griggs tripped up at the start and fell before steadily working his way back through the field.</p>
<p>A large group of more than 20 runners were together at the end of the first of four laps with the unheralded Polish pair of Maciej Megier and Kamil Herzyk leading the way.</p>
<p>Almost the entire leading pack stayed together during the second lap, with no one wishing to make an early move, although France&rsquo;s Aurelien Radja gently increased the pace at times.</p>
<p>On the third lap, it was the turn of Italy&rsquo;s Konjoneh Maggi to put in some surges and this effort finally had the effect of braking up thew leading group.</p>
<p>Going into the last lap, the main set of protagonists was down to five: Maggi, Barnicoat, Griggs, Great Britain&rsquo;s David Stone and France&rsquo;s Luc Le Baron, the latter the fastest European U23 steeplechaser this year.</p>
<p>Stone &ndash; who came back after several years of injuries to impressively win the British trial race for Antalya &ndash; desperately tried to turn the screw but Barnicoat was not to be denied as Griggs, who looked briefly as though he was going to be dropped about 400 metres from the line, also went past Stone in the final 200 metres.</p>
<p>Barnicoat clocked 18:27 with Griggs one second back and Stone third in 18:31.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"It was a really tough race. I know I can keep people out in the final straight, so my aim was to be in a good position when I came down there. The team did an amazing job. David Stone, he's only been running for about a month, he's had a tough journey. I think he deserves that bronze medal," reflected Barnicoat.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>
<p class="yiv6852284256MsoNormal">&ldquo;Everyone wants to go out and win gold. I&rsquo;m the nearly-man at these championships with two silvers and one bronze individually in the last three years, but I&rsquo;m happy and I think it&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ll appreciate as I get older," said Griggs ruefully.</p>
<p class="yiv6852284256MsoNormal">"I knew it was a long home straight and not to make any moves too early, but the best man won on the day and one of these years I will win at these championships," added the Irishman.</p>
<p>With two in the first three men home, it was no surprise that Great Britain won the team title for the third year in succession. However, they had to wait until Brett Rushman crossed the line in 13th place before victory was confirmed with a tally of 17 points.</p>
<p>France took second place with 24 points with Denmark fulfilling predictions by taking their first ever men&rsquo;s team medal in any category at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships with 42 points for third, despite 2023 U20 winner Axel Vang Christensen having a disappointing run and only finishing 17th.</p>
<h2>Anderson goes through the gears</h2>
<p>Phoebe Anderson had an inspired last 500 metres to produce an upset win in the women&rsquo;s U23 race.</p>
<p>The Briton looked as though she was having to settle for bronze with a kilometre to go as she started to get detached from Finland&rsquo;s Ilona Mononen and Spain&rsquo;s 2022 U20 winner Maria Forero.</p>
<p>However, the US-based runner showed no ill-effects from having many races in her legs during the US collegiate season to upset the odds over her two more highly favoured rivals who has finished second and sixth.<br><br>Great Britain&rsquo;s Mia Waldmann, making her debut in a British vest, audaciously made the pace for the first half of the race, and at the end of the second of four laps the leading group was down to six.</p>
<p>It was then the turn of Mononen, very much the favourite after finishing second last year and running a national 3000m steeplechase record of 9:22.77 at the Olympic Games this summer, to take over at the front.</p>
<p>For the rest of the race bar the final 200 metres, Mononen looked supremely confident, and few would have expected her to leave Antalya with anything but the gold medal around her neck.</p>
<p>Behind her, both Forero and Anderson were clearly working very hard to stay with the flying Finn, both runners grimacing in the final kilometre before the finish line came into view.<br><br>However, with just a couple of hundred metres to go, Mononen suddenly started to tire. Forero pressed and Mononen tried to respond, before Anderson &ndash; who looked like she was had been dropped and was settling for the bronze medal &ndash; made an incredible final effort on the inside which took her past both her rivals.</p>
<p><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1733665724/GettyImages-2188835541.jpg"></p>
<p>"I trusted in my 1500m speed, and we did a lot of strong strides in practice to be ready to be sharp at the end. We knew there would be a muddy course, it was going to be down to a quick last stretch," reflected Anderson, looking back at her stunning finish.</p>
<p>Anderson crossed the line in 21:16, eventually coming home five seconds clear of Forero with Mononen a further three seconds back after being unable to respond to either runner&rsquo;s attacks in the final stages of the race.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With early leader Waldmann finishing sixth and then Tia Wilson 17th, Great Britain &ndash; like their men in this age group &ndash; took the title for the third successive year but hosts T&uuml;rkiye, with their three scorers in the top 16, got on the podium for the first time since 2017 and took the silver medals with 38 points, just heading Germany who finished third with 40 points.<br><br><strong>Phil Minshull for European Athletics</strong><br><br></p>

