Junior Women
Terzic became the third junior woman to win complete medal set (gold silver and bronze).
She won silver in 2010, bronze in 2011 and now gold in 2012
And Gorecka became the fourth junior women to win complete medal set.
She won bronze in 2010, gold in 2011 and now silver in 2012
Previously, Charlotte Purdue and Ancuta Bobocel have won all three medals in junior women’s division
First gold for Serbia by Terzic in junior women’s division of Euro Cross.
We have had here a fantastic European Championship first time in history on snow and we have seen an outstanding competition with a lot of European country and athletes. This is a very important sign for the future of Europe , also in that area of cross country, especially also for long distance running.
Many of the journalist was asking why this competition is organizing in December? What is the point?
Yes, as you know, we have a world championship and we then had to decide when we started, that we do the championship late in the year. We have to take care that the cross season become a better position again, as it had in the past, that is what he have to do in the future.
Mister President tell me your opinion about the organization, because it was a really hard work because of the airport problem we had but finally how could you sum up you
r impressions on that?
Now, it was certainly a great work wich has been down by our team and the team here to bring all the teams from different nations here in time and that was excellent. Also, here the track was fantastic prepared , so the athletes had good conditions to run, of course, it was windy demanding and also on snow, but how I could see the athletes really performed well under such circumstances.
Of course I understand it, if you don’ t answer my question ,but who was your favorite winner of today?
You know , we had so different winners and values, which has been created by them, but I would say the men race really impressed me and that was certainly one point for Italy.
(Dezso Dobor)
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Andrea Lalli (ITA), gold medalist, men senior competition:
I was sure that today is gonna be my day. I felt being very strong. The preparation was perfect, just like the race. I sacrificed almost everything to get the gold medal, and the hard work paid off. It’s strange but I’m not tired. I must stress that without God’s help – to whom I pray every night – I wouldn’t have finished first.
Chahdi Hassan (FRA), silver medalist, senior men competition:
It was difficult to run in such a cold weather. It wasn’t a tactical race, so I run as fast as I could, and I am very satisfied with the second place.
Fionnuala Britton (IRL), gold medalist, senior women competition:
- I can hardly believe I have managed to defend my title. It was really tough at the end, I can’t put into words how it feels like hear the supporters screaming:”She is coming! She is coming!” I run as fast as I can, I like the course, but when there is snow on the hill it is difficult to run on, but I like it now, because I won.
Ana Dulce Félix (POR), silver medalist, women senior competition:
Henrik Ingebrigtsen (NOR), gold medalist, U23 men competition:
- I felt really strong. I didn’t feel tired during the race, so it was kind of an easy run for me. I believed in my abilities, and rightly so. The surface was hard, but at the end of the day, winning is what matters the most.
Soufiane Bouchikhi ( BEL), silver medalist U23 men competition:
- I can not complain about the venue, but the hills “were killing” me a little bit. The end of it was really difficult, because I have tried to escape from the others. I am proud that I have finished second, because I could not catch the first, he was too strong.
Jess Coulson (GBR , gold medalist U23 women competition) :
- It was cold, but I really enjoyed that, my coach gave me a good race plan, and I just followed. The start was really hard,but then I find my rhythm and no one came with me.I really enjoyed it!
Liudmila Lebedeva (RUS, silver medalist, women U23 competition): just native speaker.
Clémence Calvin (FRA, bronze medalist, women U23 competition):
- I’m extremely happy! The finish was very hard because from the middle of the last lap I literally saw nothing, I just run as fast as I can. It is my first European medal, and I’m so proud because the hard work that I’ve put in the last years finally paid off.
Szymon Kulka (POL), gold medalist, Junior Men competition:
- It was my first gold medal, so I’m really happy about the way this race happened. Two months before this championship I had a special preparation in Poland therefore this sort of condition wasn’t a strange one for me, although today’s race was difficult.
Mitko Rumenov Tsenov ( BUL, silver medalist, junior men competition) : just native language speaker.
