Finland’s Ilona Mononen and Denmark’s Joel Ibler Lillesø shared the victories in the senior races at the Nordic Cross Country Championships in Vantaa, Finland on Sunday (10) afternoon.
Mononen pulled away in the mid-stages of the senior women’s 7.5km for a clear-cut win on home soil, crossing the finish-line in 26:23 to win the title ahead of Sweden’s Evelina Henriksson (26:37) and Denmark’s Nanna Bové (26:39).
In the senior men’s race, Lillesø had the beating of the field, winning in 22:23 and leading Denmark to the team title at the Nordic Cross Country Championships for the first time since 2009. Lillesø was backed up by Jacob Simonsen and Andreas Bjørnsen who finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Three-time world orienteering champion Kasper Fossar took individual silver, finishing three seconds behind Lillesø in 22:26 with Sweden’s Martin Regborn taking the bronze in 22:28.
The SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Antalya on 8 December are looming into view but the two senior winners in Vantaa - both of whom are still only 20 - are likely to contest the U23 races at the Dokuma Park next month.
Mononen won silver in the U23 race at the 2023 SPAR European Cross Country Championships behind runaway winner Megan Keith from Great Britain while Lillesø will be hoping to return to the podium for the first time since 2021 when he won individual bronze in the U20 race.
Norway’s up-and-coming middle distance talent Wilma Bekkemoen Torbiörnsson, 17, won the U20 women’s 4.5km by 27 seconds in 15:23 while Sweden’s Sebastian Lörstad, 16, won the U20 men’s 4.5km in 13:25. Norway won both U20 team titles.
At the Balkan Cross Country Championships which took place in Campulung Moldovenesc, in north-east Romania on Saturday (9) Italian-based Albanian David Nikolli won the senior men’s 10km in 30:25 ahead of Türkiye’s Aytullah Aslanhan in 30:33.
Sümeyye Erol won the senior women’s 8km, leading a Turkish 1-2-3 from Gamze Bulut (27:50) and Ozlem Kaya (27:56).
Steven Mills for European Athletics