Dominic Lobalu sprinted to 10,000m gold at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships and the Swiss distance star will be looking to strike gold again at the same distance but on a different surface at the inaugural European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven on 12-13 April.
The European Running Championships will be streamed live from start to finish with English-language commentary on the European Athletics website.
Lobalu ducked under the European 10km record earlier this season with a 26:54 clocking in Valencia in mid-January although he was beaten to the line by Sweden’s Andreas Almgren who took the European record along with the victory in 26:53.
Almgren is one of the few notable absentees from the first ever staging of the European Running Championships but Lobalu will still have to overcome some significant opposition to land his second major European title, including three other runners who occupy a position inside the top-10 on the European all-time list.
Schrub and Daguinos to the fore of the French team
Lobalu’s principal rival could be France’s Yann Schrub who ploughed to gold in the rain and mud at the 2023 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Brussels where he became the first Frenchman in championship history to win senior gold.
Schrub also picked up a silver medal in the 10,000m at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome where he was narrowly outpaced in the home straight by Lobalu who won gold in the Stadio Olimpico by a mere 0.16 seconds.
Schrub has a relatively modest road 10km lifetime best of 27:58 which only makes him the third fastest of the five French entrants but that time is clearly due for some very significant revision in Leuven.
In his last competitive outing, Schrub clocked 13:00 in a road 5km in Lille in a race won by Jimmy Gressier - who has entered the half marathon at these championships - in 12:57 with both athletes decimating the previous continental record of 13:12 which was held jointly by Gressier and Lobalu.
The French contingent also features Etienne Daguinos, who clocked a since-improved European 10km record of 27:04 in Lille last November. He looks set to improve enormously on his last performance in a French vest when he finished 15th in the 5000m at the 2024 European Athletics Championships.
Kimeli spearheads Belgian medal hopes in Brussels
One of the most recognisable domestic runners in action this weekend is Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli who will also be one of his country’s principal individual medal prospects across the six races.
Kimeli has picked up medals as a senior at both the European Athletics Indoor Championships and the SPAR European Cross Country Championships and the 31-year-old will be looking to complete the set on home soil on the roads in Leuven.
Kimeli, who has told the Belgian media that he is planning on stepping up to the marathon next year, finished fifth in the aforementioned Valencia 10km in January in a national record of 27:10 which makes him the sixth fastest European performer in history.
Another prospective medal contender is Narve Gilje Nordas who is ninth on the European all-time 10km list with a Norwegian record of 27:31.
Nordas might be better renowned for his middle distance exploits - he was the 1500m bronze medallist at the 2023 World Athletics Championships - but the 10km is by no means an unfamiliar distance to Nordas. He has competed in the 10,000m at both the European Athletics U23 and U20 Championships before discovering his niche in the 1500m.
Strong British and Spanish teams named for Leuven
Along with the French contingent, the Brits and the Spaniards are also fielding teams who could challenge for team honours in Leuven.
The British team is headed by reigning European U23 10,000m champion Rory Leonard who broke Mo Farah’s British record with a 27:38 clocking in Valencia which makes him the fourth fastest entrant based on season’s bests. Just behind him in that race in Valencia was Charles Wheeler who also ducked under the previous mark with 27:42 and will be making his British international debut this weekend.
An experienced Spanish team is headed by 2016 European 5000m champion Ilias Fifa and Juan Antonio Perez - who have respective lifetime bests of 27:41 and 27:45 - along with Abdessamad Oukhelfen who was Spain’s third scorer of their gold medal-winning team at the 2024 SPAR European Cross Country Championships.
Entries are still open for recreational runners who will have the unique opportunity to run with the elite athletes for the first time ever at a European Athletics Championship. Limited places are still available across 10km, half marathon and marathon disciplines.
Steven Mills for European Athletics