European Athletics – (EA) – News – Britain going for a medal sweep in Samokov

Great Britain will send a 36-strong team to the SPAR European Cross Country Championships on 14 December as they bid to top the medal table for the 11th year in a row.

Britain's domination of the event 12 months ago in Belgrade saw them win nine medals, with five golds, a silver and three bronzes and now they are chasing more success in Samokov.

Their pursuit of glory will be spearheaded by Gemma Steel, who was second in the senior's women's race in 2013, and Emelia Gorecka, the junior champion who moves up to the under-23 level.

Steel will be joined in the senior team by Kate Avery, who had the honour of being the first British woman to win the NCAA’s in Indiana last month when she triumphed over 6km in 19:31.6. And as she told nydailynews.com: "I came into the race thinking the best chance I had was to go as hard as I could as long as I could. It turned out no one could stay with me."

After their one-two in the trials in Liverpool on Saturday, Callum Hawkins has been named in the under-23 team for Samokov with Andrew Butchart in the senior race.

“There were a number of promising performances in Liverpool and I am sure with the right preparation over the course of the next two weeks, we will see a strong showing in Samokov," said Great Britain's team leader Martin Rush.

As Steele chases glory, she will be up against the woman who beat her last year in the shape of France's Sophie Duarte as her country sends five teams to Samokov.

France's senior women will be among the favourites for that team title with Duarte joined by Christine Bardelle, Aurore Guerin, Patricia Laubertie, Alexandra Louison and Laurane Picoche.

And Portugal should be in the mix in that race, too, as their senior women have depth of experience and success with their five being led by Sara Moreira, a triple team gold medallist at these championships, Catarina Ribeiro, Carla Rocha, Monica Silva and Ercilia Machado.

Ukraine's 21 athletes make up five complete teams with their men's senior squad of Ihor Heletiy, Oleksandr Matviychuk, Dmytro Lashyn and Bohdan Semenovych, while Norway have named have named 13 athletes in a team which has former Karoline Grovdal, the winner of the junior race at the 2009 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Dublin, while one of their leading men is Sondre Nordstad Moen, who, as a junior, was in the top six four times.

Poland's athletes have already begun their journey to the championships in Bulgaria, basing themselves nearby Samokov in Borovets to be ready for the big day.

European Athletics – (EA) – News