Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal cemented her place as one of the all-time greats of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships as she stormed to her third title in succession in the senior women’s race in Brussels on 10 December.
It puts the Norwegian in exulted company as one of only three athletes to win three years in a row at the championships, the others being Türkiye's Yasemin Can, women’s champion four years in a row from 2016 to 2019 and nine-times senior men’s winner Serhiy Lebid of Ukraine, who strung together a hat-trick among his incredible nine wins from 2002 to 2004.
It was also Grøvdal’s tenth individual medal at the European Cross Country Championships and her most dominant victory yet with the extended 9km distance likely to have been a significant factor.
It is the first year the senior women have tackled the same distance as the senior men and in the sixth race of the day, the course was particularly churned. All this played perfectly to Grøvdal’s deep well of strength.
In the early stages, Grøvdal was joined at the front of the field by two-time U20 and U23 winner Nadia Battocletti of Italy, Great Britain’s Abbie Donnelly and Jessica Warner-Judd and Sweden’s Sarah Lahti, an Olympic and World finalist over 10,000m.
Lahti was the first to falter before halfway and she eventually dropped out.
Grøvdal asserted herself around halfway into the race with Donnelly resolutely clinging to the Norwegian, with the rest of the field left training in their wake.
But by the time they reached the fourth of six laps, Donnelly too had to give second best as the 33-year-old Norwegian had opened a decisive gap of over 100 metres.
Before the race, Battocletti looked the most likely to challenge Grøvdal. Given her unbeaten run at these championships over the last four years in the younger age groups, it would have easy for the Italian to lose heart.
However, she stuck admirably to her task and moved past Donnelly on the final lap. But up front, Grøvdal looked imperious and she strode home in 33:40, 45 seconds ahead of Battocletti, the biggest winning margin in championship history in the senior races.
Donnelly was rewarded for her bravery with her first individual championship medal another 17 seconds behind.
“Everyone thinks that I am training in mud like this, but I don't,” explained Grøvdal. “Actually I am a track athlete, but I have a background from cross country skiing. That's probably why I am good at cross country. Of course, I will try to win a fourth title next year, but I think three-in-a-row is already amazing.”
Battocletti also had plenty to be pleased about in her debut in the senior race. “It was a beautiful course, but there was so much mud. When I saw it, I got a little bit scared, because I don't really like running in the mud. I think that I won this medal mainly because of my mental strength.
“I kept pushing myself to go faster and to follow the leading group. I ran against some very strong athletes and I'm really happy with this silver medal.”
Just one week after qualifying for her fifth Olympic Games in the Valencia Marathon and less than six months after giving birth to her third child, Fionnuala McCormack showed there is still plenty of running left in her 39-year-old legs. The champion from 2011 and 2012 was fourth in 35:00, a remarkable result in her 18th appearance at the championships.
McCormack was disappointed to miss the podium but vowed to come back next year in Antalya in Türkiye for a record-equalling 19th appearance at the European Cross Country Championships.
The ultra-consistent Jessica Judd-Warner was fifth in 35:20, her fourth top ten finish at the European Cross Country Championships. She and Donnelly had the not-so-insignificant consolation of team gold for Great Britain, with Izzy Fry the third counter in tenth.
Spain won team silver led by Irene Sanchez-Escribarno in 11th. There was medal joy for the home nation as Belgium won team bronze, aided by an inspired Lisa Rooms placing sixth in a career-best performance.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics