2011 European Cross Country Championships

2011 European Cross Country Championships
Organisers	EAA
Edition	18th
Date	11 December
Host city	Velenje, Slovenia
Events	6
Distances	9870 m – Men 8170 m – Women 8170 m – U23 men 6070 m – U23 women 6070 m – Junior men 3970 m – Junior women
Official website	Velenje 2011
← 2010 Albufeira 2012 Budapest →

The 2011 European Cross Country Championships was the 18th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Velenje, Slovenia on 11 December.

Atelaw Yeshetela of Belgium won the men's title to become the country's first ever champion at the competition. The French men's team retained their title from 2010.^[1] Fionnuala Britton was the winner in the senior women's race, becoming Ireland's second champion in the history of the event after Catherina McKiernan (who won the inaugural race in 1994).^[2][3] The senior women's team race was won by Great Britain.^[4]

Preparation

The city won the rights to the event at the 120th meeting of the European Athletics Council in 2007. It was the second time that Velenje hosted the event, following its hosting of the 1999 edition.^[5] The event mascot, Ligi (an anthropomorphic black mole), returned after its introduction in 1999. In the intervening years, the mascot was used for a number of events in the city and represents the importance of lignite (brown coal) in the city's economy.^[6]

Alongside international television broadcasts, European Athletics broadcast the event live on the governing body's official website.^[7]

The 2010 champion Jéssica Augusto was absent from the competition.

The championships featured six races: there were senior, under-23, and under-20 junior categories for each of the sexes. The men's senior race had a 9870-metre distance, while the women's senior and men's under-23 races were held over 8040 m. The men's junior race and women's under-23 contests were over 6070 m. The junior women had a 3970 m distance to cover.^[8] The course for the competition was based near the grounds of the Atletski Klub Velenje (Velenje Athletics Club). It had a relatively flat race profile with no significant inclines and comprises two loops (a 1500 m loop and a shorter 300 m circuit).^[9]

Five European Athletics permit meetings preceded the championships on the weekend of 26–27 November: the Skanzen meeting in Budapest, the Cross de l'Acier in Leffrinckoucke, the Warandecross in Tilburg, the Lotto CrossCup van West-Vlaanderen in Roeselare, and the Cross Internacional Valle de Llodio in Llodio.^[10] These races and national-level trial events were the primary means of athletes gaining selection for the championships.

Ukraine's Serhiy Lebid returned to defend his 2010 title and the nine-time champion was the pre-race favourite. The 2010 women's champion, Jéssica Augusto, did not enter the competition as she was still recovering from her outing at the 2011 New York City Marathon.^[11] The other leading finishers from 2010 – Binnaz Uslu, Ana Dulce Félix and Fionnuala Britton – were among the favourites for the women's race.^[12]

Race results

Atelaw Yeshetela became the first Belgian to win the competition.

Senior men

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time (m:s)
	Atelaw Yeshetela	Belgium	29:15
	Ayad Lamdassem	Spain	29:20
	José Rocha	Portugal	29:21
4	Hassan Chahdi	France	29:22
5	Joseph Sweeney	Ireland	29:23
6	Javier Guerra	Spain	29:24
7	Morhad Amdouni	France	29:26
8	Khalid Choukoud	Netherlands	29:27
9	Andy Vernon	Great Britain	29:39
10	Morten Toft Munkholm	Denmark	29:42
11	Mohktar Benhari	France	29:43
12	Benjamin Malaty	France	29:44

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	France Chahdi Amdouni Mokhtari Malaty	34
	Great Britain Vernon Ryan McLeod James Walsh Mark Draper	59
	Spain Lamdassem Guerra Ricardo Serrano Yousseff Aakaou	67
4	Portugal	76
5	Italy	84
6	Ireland	116
7	Denmark	135
8	Germany	160

• Totals: 76 entrants, 76 starters, 73 finishers, 10 teams.^[13]

Senior women

Ireland's Fionnuala Britton won the women's title.

