The Road to Toro: Senior women’s preview

Ukrainian runner Tetyana Holovchenko stands on the verge of creating her own piece of European athletics history if she can repeat her feat of 12 months ago and win the senior women's gold medal at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships.

Paula Radcliffe is the only women to have won the senior women's title on two occasions, in 1998 and 2003, and no women has ever managed to successfully defend her crown but Holovchenko is mildly optimistic that she can be the first.

"Training has generally gone very well in recent months, the only problem being that there has been a lot of snow in Kislovodsk (in the North Caucasus mountains in the south of Russia) where I've been preparing for the last three weeks for this Championship," said Holovchenko this week.

"This has meant I've had to make a few adjustments to my programme but nothing too drastic. In general, I've prepared the same as I did last year and in many respects better.

"Last year, I went to San Giorgio su Legnano without any great expectations, even of a medal. I was feeling good but all I wanted to do was run well so to win was a big surprise. But I am hoping what worked last year, will work again this year."

Holovchenko will come into the Championships without having run a cross country race but that doesn't mean she is worried about her lack of winter racing.

"I didn't run any cross country races before last year's Championships so I don't think it is a problem. I am also starting the winter stronger than I have been before, having run personal best times on the track over 5,000m and 10,000m during the summer. Running those times have given me a lot of confidence, the only thing that I can say has been a bit of a disappointment this year has been not making the final of the 1,500m at the World Championships in Osaka."

She has turned to her compatriot Sergey Lebid for advice on how to beat the best of the rest of Europe's women once again.

Lebid won five successive senior men's titles between 2001 and 2005, as well as in 1998, and has also been training in Kislovodsk recently.

"Sergey and I are good friends and we have often talked about the European Cross Country Championships," added Holovchenko.

Holovchenko will see plenty of familiar faces on the start line in Toro as the top six women in the 2006 race are all back to do battle.

Russia's Mariya Konovalova lost out to Holovchenko in a sprint finish over the final 200m in San Giorgio su Legnano to come home just two seconds in arrears and will no doubt be looking for revenge.

Like Holovchenko, Konovalova has also opted to jump in at the deep end and has not raced since finishing 11th in the World Championships 5,000m final more than two months ago.

There is also Serbia's Olivera Jevtic, who last year notched up no less than her fifth bronze medal at the Championships and who would dearly love to finish higher than third.

"It's hard to say that I'm disappointed with a bronze medal especially when you achieve five of them in omne type of competition but, as an athlete, I guess it's normal to think that you could do better… maybe I can still do better than a bronze at the Championships," reflected Jevtic recently.

Hungary's Aniko Kalovics and France's Julie Coulaud finished fourth and fifth respectively last year and have also showed that they are in good shape again with recent victories.

Kalovics won the Carpi marathon in October and then last month paid her traditional visit to the European Athletics Cross Country permit meeting in Tilburg, The Netherlands, winning there as well.

Coulaud, who twice improved on the French record for the 3,000m steeplechase during the summer, sped to victory at the historic Cross de Sud Ouest on November 25.

Finishing sixth last year was Britain's Hayley Yelling, the 2004 SPAR European Cross Country Championships gold medallist.

Yelling believes even if she doesn't triumph regain her title then, at least, the British women's team will be back on top of the podium for the first time since 2003 after three successive years of finishing with the silver medals around their necks.

"I think it will be highly competitive with so many of the leading women wanting to compete in Spain and that has to be a good thing. Obviously Paula (Radcliffe), after her great win in the New York marathon, will not be around but I think we have enough talent which can make up for last year's defeat," said Yelling.

Two other women to look at who could also have an impact are Ireland's Fionnuala Britton, last year's Under-23 silver medallist, and Spain's reigning European 5,000m champion Marta Dominguez.

Dominguez will be making her debut in the SPAR European Cross Country Championships but felt she could not miss the chance to perform in the first edition of the event on Spanish soil.

Reigning team champions Portugal have won five times in the last decade and will be looking to add to their impressive tally.

Last year, lead home by former European junior cross country champion Jessica Augusto in ninth place, the entire Portuguese scoring quartet all finished in the top 17 to demonstrate a strength in depth even if they finished outside of the individual medals.

Source/Courtesy
European Athletics (EAA)
https://www.european-athletics.org/
EAA