European Athletics (EAA) – 18 European countries contest the World Cross Country Championships

Punta Umbría in Spain is the destination for teams from 18 European countries as the resort town stages the 39th edition of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships on Sunday.

Naturally, the host country has ambitions of impressing.

Even if coming home ahead of the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners, who have come to dominate the event in the last decade, will be a tough task, the Spanish squad is aiming to show the rest of Europe the way to the line on home soil.

Ayad Lamdassem, the senior men’s silver medallist at the 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships has been in excellent form since his second place in Albufeira, Portugal, in December, and he has finishing in the top 10 as his target.

Last month, he was victorious at the European Champion Clubs Cup cross country meeting in San Vittore Olona in Italy and then a convincing winner at the Spanish national championships.

Also in the Spanish men's team is Arturo Casado, the 2010 European Athletics Championships 1500m gold medallist and Antonio Jimenez, the 2002 European Athletics Championships 3000m steeplechase winner.

Portugal’s Yousef El Kalai, who got the bronze medal behind Lamdassem in Albufeira three months ago, will also be on the start line after making the short trip over the border – Punta Umbría is barely 25km from the frontier – while another man who might be in contention for the honour of being the first European home is the prodigious French talent Hassan Chahdi, who won the under 23 title at the 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships.

In the senior women’s race a lot of attention will be on how Great Britain’s Charlotte Purdue, 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships junior women’s winner, fares in her first major championship since moving up a category.

Still only 19, Purdue was the youngest winner of the UK Inter Counties title in 20 years when she dominated the race which also doubled as the British trial two weeks ago.

Purdue has ambitions of finishing in the top 20, and being the first non-African home.

“Charlie hasn’t really been pushed this year,” said her coach Mick Woods, who has coached at least one athlete at the World Cross Country Championships since 1996.

“She hasn’t really had the opportunity to race against real competition. She won the European trial and the European Cross and then won in Antrim, Cardiff, the British Universities Cross Country and the World Cross trial. The only place she didn’t win was in Edinburgh (the IAAF Cross Country Permit Meeting in January), but she had a brilliant run against excellent international opposition.

“She’s a different athlete to when she finished 15th in Mombasa (at the 2007 World Cross Country Championships). She’s matured, she’s on a senior mileage and she’s totally prepared, our target has always been to run well at the World Cross and she’s tapered right down, but now she’s up against top class opposition. The race will go off fast, but once it settles down and starts to unfold she’ll move forward.

“The big problem with running World Cross is that it goes off so hard at the start and quite often the Brits get left behind, but if you can ride out the early pace you can pick people off and start to make an impact. If Charlie can get in the mix in the top 25-30 during the race she can possibly push forward to a good position inside the top 20; she’s got good aerobic ability but can she move through solidly and hopefully it can be her best run of the year,” added Woods.

None of the medallists from the senior women’s race at the 2010 European Cross Country Championships will be in Punta Umbría although Ireland’s Fionnuala Britton, who finished fourth in Albufeira, will be on the start line.

Other top 10 finishers from Albufeira who will contest Sunday’s event include Great Britain’s Hattie Dean, Spain’s Alessandra Aguilar and the Portuguese pair of Sara Moreira and Ana Dias, who finished seventh to 10th respectively.

The last time European runners won medals in the senior men’s race was 2001, when Belgium’s Mohammed Mourhit won and Ukraine’s Sergey Ledid got the silver, with France also getting on the team podium in second place.

However, there has been more success in the senior women’s races in recent times with the Netherlands’ Lornah Kiplagat winning the 2007 title and Portugal getting the team bronze medals twice in the last six years.

European Athletics (EAA)