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time (m:s)
	Fionnuala Britton	Ireland	25:55
	Ana Dulce Félix	Portugal	26:02
	Gemma Steel	Great Britain	26:04
4	Nadia Ejjafini	Italy	26:13
5	Adriënne Herzog	Netherlands	26:34
6	Sophie Duarte	France	26:36
7	Roxana Bârcă	Romania	26:39
8	Leonor Carneiro	Portugal	26:39
9	Simret Restle	Germany	26:40
10	Valeria Straneo	Italy	26:42
11	Christine Bardelle	France	26:50
12	Freya Murray	Great Britain	26:51

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Great Britain Steel Murray Julia Bleasdale Elle Baker	42
	Portugal Félix Carneiro Anália Rosa Ana Dias	51
	Germany Restle Sabrina Mockenhaupt Verena Dreier Susanne Hahn	83
4	France	83
5	Romania	88
6	Italy	101
7	Spain	116
8	Ireland	133

• Totals: 54 entrants, 54 starters, 49 finishers, 8 teams.^[14]

Under-23 men

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time (m:s)
	Florian Carvalho	France	23:44
	James Wilkinson	Great Britain	23:47
	Sondre Nordstad Moen	Norway	23:48
4	Richard Ringer	Germany	23:48
5	Siarhei Platonau	Belarus	23:51
6	Abdi Nageeye	Netherlands	23:54
7	Simon Denissel	France	23:56
8	Mitch Goose	Great Britain	23:57
9	Sindre Buraas	Norway	24:02
10	Cihat Ulus	Turkey	24:03
11	Patrick Nasti	Italy	24:04
12	Jesper Van Der Wielen	Netherlands	24:04

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Norway Moen Buraas Henrik Ingebrigtsen Hans Kristian Fløystad	58
	Great Britain Wilkinson Goose Derek Hawkins Phillip Berntsen	76
	France Carvalho Denissel Mattheiu Garel Bryan Cantero	94
4	Spain	97
5	Russia	107
6	Belgium	128
7	Germany	131
8	Ukraine	141

• Totals: 99 entrants, 98 starters, 97 finishers, 15 teams.^[15]

Under-23 women

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time (m:s)
	Emma Pallant	Great Britain	19:57
	Naomi Taschimowitz	Great Britain	20:02
	Corrina Harrer	Germany	20:03
4	Stephanie Twell	Great Britain	20:03
5	Anna Hahner	Germany	20:05
6	Viktoriya Pohoryelska	Ukraine	20:08
7	Hannah Walker	Great Britain	20:12
8	Clémence Calvin	France	20:16
9	Carla Salomé Rocha	Portugal	20:20
10	Jennifer Wenth	Austria	20:26
11	Laura Suur	Estonia	20:28
12	Lisa Hahner	Germany	20:31

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Great Britain Pallant Taschimowitz Twell Walker	14
	Germany Harrer Anna Hahner Lisa Hahner Jana Soethout	41
	Portugal Rocha Catarina Ribeiro Daniela Cunha Sónia Catarina Lima	77
4	France	99
5	Turkey	101
6	Spain	102

• Totals: 43 entrants, 43 starters, 42 finishers, 6 teams.^[16]

Junior men

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time (m:s)
	Ilgizar Safiullin	Russia	17:49
	Richard Goodman	Great Britain	17:51
	Vladimir Nikitin	Russia	17:51
4	Roman Collenot-Spiret	France	17:53
5	Pieter-Jan Hannes	Belgium	17:58
6	Rui Pinto	Portugal	18:01
7	Andrey Rusakov	Russia	18:07
8	Jonathan Hay	Great Britain	18:09
9	Kieren Clements	Great Britain	18:10
10	Yehor Zhukov	Ukraine	18:10
11	Niall Fleming	Great Britain	18:18
12	Daniel Arce	Spain	18:20

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Great Britain Goodman Hay Clements Fleming	30
	Russia Safiulin Nikitin Rusakov Mikhail Strelkov	60
	France Collenot-Spiret Djilali Bedrani Julien Detre Francois Barrer	103
4	Ukraine	109
5	Belgium	118
6	Denmark	120
7	Germany	127
8	Spain	134

