European Athletics (EAA) – News – Preview: Top clubs eye a repeat show in Castellón

Twelve months on from their victories on the same course, the men of Bikila Atletismo, of Spain, and the women from Turkey's Usküdar Belediyesi Spor Kulübü will defend their titles at the European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country in Castellón on Sunday.

It is an historic occasion for the event. It is its 50th staging, and with it arrives once more the great emotional complexities of sport.

Just last month Ayad Lamdassem, who won this race 12 months ago, finished sixth at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Budapest with teammate Javier Geurra in eighth.

In 20th was fellow Spaniard Antonio Jiménez but they all stood as one at the top of the rostrum as the country won the team gold.

Now on home soil in the Valencian community, they become rivals for this European Athletics event which is one of the most competitive on the winter circuit.

Lamdassem and Geurra run for the defending champions Bikila while Jiménez competes for Atletismo Guadalajara and they will all be chasing success on Sunday among the 312 athletes – senior and junior – from over 57 clubs across 21 European Athletics Member Federations.

But a year on, would it be possible for the men's race to produce as dramatic and exciting a finish as 12 months ago?

It all came down to a sprint finish then between Lamdassem and Italy's Andrea Lalli, who progressed to become the European champion in December.

In Castellon Lamdassem just about edged to victory in the final five metres to win in 28:36 and Lalli was given exactly the same time.

Lalli, who runs for GS Fiamme Gialle, won the European crown in Hungary in 30:01, 13 seconds ahead of Lamdassem, with Guerra back in fourth.

Bikila will be the favourites as they bid for a hat-trick of titles while Turkey's Usküdar Belediyesi are chasing victory in the women's event for the fourth year in a row.

Leading the way for the Usküdar club will be Ethiopian Hiwot Ayalew, the 2011 All-Africa Games 3000m steeplechase silver medallist whose sister Wude won 10,000m bronze at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009.

A year ago it was her fellow Ethiopian Belaynesh Oljira who won the women's 6km race in 18:52 with Usküdar teammate Asli Cakir two seconds behind her in second.

Cakir is back again, in a Usküdar team where they are joined by Esma Aydemir, Burcu Buyukbezgin, Bahar Dogan, Ozlem Kaya and Gulcan Mingir.

It is a strong line-up but equally the challenge of Portugal.

The Maratona Clube de Portugal are represented by Ana Dulce Felix, who won 10,000m gold at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki last year and Sara Moreira, who has three gold medals form the team event at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships.

It will be a big day for the home team in Spain with seven athletes from the men's junior team competing for Playas de Castellon with the youngest being 17-year-old Khalil Rmidi while on the back of Lalli's successes on the European Cross Country stage, Italy's junior men from Atletica Cento Torri Pavia – Ferro Luca, Manyka Maguhe Lukas, Orfano Marco, Guerniche Omar and Chiavarino Srefano – will be out to make their mark.

Gema Jordan, Claudia Levoni, and Dana Loghin run for Playas de Castellon in the junior women's event and Russia has a strong team from the Sport Club Luch-Flama in Moscow.

 

European Athletics (EAA) – News