Barnicoat and Anderson make it a British U23 double in Antalya 2024

<p><strong>Great Britain&rsquo;s Innes FitzGerald became the fourth woman to win back-to-back European U20 cross country titles with yet another dominant run, tearing the heart out of her rivals from just after the halfway point in the 4814m race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya on Sunday (8).</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://live.european-athletics.com/EXC2024/lrs/schedule/ATH/AllDays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></li>
</ul>
<p>The 11-second margin over her rivals wasn&rsquo;t as big as the 19 seconds she put between herself and the field in Brussels 12 months ago, but it was an equally impressive triumph.</p>
<p>T&uuml;rkiye&rsquo;s recently crowned Balkan U20 champion Edibe Yagiz was to the fore early in the race, towing the field through much of the first kilometre before fading to 14th by the finish.</p>
<p>However, on the home runner&rsquo;s shoulder was FitzGerald, her British compatriot Jess Bailey and Germany&rsquo;s 2024 European U20 mountain running champion Julia Ehrle and this trio was away on their own by two kilometres into the race, with France&rsquo;s 2023 bronze medallist Jade Le Corre just behind them.</p>
<p>With just under two kilometres to go, FitzGerald produced her decisive move and pulled clear of her two rivals.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FEuropeanAthletics%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0R913jUmHxCLNajbVeNhnTutZNx7VUL18AzTZ9gQDqEVz4PHUB4EmPv5YAN1NVKyUl&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="715" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" sandbox="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>At the bell, FitzGerald had two-second advantage over Bailey but a superb last lap saw her gradually increase the lead to come home around 70 metres in front of her teammate on 15:47.</p>
<p>FitzGerald is still young enough to be eligible to run in the U20 race next year in Portugal when she could bid to equal the record of fellow Briton Stephanie Twell, who won the U20 title three times between 2006-08.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, it was an outstanding run from Bailey, who crossed the line for silver in 15:58.</p>
<p>Bailey finished eighth last year and who had finished 31 seconds adrift of FitzGerald the last time they met, which was at the British trials for Antalya last month.</p>
<p>Behind the British pair, there was drama in the battle for the bronze as the 2023 silver medallist Sofia Th&oslash;gersen, a 4:05.34 1500m runner, clawed back a 12-second deficit at the bell to just edge in front of Ehrle on the line, with both runners being given the same time 16:03.</p>
<p>Great Britain&rsquo;s third scorer Eleanor Stevens came home sixth to secure a comfortable victory in the team competition with just nine points, winning in the category for the seventh time in the last 10 years and the 15th time in the last 20 years.</p>
<p>France, led home by Le Corre in fifth, took the silver medals with 39 points with Italy third with 44 points.</p>
<h2>Laros gets his redemption</h2>
<p>European Athletics Rising Star of the Year Neils Laros was the prohibitive favourite to upgrade his silver from 12 months ago in Brussels to gold in the Dokuma Park and completely fulfilled his role but the Dutchman had to work hard to hold off Great Britain&rsquo;s inspired George Couttie, who had the best race of his life.</p>
<p>The early stages of the race, though to the early part of the second lap, saw Italy&rsquo;s Francesco Mazza push the pace but behind him there was a large group of runners.</p>
<p>Couttie and Sweden&rsquo;s Karl Ottfalk, the latter fourth in 2023, took up the running on the second of the three laps as Laros kept out of trouble and slowly worked his way through the field.</p>
<p>However, only two seconds covered the first 20 runners as the bell sounded. <br><br>Going into the final kilometre, the host nation&rsquo;s Balkan U20 champion Ali Tunc tried to surge but was unable to drop many of his rivals, although he was still to finish a good seventh place.</p>
<p>As the leaders turned into the final long 500-metre downhill stretch into the finish, Couttie tried to pull away from Laros, but the Dutchman soon imperiously swept around the Briton.</p>
<p><iframe title="He said &lsquo;not this time.&rsquo; 😤 What a kick from Niels Laros!  ⚡️ #crosscountry #running" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SesK3yYibKo" width="356" height="634" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe></p>
<p>Nevertheless, despite there being a 10-second difference in their 1500m bests, with Laros having set a European U20 record of 3:29.54 in the Olympic Games final this summer, the Dutchman couldn&rsquo;t shake off Couttie as they crossed the line in 14:07 and 14:09 respectively.</p>
<p>"I'm happy. The course was tougher than what I expected. You don't really find your rhythm and that's what makes it a good cross country course. I am really happy to win of course. I had silver last year and now gold, so I am happy to end my U20 career with a gold," reflected Laros.</p>
<p>Behind the leading pair, Norway&rsquo;s world U20 3000m gold medallist Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen looked as though he was struggling at the start of the last lap but came through strongly to claim the bronze in 14:16. <br><br>With his compatriot, Magnus &Oslash;yen coming home fourth and their compatriot Kristian Br&aring;then B&oslash;rve in 10th, Norway took the team gold with 17 points.</p>
<p>Laros made a second trip to the podium as the Netherlands got an U20 team medal for the first time ever as they finished second with 20 points, with their European U20 5000m list leader Juan Zijderlaan finishing eighth after a flying last lap when he moved up from 18th at the bell.</p>
<p>France took the bronze medals with 40 points.<br><br><strong>Phil Minshull for European Athletics</strong></p>

