A leading number of the continent's best distance runners will begin the New Year with an exciting challenge when they take part in the Great Edinburgh Cross Country meeting on Saturday 9 January as part of “Team Europe”.
It is the annual international match between Britain, Europe and the USA, with a formalised European team selected by European Athletics, on the basis of their final individual results at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Hyères on Sunday 13 December.
2016 will be the 27th staging of the event which has featured some of the world’s best athletes since its inception in 1988.
There will be separate races for Senior and Junior age groups included to the programme and those will be held on the following distances:
Senior Men 8Km
Senior Women 6km
Junior Men 6km
Junior Women 4km
Following the results of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Hyères, the athletes selected for this year’s team Europe are (finalised team still to be confirmed):
MEN
Senior: Ali Kaya (TUR), Alemayehu Bezabeh (ESP), Adel Mechaal (ESP), Ayad Lamdassem (ESP), Ilias Fifa (ESP), Florian Carvalho (FRA), Roberto Alaiz (ESP), Yohan Durand (FRA), Carlos Mayo (ESP), Amanal Petros (GER), Djilali Bedrani (FRA), Lorenzo Dini (ITA).
Junior: Fabien Palcau (FRA), Jimmy Gressier (FRA), Mohamed-Amine El Bouajaji (FRA), Petro Riva (ITA), Yohane Chippinelli (ITA), Baptiste Mischler (FRA).
WOMEN
Senior: Sifan Hassan (NED), Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal (NOR), Fionnuala McCormack (IRL), Ancuta Bobocel (ROU), Clémence Calvin (FRA), Maureen Koster (NED), Johanna Peiponen (FIN), Trihas Gebre (ESP), Louise Carton (BEL), Jip Vastenburg (NED), Amela Terzic (SRB), Viktoria Kushnir (BLR).
Junior: Konstanze Klosterhalfen (GER), Alina Reh (Germany), Célia Anton (ESP), Sarah Kistner (GER), Anne Emilie Moller (DEN), Cecile Lejeune (FRA).
In case of withdrawals, the places on Team Europe will offered to the next best athletes in each category.
Last year Team Europe finished second overall with 189 points behind the USA (121), Great Britain was third (223).