10th July 2011 01:20
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| Ahmet Arslan takes the plaudits after winning at the European Mountain Running Championships for the fifth successive time. |
Arslan led from the front with Italy's Gabriele Abate from the beginning of the 12km course. Abate stuck with the Turkish runner all the way, though, breathing down his neck at the mid-point and high-point.
Arslan eventually stopped the clock in 58.08, with Abate just behind in 58.40 to collect the silver medal. Portugal's Jose Gaspar came in third in 59.05 for the bronze.
Italy's Bernard Dematteis, who finished second to Arslan three years ago, claimed the fourth spot.
This went a long way to ensuring Italy convincingly retained the men's team title with just 12 points, an honour they have won ever since the championships took their place on European Athletics’ programme of events in 2002.
Türkiye claimed silver in the men's team standings with 34 points with Portugal in the bronze-medal position on 36.
Switzerland's Martina Strahl won the senior women’s race over 8.5km in 48.44 ahead of Italian Antonella Confortola, who claimed the silver in 49.09, with Slovenia's Lucija Krkoc taking the bronze in 49.24.
Italy took gold in the women's team competition with 22 points, ahead of Russia who claimed silver with 28 points, and Switzerland who took bronze with 38 points.
Video interviews from the 2011 European Mountain Running Championships can be seen here.
The results from all the races can be seen below.
Men's individual
Men's team
Women's individual
Women's team
Junior men's individual
Junior men's team
Junior women's individual
Junior women's team