West Waterford Athletic ClubWest Waterford Athletic Club

Report on European Cross Country 2009, by Kate Veale

The juvenile committee of West Waterford Athletic Club wish all their athletes and their families a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Report on European Cross Country by Kate Veale 
 
INTRODUCTION
Cross Country has great tradition in Europe and indeed Ireland, so where better to hold the Spar European cross-country Championships than in the beautiful surroundings of Santry Park Dublin. The 2009 edition of the event was held on Sunday the 13th of December. Santry Park was a perfect location for this event as it’s near the city centre, the athlete’s hotel and Dublin airport. It was also easily accessible, had adequate parking in the surrounding area, had all the facilities required and most importantly was spectator friendly. This is the first time Ireland has hosted this event although Ireland had hosted the World Cross Country on two occasions in 2002 and on a famous day in 1979 when John Tracey won an historic gold medal. Ireland also has European and World Cross Country medals from two of the best female athletes this country has produced Sonia O’Sullivan and Cathrina McKiernan. Unfortunately to the disappointment of the home crowd Ireland didn’t win a medal in Santry on this occasion, but they all gave it their best shot and we had some brilliant performances and can be very proud of our athletes, Ireland has won 7 medals in the history of the European Cross country championships and is ranked in 15th position on the all time medals list, Great Britain being, on top with 73. Ireland has won only one gold medal at these championships that of Catherina McKiernan in the senior women’s race in 1994 at the inaugural running of this event. Irish team manager Anne Keenan Buckly was part of the 2003 Irish team that won a silver medal at the championships. In Santry this year the six race winners represented six different counties, Norway, Belgium, France, Spain, Great Britain and Turkey. On the medal podium 12 countries were represented out of the 30 countries, which took part. The crowd on the day was estimated at 7,000 and many of the athletes said they thought the vocal support was great and they gave the athletes all the encouragement and help they could. I think everyone will agree all the races were a thrilling affaire and very exciting and thoroughly enjoyable in what turned out to be a marvelous display of cross country running in great weather conditions despite the slight nip in the air. We all look forward to even more excitement next year at these championships, which will be held in the Algarve resort of Albufeina on the South coast of Portugal, and 2011 in the Slovenian city of Velenje who last hosted the event in 1999. European Cross Country is certainly not on the decline as some people might think and even more remarkable is that in the junior men and women 5 athletes in the top 10 are eligible to run junior again next year so we have a lot of rising talent in Europe.

Junior women

FIRST EVER EUROPEAN WIN FOR NORWAY AS GROVDAL CAPTURES GOLD
Karoline bjerkeli Grovdal yet again showed that she is certainly one for the future when winning the junior women 4039m race in 14:10. She is the first even Norwegian to win a European Cross Country title. She’s twice European Junior steeplechase champion and also European Junior 5000m champion. This versatile athlete is also a world-class cross-country skier. She also won the European athletic Association ‘Rising Star’ Award for 2009. Finishing two seconds behind her in the Irish capital was Russia’s Gulshat Fazlatdinova who closed the gap in the final stages but still had to settle for 2nd place. Coming in third in 14:27 was Britain’s Kate Avery the 2009 European junior silver medallist. Best of the Irish was the magnificent Ciara Mageean of Lisburn A.C. who finished 9th .In the 2009 world youths Mageean took a silver medal in the 800 Meters  and was winner at the 2009 youth Olympic festival over 1.500 meters. Ciara got the highest Female finishing position from all the Irish competitors on the day. She was happy with the performance but said “your always a bit disappointed when you don’t come first but that’s just my competitive nature” Ciara has another 2 years in this age group and her response to any pressure that may or has been put on her she answered “there’s always pressure but its more so that I put it on myself but I try and turn any pressure into positive energy so it can be a benefit.” Other Irish placings were Charlotte French O’Carroll in 42nd, Laura Shaughnessy in 55thMary Mullhare in 58th Emma Mitchell in 65th and Eimear Black in 71st. This Irish team finished 9th overall with Russia winning the team prize with 47 points snatching Britain’s four year wining streak who had to settle for the runner up spot with 51 points. Germany came in 3rd with 73 points

