Portugal has named a team of 25 athletes for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Samorin, Slovakia on 10 December.
The Portuguese have a particularly excellent record in the senior women’s race with eight team titles from 1998 to 2010. Their team for Samorin is headed by the very experienced Ines Monteiro, who will be making her 14th appearance at the European Cross Country Championships.
Monteiro, 37, won the U20 title back in 1999 and her best individual showing in the senior race was a bronze medal in 2008 along with five gold medals from the team race.
The team also includes marathon-runner Sara Catarina Ribeiro and European 1500m finalist Marta Pen, who is set to make her debut at the European Cross Country Championships next month.
The Portuguese men’s team have won the senior title on three occasions but not since 1997. Their team includes Rui Pinto, who won a bronze medal in the U20 race in 2010.
Since the championships started in 1994, Portugal has claimed 54 medals across the programme, including 19 gold medals. They have also staged the championships twice - Oeiras in 1997 and Albufeira in 2010 - and Lisbon will be staging the annual event in 2019.