U20 favourites FitzGerald and Laros live up to expectations

<p dir="ltr"><strong>Olympic 1500m sixth-placer Niels Laros stepped up in distance to win the senior men&rsquo;s 10km at the Warandeloop in Tilburg, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Silver event, on Sunday (24) afternoon.</strong></p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr">Watch again <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTKwY9Bj2Nc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a></li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr">Laros made steady progress through the field before moving into the lead for the first time on the last lap of a flat but twisting course. The 19-year-old looked largely untroubled as he crossed the finish-line in 29:35, leading a Dutch clean sweep ahead of Abdirahman Mohamed (29:42) and Nik Lemmink (29:44).</p>
<p dir="ltr">This victory is just another example of the versatility of the precocious Dutch middle distance star who was crowned 2024 men&rsquo;s Rising Star at the Golden Tracks awards night last month.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-W18On9KTAQ?si=4RDugw-xPTYaFrjF" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe></p>
<p dir="ltr">Among his other achievements, Laros also broke the world U20 1000m record with 2:14.37 on home soil in Hengelo in a track season which also saw him reach the Olympic 1500m final and break Jakob Ingebrigtsen&rsquo;s European U20 record with 3:29.54.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Laros&rsquo; next goal is the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya on 8 December when the teenager will be looking to upgrade his silver medal from the U20 race last year into gold in what will be his last championships in this age-group.</p>
<p dir="ltr">His training partner Kevin Kamenschak from Austria finished fifth in 29:56 while last year&rsquo;s winner Senay Fissehatsion had to settle for 15th in 30:34.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">A hat-trick of titles for Lahti</h3>
<p dir="ltr">In the senior women&rsquo;s 8km, Sweden&rsquo;s Sarah Lahti took her third successive title in 26:58 by a clear margin from Dutchwoman Ineke Van Koldam (27:15) and Belgium&rsquo;s Roxane Cleppe (27:18).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/european-athletics/image/upload/v1732476909/IMG-20241124-WA0042.jpg"></p>
<p dir="ltr">Lahti, who is on the comeback from hamstring surgery which forced her to miss the track season, becomes the first three-time winner of the women&rsquo;s race in Tilburg since Sifan Hassan between 2013-15.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Robin van Riel (5:07) and Marissa Damink (6:06) won the 1.8km short course races which served as the trial race to select the Dutch team for the mixed relay at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Netherlands won bronze in the mixed relay last year behind France and Great Britain.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Battocletti defeats Klosterhalfen in Alcobendas</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Nadia Battocletti ran out a comfortable winner against Konstanze Klosterhalfen, her predecessor as European 5000m champion, at the Cross de la Constitucion in Alcobendas on Sunday (24).</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Olympic 10,000m silver medallist won the senior women&rsquo;s 8.040km in 26:14 by over one minute from her German rival, who was a distant second in 27:29.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Battocletti&rsquo;s next target is the SPAR European Cross Country Championships where she will be looking to improve on her silver medal from Brussels last year. And if she does win, Battocletti will become the first female athlete to win gold medals in the U20, U23 and senior races.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">&ldquo;If the Cinque Mulini was useful to remove the rust [Battocletti finished third], today's race was run on a tougher course, with many ups and downs, and it made me understand that I'm reaching the right shape for the European Cross Country Championships,&rsquo; said Battocletti as quoted by FIDAL.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Spain's Carla Arce was third in 27:50.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Steven Mills for European Athletics</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Laros goes the distance with victory in the 10km in Tilburg 

<p>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;</p>

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