• Totals: 114 entrants, 112 starters, 109 finishers, 19 teams.^[17]

Junior women

Individual race

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time (m:s)
	Emelia Gorecka	Great Britain	13:13
	Ioana Doaga	Romania	13:14
	Amela Terzić	Serbia	13:22
4	Gulshat Fazlitdinova	Russia	13:24
5	Zenobie Vangansbeke	Belgium	13:32
6	Annabel Gummow	Great Britain	13:34
7	Svetlana Ryazantseva	Russia	13:37
8	Esma Aydemir	Turkey	13:41
9	Gesa-Felicitas Krause	Germany	13:42
10	Maya Rehberg	Germany	13:47
11	Elena Burkard	Germany	13:50
12	Mariya Hodakyvska	Ukraine	13:51

Teams

Rank	Team	Points
	Great Britain Gorecka Gummow Gemma Kersey Katie Holt	40
	Russia Fazlitdinova Ryazantseva Alexandra Gulyaeva Vera Vasilyeva	43
	Germany Krause Rehberg Burkard Jannika John	50
4	Romania	75
5	Netherlands	117
6	Belgium	122
7	Spain	126
8	Turkey	132

• Totals: 93 entrants, 93 starters, 92 finishers, 16 teams.^[18]

Total medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Great Britain (GBR)	6	5	1	12
2	France (FRA)	2	0	2	4
3	Russia (RUS)	1	2	1	4
4	Norway (NOR)	1	0	1	2
5	Belgium (BEL)	1	0	0	1
	Ireland (IRL)	1	0	0	1
7	Portugal (POR)	0	2	2	4
8	Germany (GER)	0	1	3	4
9	Spain (ESP)	0	1	1	2
10	Romania (ROM)	0	1	0	1
11	Serbia (SRB)	0	0	1	1
Totals (11 entries)		12	12	12	36

• Note: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.^[19]

References

1. SENIOR MEN’S FINAL: Bekele from gun to tape Archived 11 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (11 December 2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
2. "Britton breezes to gold in Slovenia". RTÉ Sport. 11 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
3. "Fionnuala Britton wins gold in European cross-country championship". Irish Independent. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
4. SENIOR WOMEN'S FINAL: Fabulous Fionnuala Archived 8 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (11 December 2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
5. Albufeira (POR) & Velenje (SLO) to host the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in 2010 & 2011. European Athletics (2007). Retrieved 8 December 2011.
6. Ligi the mole unveiled as SPAR European Cross Country Championships mascot Archived 1 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (10 July 2011). Retrieved 8 December 2011.
7. European Athletics to stream live SPAR European Cross Country Championships Archived 10 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (5 December 2011). Retrieved 8 December 2011.
8. Timetable EXCCH Velenje 2011. Velenje 2011 (21 November 2011). Retrieved 8 December 2011.
9. Competition Venue. Velenje 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
10. Calendar 2012 – Cross Country Archived 23 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved 8 December 2011.
11. Ramsak, Bob (9 December 2011). Lebid looking to add to his continental legend in Velenje – European XC champs preview. IAAF. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
12. Senior women's preview: Who will succeed Augusto in Velenje? Archived 6 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (7 December 2011). Retrieved 8 December 2011.
13. 2011 European XC Championships – Senior Men's Final^{[dead link‍]}. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
14. 2011 European XC Championships – Senior Women's Final Archived 21 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
15. 2011 European XC Championships – Under-23 Men's Final^{[dead link‍]}. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
16. 2011 European XC Championships – Under-23 women's Final^{[dead link‍]}. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
17. 2011 European XC Championships – Junior men's Final Archived 17 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
18. 2011 European XC Championships – Junior women's Final Archived 27 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
19. Medal Table Archived 30 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved 11 December 2011.

External links

• Official website
• Competition site on European Athletics