Bezabeh, Monteiro show class ahead of Brussels – European Athletics (EAA) – News

Spain´s Alemayehu Bezabeh reinforced his credentials as a medal contender at the SPAR European Cross country Championships in two weeks time with a good third place finish at the Cross Internacional de Llodio.

The 22-year-old runner was leading the race until just over two kilometres from home but had the misfortune of falling and a subsequent surge from eventual winner Tariku Bekele, from Ethiopia, proved to be decisive on the muddy undulating 9,400m course made even more testing by driving rain throughout the day.

Bekele, who won the World indoor 3,000m title, crossed the line in 29.31, with Bezabeh 22 seconds in arrears, with Kenya´s Vincent Kiprop seperating the pair.

Sweden´s Mustafa Mohammed, the silver medal winner at 2007 SPAR European Cross Country Championships, finished back in fifth in 30.03 after slipping out of contention in the final third of the race.

Three other Spaniards finished in the top 10 to give Spanish selectors plenty of options in their bid to retain the SPAR European Cross Country Championships senior men’s team title that they won on home soil last year in Toro.

Ayad Lamdassem finished sixth, while Javier Guerra and Francisco Javier Alves finished eighth and ninth respectively.

In the women’s race, Portuguese Ines Monteiro continued her sublime form this season finishing second behind Kenyan Linet Masai.

Monteiro, the 1999 SPAR European Cross Country junior champion, and a winner at Oeiras earlier this season gave a stiff competition to Masai but had to contend with a second spot in the Basque country with a timing of 26.12.

The women’s 7.36km contest presented an exhilarating contest between some of the top cross country runners from all over the world. Monteiro kept her poise to finish way ahead of Kenyan Margaret Muriuki Wangari and Hungarian Aniko Kalovics, the last European winner in Llodio when she was victorious in 2005, who finished fourth with 26.55. Spaniard Rosa Marato, the bronze medal winner at 2007 SPAR European Cross Country Championships, completed the top five finishing with a timing of 27:00.

Monteiro is expected to notch up her 11th appearance at the Championships in Brussels on December 14. The Portuguese has participated in all the European Cross Country Championships since making her debut as a 17-year-old in 1997, apart from a solitary absence in 2006.

European Athletics (EAA)