Junior men

D’HOEDT ENDS MEDAL FAMINE FOR BELGIUM.
Jeroen D’Hoedt the 2009 European junior steeplechase bronze medallist has ended Belgium’s 10 year famine when winning gold at the Spar European Cross Country Championships. He snatched the gold by edging to the front with 400m to go, finishing the 6039m race in 18:46 he tactically judged the distance very well and was fastest on the last lap. He said “I cant believe it, it will take time for me to realize I’m the European champion,” Britain’s Nick Goolab who also had a very fast finish was only one second behind, the one third of a set of male triplets D’Hoedt (pronounced “doot”). Goolab flew down the finishing straight to firstly pass out Norway’s Nordstad Sondre Moen who won silver at last year’s event and who was in contention for victory for most of the race. Goolab then had a battle right to the line with fellow countryman James Wilkinson both finishing with the same time of 18:47.Best of the Irish was Leevale’s Ryan Creech in 41st who was disappointed with his run. The rest of the Irish junior men were Emmet Jennings in 47th, Noel Collins in 50th, Ian Ward in 62nd, Paralympics World Champion and record holder in the T37 800m Michael McKillop and Liam Tremble in 65th. Britain was comfortable winners of the team prize with 24 points, France were second in 58 and Norway 3rd with 77. The Irish team finished 11th.

U23 women

SULTAN SHOWS HER SUPER SPEED
Sultan Haydar running for Turkey but born in Ethiopia took gold in the 1500m at the under 23 European Athletics Championships this summer. She went out hard from the gun and had a 13 second lead on the rest of the field after two laps but Russia Irina Sergeyeva was up on her shoulder with 4500m to go. Haydar fought hard and showed her 1500m speed in taking the title with a time of 21:14 for the 6039m distance just one second ahead of Sergeyeva who had a very strong finish and is thinks she’s “more comfortable on the track.” Great Britain’s Jessica Sparke took the bronze in 21:26. Newbridge athlete Rose Anne Galligan who was using the cross country as a basis for her track season wanted to do better than 21st which is where she finished last year and that she did when finishing 15th and leading the Irish girls home. She was delighted with her run. Not far behind was Breffini Twohig in 17th, Sarah Tracey was 29th, Bryony Treston was 37th, Laura Huet 43rd and Maria Walsh 45th. Great Britain took team gold with 22 points from Russia with 25 points who took silver for the third year in a row. France were third with 85 points and the Irish girls finished 5th with 98 points.

U23 men

FROM SIXTY FOURTH TO FIRST FOR NOUREDDINE.
Smail Noureddine won the U23 men 8018m in 25:11 For France. The Algerian born athlete also led the French team to Glory. Smail won the 5000m in the 2007 European Athletics u23 championships and won silver this year at the same event. In Santry he proved he can also run cross-country, he only finished in 64th position at this event last year, going on this year to secure the gold medal, what a difference a year can make. In behind him was his compatriot Chahdi Hassan in a time of 25:17. Hassan was third in last year’s junior race and was the first European finisher at the World Junior Championships on both country and track in 2008. Belgium’s Atelaw Bekele who is originally form Ethiopia but came to Belgium at the age of 16 was 3rd despite being out in the lead for some time of the race. He’s finishing time was 25:21. Last years junior champion Florian Carvalho finished 4th. France won the team prize with 31 points. Great Britain claimed 2nd with 45 points and Belgium 3rd with 59 points. Ireland finished 6th. First home from Ireland was North Laois’s Michael Mulhare in 18th with a time of 25:57. Michael’s sister Mary ran in the junior race. He was pleased with his run but thinks he went a bit too early and suffered on the last lap. Next home for Ireland was Stephen Scullian in 27th, Brendan O’Neill in 28th, John Coughlan son of former world Champion Eamonn Coughlan was 32nd, David Flynn was 54th and David Rooney 56th.
 
