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| Portugal's Sara Moreira won the women's race clocking 31:39:11 at the European Cup 10000m in Oslo on Saturday. |
Surprisingly hot conditions couldn’t stop Youssef El Kalai and Sara Moreira providing Portugal with individual victories in both the men’s and women’s races at the 15th European Cup 10000m in Oslo on Saturday.
El Kalai, the 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships bronze medallist, came home in 28:20.03 to take just over 10 seconds off his previous best.
He moved away from Spain's Chema Martinez, the 2002 European Athletics Championships 10000m gold medallist and twice a Cup winner, on the last lap and the latter had to settle for second place on this occasion.
Martinez, who also took the marathon silver medal in front of friends and family at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona last summer, came home in 28:24.16.
A distant third, although he will be pleased with his first serious track outing in four years, especially considering the difficult conditions, was Germany’s 2005 European Athletics U23 Championships 10000m silver medallist Andre Pollmí¤cher in 28:39.57.
With three men under 29 minutes, the only nation to achieve that feat, Spain ran out relatively easy winners in the men’s team contest with an aggregate time of 1:26:04.89. Martinez was helped to his second trip to the podium by Rafael Iglesias and Pablo Villlalobos, who finished fourth and eighth respectively.
It was Spain’s first men’s team win since 2007 but their seventh in 15 editions of the Cup.
Overall, there were 36 finishers from 45 starters in the two races, excluding the Kenyan pacemakers, but some notable non-finishers, clearly deciding that the day was not conducive to fast times, included France’s Abdellatif Meftah and Driss El Himer; two of the four men – along with Martinez and Pollmí¤cher – who have run under 28 minutes in their careers.
However, despite two of their top men dropping out, last year’s winner’s France did mange to take the team silver medals with a time of 1:27:51.97 while Portugal were third with 1:28:16.51.
Türkiye’s 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships 1500m silver medallist Kemal Koyuncu and Portugal’s Rui Pedro Silva were also among the nine men who failed to make it to the line.
Moreira started as one of the favourites for the women’s race, especially after the sad late withdrawal of her compatriot and 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships winner Jessica Augusto following to the death of her father, and fulfilled pundits’ predictions that she was going to do well.
After finishing third in last year’s Cup in Marseille, when she ran a personal best of 31:26.55, this year nothing less than first was going to be satisfactory and the 5000m bronze medallist from Barcelona last summer delivered when she triumphed in 31:39.11.
French marathon record holder Christelle Daunay finished second in a personal best 31:44.84 but will have mixed feelings about her pe