Polat Kemboi Arikan will be the red-hot favourite to win the European Cup 10,000m for a third time in Chia-Pula on Saturday.
The Turkish star has made this men’s race his own after victory in Bilbao in 2012 in 27:56.28 and then becoming the first man to take the crown for a second time when he triumphed in Skopje in 28:17.14 a year ago as he led a Turkish one-two with Ali Kaya in second.
That combination helped Türkiye win the team prize and Arikan is joined by Mehmet Akkoyun, Seref Dirli, Vedat Gunen and Cihat Ulus in the defence of that title.
Arikan, who also won gold in the senior race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Samokov in December, is by the far the quickest man in the line-up. His personal best is 27:38.81, the only athlete to have broken the 28-minute barrier in a race where Spain will be a major threat.
Their team includes Alemayehu Bezabeh, a five-times gold medallist at the SPAR European Cross-Country Championships, who has run 28:12.85.
Fifteen different nations are represented in the men’s race with Aimeru Almeya, of Israel, the fastest on 2015 times with 28:09.42.
Live results of the European Cup 10,000m are found here.
Jo Pavey has opted out of the world championships this summer to concentrate on preparing for next year’s Olympic Games, but the European 10,000m champion will be determined to show her form and ability as one of the sport’s ageless wonders in the women’s European Cup 10,000m.
Now 41, Pavey produced one of the great moments in the Zurich Letzigrund Stadium in August when she won the first major gold medal of her career.
In south Sardinia, she will face opposition which includes two leading women more accustomed with the marathon in Italy’s Valeria Straneo and Latvia’s Jelena Prokopcuka.
In the last two summers, Straneo has been marathon silver medallist at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow 2013 and then in Zurich and ran her 10,000m best of 32:15.87 in this European Cup 10,000m back in 2012.
Pavey has a best of 30:53.20 and while Prokopcuka, a double winner of the New York marathon, has run 30:38.78, that was back in 2006.
Like the men, the women have 15 countries entered with Portugal looking to successfully defend their team title with the quartet of Daniela Cunha, Ana Mafalda Ferreira, Claudia Pereira and Catarina Ribeiro.
Ukraine’s Olha Skrypak has a best of 31:51.32 and could be in the mix, Pavey’s British teammate Lily Partridge is the fastest in 2015 with a personal best of 32:20.77 from Huelva in April and Türkiye’s Emine Hatun Tuna showed her ability to win a major event as she took the junior race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Samokov.