 
Senior women

YELLING DESAMATES THE OPPOSITION PROVING SHES FAR FROM FINISHED.
Britain’s Hayley Yelling went out hard from the gun and had a four second lead on the chasing pack after the first lap from here she gained even more of a gap after making another surge on the second of 5 laps, even though this wasn’t her deliberate tactic she wanted to run hard and see how far she could go and was surprised no one caught her. The 35 year old was the European Cross Country Champion in 2004 and at this Championship last year announced her retirement but that retirement was very short lived and she came back stronger than proving that she’s far from retired when taking a deserved gold. The maths teacher interviewed after the race said” I have not been putting myself under any pressure and I am just enjoying my running a few days a week” This is her twelfth time running in these championships. She was surprised yet delighted with her victory after putting in a very brave and gutsy performance. She covered the 8018m in 27:49. In second place was Spain’s Rosa Maria Morato with a time of 27:56 who was up in the chasing pack for the race along wit the Bronze Medal winner Adrienne Herzog of the Netherlands who finished in 28:04 and the Portuguese Trio of Jessica Augusto who got the silver medal at last years event, Ines Monteiro who won the bronze last year and Dulce Felix who finished 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Portugal as expected retained their team prize that they won last year they finished up with 25 points, Great Britain came in second with 51 points and Spain snatched the bronze with 58 points. Ireland finished up a gallant 4th with 82 points despite being in second position for a lot of the race.  Finnoula Britain of Sli Culainn A.C. ,the 2007 world steeplechase finalist and second in the u23 race at the 2006 European Cross Country Championships showed her current form and led the Irish team home in a time of 28:39 to finish 11th. She was happy with her performance; one place behind her was 2009 World Indoor bronze medallist Mary Cullen. Irish eyes were on Cullen for this race. She is coached by Ray Tracey and is a graduate from Providence College in America  she was hoping for a medal on home soil after placing 4th at last years championships, sadly this was not to be after she faded back over the second half of the race but fought her way to the line in what was still a good achievement to finish in 12th position. Linda Byrne who was 4th in the 2005 junior steeplechase was next home in 25th position. Ava Hutchinson was 34th, Orla O’Mahoney 35th and Deidre Byrne 48th. It was heartbreak for the team that they didn’t get a team prize after being in contention for most of the race.

Senior men

BRILLIANT BEZABEH BEATS BRITAIN FARAH AS LEDGEND LEBID THIRD
The highly anticipated and final race of the day saw Spain get its first ever European Cross Country Champion in Alemayehu Bezabeh the Ethiopian born athlete after pulling away from Great Britain’s Mo Farah with 2km to go. He covered the 9997m distance in 30:45. He was 7th in last year’s event and was the highest place European in the 2008 Olympics .He moved to Spain 5 years ago as a stowaway and was penniless. He moved there because he said, “it looked good on TV and seemed to have a good sporting tradition.” Bezabeth was confident he would win and knew he was in good shape. Farah the 2006 European Cross Country Champion and 2009 Indoor 3000m Champion finished in the silver position 17 seconds behind Bezabeh and certainly gave it his all as he collapsed over the line and had to be taken to the medical room. Farah who was born in Somalia moved to Britain in 1993 and has been altitude training for the past 5 weeks in Kenya ahead of these Championships. The Icon of European Cross Country 34 year old Serhiy Lebid known as “The Horse” once again showed his class and proved he certainly isn’t ready to hang up his spikes or that he’s not slowing down much either when he finished 3rd in 31:17, in his first cross country race this year. He had a groin stain which forced him to miss 3 days training 2 weeks ago and said he would have “run better without this problem but isn’t making excuses.” He’s the only athlete to have competed in all 16 Spar European Cross Country Championships and has said he will be going to Portugal next year to keep his streak of running every one of these Championships and also to regain his title. Lebid has won medals in 11 of the Championships 8 of them being gold. There was no surprise that Spain won the team title as they had 3 men in the top 5 they finished up with 34 points. Great Britain got the silver with 54 points and Italy got their first senior men’s medal since 2004 finishing 3rd with 62 points. The Irish team finished a gallant 6th. Best of the Irish was Clonliffe Harriers athlete Mark Keneally who is being coached by Mark Carroll. He had what’s only to be described as the race of his life in finishing in 8th position. Kennelly a full time physio was delighted with his run. Next home for the Irish was Martin Fagan who earlier in the year broke John Tracey’s National Half Marathon record and was 7th in these Championships in 2007. He was disappointed but has an Achilles injury, Fagan said afterwards “I did all I could but my body just wasn’t responding and it hurt more and more as the race progressed”. Irish 10,000m record holder and former European Indoor 3000m champion Alister Craig finished 40th, just behind Cragg in 41st position was Andrew Ledwith an Iona College graduate. Sean Connolly was placed 49th and Mick Clohissey 52nd. Two Irish based athlete’s members of West Waterford A.C. Sandis Bralitis and Raivis Zakis were 59th and 61st respectively running for their native country of Latvia.