Amela Terzic (SRB), gold medalist, junior women competition :
- It was my last year in the junior competition, and I would have won the race, I had a very good performance.I hope I can run well next year at the European Cross Country Championships hold in Beograd.
Emelia Gorecka (GBR, silver medalist, junior women competition):
- I’m happy. I worked hard, I did my best. Every race is different, it was a strong one, a difficult one, so I’m pleased with my performance.
Maya Rehberg (GER, bronze medalist, junior women competition):
On Saturday evening European Athletics invited for a gala dinner to the Hotel Corinthia their guests, sponsors and the representatives of the SPAR 2012 European Cross Country Championships. During the evening, Hansjörg Wirz, President of EA awarded Mr. Miklós Gyulai, the Hungarian Athletics Association and LOC President and Mr.Miklós Cseri, the LOC Co-President and Director of Skanzen.
(Dezső Dobor)
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The official Press Conference of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships was held today afternoon at the Hotel Ramada Aquaworld.
Miklós Gyulai, Hungarian Athletics Association and Local Organising Committee President:
As you may know, at the SPAR 2012 European Cross
Country Championshipsseveral records are being broken. 2012 was a very good and successful year for Hungarian athletics and we hope that the championships will be a great end of the year. The Hungarian Association would like to reach more and more people, especially kids. Not too long ago, the Kids Programme, a wonderful programme, was introduced in schools. I would like to say thank you to all my colleagues and European Athletics staff for their hard work in the last 24 hours because of the lockdown of the Ferenc Liszt International Airport. They did their best to solve the problems and now everything is alright and on Sunday there is going to be a successful championships.
The Local Organising Committee of the 2012 SPAR European Cross Country Championships wishes a very Happy Birthday to the Portugal Barbara Ferreira who is going to celebrate her 21 th birthday on 9 December, the day of the Championships.
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A record number of athletes are set to compete at the 2012 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Budapest on 9 December.
539 athletes (221 Women + 318 Men)
Junior: 94 men + 56 women
U23: 103 men + 68 women
Senior: 121 men + 97 women
35 Member Federations with athletes competing.
The current record number of competitors is the 468 athletes that started at the 2006, 2008 and 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships.
The previous highest number of countries to participate in the SPAR European Cross Country Championships was 34 nations that made the trip to the town of Albufeira on Portugal’s Algarve coast in 2010.
Today European Athletics and the Local Organising Committee of the 2012 SPAR European Cross Country Championships held the last technical control on the venue of the Championships. For tomorrow, the weather forecast shows snow, although, Sunday supposed to be a day without any rain or snow.
(LOC)
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The Budapest 2012 SPAR European Cross Country Championships will be going ahead as scheduled on Sunday, despite difficulties created by the unexpected closure of Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport on Friday.
European Athletics and LOC officials were working hard throughout today with the 35 national teams to ensure that competing athletes will arrive in time for the event.
Accredited media that were supposed to arrive on Friday in the Hungarian capital are requested to update their flight details in the Online Registration and Accreditation System to show what time their rescheduled flights are expected to arrive on Saturday in Budapest if, as expected, the airport re-opens at 09:00am.
Azerbaijan was the first delegation who has arrived to Budapest today morning. Two U23 Azerbaijanian athletes, Hayle Ibrahimov and Layes Abdullayeva are going to compete at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships on 9 December in Szentendre.
Azerbaijan athletes didn’t even know how lucky they were regarding their really early arrival, since the lockdown of the Ferenc Liszt International Airport. Because of the lockdown, caused by technical problems, several teams were not permitted to land, or not due to the scheduled arrivals.
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The latest statistics of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships 2012 can be found on our website, under Statistics.
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29 November 2012 was the deadline of the final entries for the 19th SPAR European Cross Country Championships. You can find the final entries here:
EXCH 2012_Final entries
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The 19th SPAR European Cross Country Championships will be held in Szentendre, Hungary. The event has special medals which were made by the Hungarian Brillart Company.
