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One month to go until the European 10,000m Cup

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Today (5) marks one month to go until the European 10,000m Cup makes its much-awaited return to the calendar on Saturday 5 June. 

But while the event could not take place as initially scheduled in conjunction with the Night of the 10,000m PBs in London due to safety and sanitary concerns, the University of Birmingham stepped in earlier this year and will thus play host to some of the continent’s leading distance runners.

According to preliminary entries, a total of 163 athletes from 35 Member Federations - as well as an Athlete Refugee Team - will take to the start-line at the University of Birmingham Athletics Track which is situated towards the south-west of Great Britain’s second biggest city by population.

The final entries will be published at the end of the month but France was one the first countries to formally announce their team which features reigning European 10,000m champion Morhad Amdouni. Amdouni finished second to Germany’s Richard Ringer in a memorable race at the 2018 European 10,000m Cup in London where the top seven finishers all broke the 28 minute-barrier.

In the last edition of the European 10,000m Cup in London in 2019, Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa achieved a notable double by winning the individual title in 27:49.79 and leading Italy to the team title in the men’s race.

In the women’s race, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter retained her individual title and even though the Kenyan-born Israeli is focusing on the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics - an event in which she is the second fastest European in history - Salpeter could still make history in Birmingham. No athlete has ever won three successive individual titles at the European 10,000m Cup.

The European 10,000m Cup goes back to 1997 in terms of antiquity when it was held under its initial auspices of the European 10,000 Metres Challenge. At the first edition in Barakaldo in Spain, home favourite Julia Vaquero won the individual women’s title while Germany’s 1992 Olympic 5000m champion Dieter Baumann won the men’s race.

Other notable names on the roll-of-honour at the European 10,000m Cup include Spain's Jose Manuel Martinez (2004, 2009), Great Britain's Mo Farah (2010) and Italy's Daniele Meucci (2016) on the men’s side and multiple winners Fernanda Ribeiro from Portugal (1998, 2003), Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe (1999, 2001) and fellow Portuguese Sara Moreira (2011, 2012 and 2017) on the women’s side.

Ribeiro and Moreira were two of the key protagonists who have helped Portugal to an unmatched 10 team titles in the women’s race in competition history while their Iberian counterparts Spain lead the way on the men’s side, also with 10 team titles. Hosts Great Britain, however, have dominated the women's team race in recent years, winning four of the last five titles and with the Olympic Trials being held in conjunction with the European 10,000m Cup, a strong British contingent is anticipated in Birmingham.

As well as individual and team honours, the European 10,000m Cup will also provide one of the last chances for athletes to secure ranking points and qualifying times for the Tokyo Olympics which begin in late July. The times to beat are 27:28 for the men and 31:25 for the women.




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