Final entries for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg on 9 December have been published and can be viewed here.
This year’s edition of the European Cross Country Championships looks set to be the biggest to date with a record 616 athletes representing 38 nations listed in the final entries.
Four individual champions will be defending their titles from Samorin last December at the Beekse Bergen Safari Park: Türkiye's Kaan Kigen Ozbilen in the men’s senior race, Türkiye's Yasemin Can in the women’s senior race, France's Jimmy Gressier in the men’s U23 race and Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the men’s U20 race.
Can and Ingebrigtsen will be chasing unprecedented hat-tricks in their respective events while Gressier will be looking to become the first male athlete to win back-to-back titles in the U23 race. With 100 entrants representing 24 nations, the U23 race also boasts the biggest entry list of the six individual races.
Other names to watch for include reigning European U18 1500m and 3000m champion Sarah Healy from Ireland who makes her championship debut in the U20 race while European U23 3000m steeplechase champion Anna Emilie Moller will be in contention to claim Denmark’s second gold medal in championship history in the U23 race.
Despite the withdrawal of European 5000m champion Sifan Hassan due to illness, the hosts will still have high hopes in the senior women’s race. Susan Krumins will be challenging for a medal a decade after winning the U23 race in her last appearance at the European Cross Country Championships.
The European Cross Country Championships were staged for the first time in Alnwick, Great Britain in 1994 when the programme just consisted of the men’s and women’s senior races. The U20 races were added to the programme in 1997, followed by the U23 races in 2006 before a mixed relay was added to the programme last year.
Great Britain won the inaugural mixed relay title twelve months ago in Samorin where they topped the medal table with five gold medals and nine in total.
Detailed previews of the European Cross Country Championships will be published from Wednesday (5) and there will be comprehensive race day coverage on the European Athletics website and across our social media platforms.
There will also be live streaming of the European Cross Country Championships on the European Athletics website from 10.30am local time.