MY EXPERIENCE AS A YOUTH REPORTER
My day as a European Youth Reporter was incredible and a day I will never forget. It was one of the best days of my life. It was a fantastic fun filled day and a wonderful adventure. I didn’t know what to expect going there but I was so excited and I just knew it was going to be a brilliant day and it exceeded all my expectations. Many young people would have loved the opportunity afforded to at the championships and I wasn’t going to waste one minute of it. It was like a dream come true. I got to see the European Championships from a completely different angle than I ever did before when watching these major championships. I learned so much about athletics, the media and the behind the scenes work and organization that goes into these major Championships. It was a real honour to be allowed into the Media Tribune (where all the journalists for newspapers, radio and TV go and do up their reports), Media Centre, Mixed Zone (where you can interview the athletes after their races) V.I.P area and the special tent to get quotes, where 1st, 2nd and 3rd go after their race before they get their medals. Only a few people are allowed in here so this was a real privilege. It was amazing to get to speak to and be up close and personal with European Champions and to meet athletes I have seen and followed on TV, magazines and the internet and to see and speak to them in the flesh was something else.

When I arrived in Santry at 9:30am, I got my accreditation to be allowed into all the areas I mentioned above. I felt so important to have got one of these badges around my neck. I met with Pierce O’Callaghan and Ian Curran the other youth reporter winner. Piece showed us around the area and also introduced us to many people like the European Athletics Association President and many other people in the association, journalists etc. I discovered why it takes so many people behind the scenes to have these events run smoothly.

I was shown to my seat in the media section, which was the best seat in the house just in front of the finish line with screens in front of me to tell me how the races were progressing. It was thrilling. I saw all the athletes finish with some very nail biting tussles, which had me on the edge of my seat for many of them. The atmosphere was magnificent indeed it was electric. I saw how the athletes gave it their all and put everything into their performances. I really admire them all for all their determination and guts. I saw and experienced so many emotions throughout the day.

I got to see the athletes getting ready before their races. I also got to see them when they finish and prepare to do their cool downs.

After each race was finished I dashed across with Ian and reporter Feidhlim Kelly to the medallist tent to get flash quotes off the athletes. The only athlete I didn’t get to meet was Britain’s Mo Farah as he was taken to the medical room after his race but instead I had extra time to speak to the Icon and Ledged Ukraine’s Sergiy Lebid, who is one of my heroes. It was an amazing experience to get to meet all these top class athletes and actually ask them questions. Feidhlim then typed all the quotes we got and they were immediately available live on the internet.

I then went to the Mixed Zone to talk to any other athletes I wanted to. I especially loved talking to the Irish athletes who were all so nice whether they were happy or disappointed with their performances. I have such respect for all the athletes they have worked so hard and made so many sacrifices to get to this level and they were all so proud to be representing their country. They all had such passion. I saw how athletics brings people together no matter what language they speak I found all the athletes were so friendly and in some instances even through hand signals we were able to understand each other. I saw that all the athletes get on really well, where they may be rivals and enemies on the track or field and the competition is fierce; they are all friends off it. I didn’t see one bit of bad feeling among them, it was all hugs, kisses and good wishes. There was a great spirit. I can assure you one thing the atmosphere you experience before and after the races in the team area, you won’t experience anywhere else.
 
I saw many past Irish athletics heroes like Sonia O’Sullivan, Cathrine McKiernan, John Tracey, Danny Mc Dade, Eamonn Coughlan, Maeve Kyle, and Ronnie Delaney to name but a few. I also got to talk to the present star of Irish and World race walking Olive Loughnane who won silver this year at the world Championships in Berlin.

I learned how journalists like the people of RTE get their information to the public and the work involved and equipment used. I got so many once in a lifetime experiences and thoroughly enjoyed my astonishing day. I would love to travel to all the athletics event and work behind the scenes especially reporting and talking to the athletes. My day out in Santry has defiantly influenced the career path I would like to take.
 
My incredible day certainly was a once in a lifetime and worthwhile experience. I was privileged to be there. If I could do it all again I would with no hesitation. I would like to thank everyone in the European Athletics Association for giving me this fascinating and fantastic opportunity, everyone at the Athletics Association of Ireland and would also like to congratulate them on such a well organised and successful European Cross Country Championships, I saw some of the hard work behind the scenes that most people don’t get to see. I would also like to thank most sincerely Pierce O’Callaghan for all his help and making the day so great, Frank Greally, Feidhlim Kelly, James Mulligan, Phil Minshull, Eamonn Sweeney and Will Downing and all the other journalist and people I met who were all so helpful and nice. The European Cross Country Championships in Santry Park Dublin on the 13th of December 2009 is a day that is etched in my memory forever.
 
Kate Veale, Age 15.

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