For the third edition in a row, in 2021 the European 10,000m Cup will be held in conjunction with the Night of the 10,000m PBs which takes place at the Parliament Hill Athletics Track in north-west London.
The Cup was originally scheduled to take place in London in June 2020 but was postponed for a year until 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A date for next year's competition will be announced at later in 2020.
Next year’s Cup will serve as an excellent opportunity for elite runners to chase the qualifying standards for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games.
At the last edition of the Cup in 2019, Yemaneberhan Crippa came away with two gold medals from this year’s race, winning the individual title in the men’s 10,000m in 27:49.79 and leading Italy to the team title. Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter retained her title in the women’s race although she was run down in the closing stages by Great Britain’s Steph Twell who set a track record of 31:08.13 to win her national title.
The Night of the 10,000m PBs more than lived up to its moniker in 2019. Eleven of the top fifteen finishers in the men’s ‘A’ race came away with lifetime bests and the eight of the top ten in the women’s ‘A’ race also set lifetime bests. The ‘B’ races also produced lifetime bests en masse with the top four in the men’s race and top seven in the women’s race revising their best ever times at the distance.
The Night of the 10,000m PBs came into being in 2013 with the primary aim to reinvigorate the British distance running scene but the event - which is free to attend and readily attracts crowds of around 7000 spectators who can watch the races unfold on the track itself - has since transcended borders.
The European 10,000m Cup was initially incorporated into the programme in 2018
“I was elected on a manifesto which was entitled ‘Leading Change’ and we are always willing to support new competition formats which makes athletics more attractive. The Night of the 10,000m PBs has highlighted the demand for high quality 10,000m races in Europe and the grassroots element reflects very strongly European Athletics’ Your Sport for Life mission statement,” said European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen at the time.
The European 10,000m Cup boasts a rich tapestry of history which dates back to 1997 when it was held for the first time under its initial alias of the European 10,000m Challenge. Former Olympic 5000m champion Dieter Baumann from Germany and Spain's Julia Vaquero were the inaugural champions and all-time greats of distance running including Paula Radcliffe, Fernanda Ribeiro and Mo Farah also feature on the roll-of-honour.