The medals for the best 3 athletes are 60 mm, the medallions are 50 mm. The designer, Mr. Sandor Török told:
“Our aim was to create medals that will remind of the special venue of the championships (the Open Air Museum). The shape of the medals are also very different from the usual. Well, special venue with special shape.”
(LOC)
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A record number of athletes are set to compete at the 2012 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Budapest on 9 December.
After the deadline for final entries closed at midnight on Thursday, 539 athletes had been registered (562 including reserves athletes) by 35 Member Federations to compete at this year’s Championships.
The current record number of competitors is the 468 athletes that started at the 2006, 2008 and 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships.
The previous highest number of countries to participate in the SPAR European Cross Country Championships was 34 nations that made the trip to the town of Albufeira on Portugal’s Algarve coast in 2010.
Frenchman Hassan Chahdi is no stranger to success at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships after winning a team gold a year ago and the under-23 title 12 months earlier. But now he is eyeing up the senior men’s crown in Budapest next month and he is going there after a period of training with his French teammates in Kenya. Chahdi, 23, is hoping that this foundation will help him find a place on the podium in Budapest on 9 December. It is the fifth time he has been to train in the African country and he said: “We had good sessions.
“We were in a good group (with) Irba Lakhal, Himer Driss El Mokhtar, Benjamin Malaty, Denis Mayaud and Yoann Kowal. “It was two different generations, but it is precisely this which was interesting. I took advantage of their experience.”
The word legend is used too often in sport but when the name of Serhiy Lebid is mentioned alongside the SPAR European Cross Country Championships then there is no doubt it is the correct description. Lebid is now 37 and he has won the European cross country title on a staggering nine occasions. But on Sunday December 9, do not expect the Ukrainian to be sitting in the dry of his home, slippers on, maybe wondering what is happening in Budapest. Instead, Lebid is ready to add another chapter to his incredible relationship with this event by bidding for crown number 10. Since 1994, Lebid is the only athlete to have competed in every European cross country event and since last month he has been meticulously planning for another crack at the title.
French runner Clémence Calvin will be pitching for a medal at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, which take place in Szentendre, Budapest, on December 9.
Last year in Velenje, the 22-year-old finished eighth in the U23 category despite carrying an injury that was to dog her for months afterwards.
Colvin ran with the pack for most of the race in the Slovenian mining-city before they finally got away and she finished 19sec adrift of winner Emma Pallant of Great Britain.
“BUPA Great Edinburgh International Cross Country” meeting is annually organised as an International Match between the senior and junior teams of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, United States and Europe in the city of Edinburgh/GBR.
For the first time in the history of the competition, the Team Europe competing at the next edition of the match on 5 January 2013 will be selected after the final of each race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships 2012 organised in Budapest/HUN.
There will be separate races for Senior and Junior age groups included to the programme of the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country and those will be held on the following distances:
Siarhei Platonau will bid for a rare Belarus medal at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships after winning the Belarus senior men’s cross country title for the third consecutive year in Grodno on Saturday.
Platonau, who turns 22 three days after this year’s Championships in Hungary on 9 December, covered the 8km course in Grodno on 24:20, 12 seconds faster than his win on the same course and over the same distance 12 months ago.
He finished 10 seconds clear of his nearest rival Maksim Pankratov to secure selection for the continental championship, with Yevgeniy Palonikovtov a further five seconds further back in third.
Spanish distance runner Sergio Sánchez, the European indoor 2000m and 3000m record holder, hopes to bounce back after a disappointing summer with a medal at this year’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships on 9 December.
“I’ll be competing at the Atapuerca and Soria cross country meetings to qualify for the Spain team going to the European Cross Country Championships and once I’m there I want to improve on my fourth place of three years ago,” said Sanchez, referring to the local Cross de Atapuerca and Campo a Traves Internacional de Soria races on 13 and 20 November respectively. The two events are IAAF Cross Country Permit Meetings.
