The emerging Danish distance running prospect Sofia Thøgersen won the individual U20 women’s title at the Nordic Cross Country Championships in Reykjavik, Iceland on Sunday (5).
Still only 18, Thøgersen defended her title in the U20 6km in 22:10 and finished 15 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor - the biggest winning margin across the four races.
Thøgersen is coming off another excellent track season which saw her win silver and bronze in the 1500m and 5000m respectively at the European Athletics U20 Championships before she made her debut at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, setting a Danish record of 4:05.38 in the 1500m heats.
And the 18-year-old, who is coached by Tomasz Lewandowski, has another chance to upgrade those silver and bronze medals to gold in the U20 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Brussels on 10 December.
Thøgersen is yet to fulfill her potential at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships - her best finish in the U20 race was a 15th-place finish on her debut in 2021 - but with European U20 3000m and 5000m champion Agate Caune not likely to compete, this could be Thøgersen’s chance.
Despite the absence of their star names, Norway dominated the senior races, taking both the individual and team titles.
In the senior men’s 9km, Even Brøndbo Dahl won ahead of teammate Jacob Boutera - both of whom were timed at 28:03 - with former European U20 5000m champion Joel Ibler Lillesø from Denmark - the youngest athlete in the field at 20 - third in 28:07.
Norway’s Ina Haugen Halle won the senior women's 8km in 32:42 ahead of teammate Hanne Mjøen Maridal (32:46) with Denmark's Juliane Hvid third in 32:51.
The men’s U20 title went to Sweden’s European U20 3000m fourth-placer Karl Ottfalk, 17, who won the 6km title in 19:06.
At the Cross Internacional de San Sebastian on Sunday (5), Spain's Abdessamad Oukhelfen was the leading European finisher in fourth in the senior men's 8.9km in 26:37 in a race won by Kenya's Ronald Kwemoi in 26:19.
European U20 1500m and 5000m champion Niels Laros from the Netherlands finished 11th in 27:53 in his first race since the track season.
Nageeye the best of the Europeans in the New York Marathon
Olympic silver medallist Abdi Nageeye from the Netherlands was the leading European finisher in the New York Marathon on Sunday.
In an attritional race which saw Nageeye pass through the halfway point with the leaders in an uncharacteristically fast 62:47, Nageeye battled to a fourth-place finish in 2:10:21, finishing just ahead of Belgium’s Koen Naert (2:10:25) and Israel’s Maru Teferi (2:10:27).
In the mass ranks, Poland's three-time European 800m champion Adam Kszczot ran an impressive 2:50:09 on his first attempt at the distance. However, Kszczot had to be helped across the line by fellow runners after his legs buckled on the approach to the finish-line.
At the 10km des Quais de Bordeaux, European U23 10,000m champion Rory Leonard won the men’s race in 29:04 while Italy’s Giovanna Epis won the women’s race in 33:54.