The 2013 European Cross Country Championships was the 20th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Belgrade, Serbia, on 8 December 2013. The senior individual winners were Alemayehu Bezabeh of Spain and Sophie Duarte of France.Results by date A record 571 runners from 37 nations entered the competition, making it Serbia's largest international athletics event in over forty years.President Wirz celebrates the cross country movement. European Athletics (7 December 2013). Retrieved 16 December 2013.

In the women's senior race Ireland's Fionnuala Britton was the defending champion,Britton has Belgrade – and only Belgrade – on her mind. European Athletics (7 December 2013). Retrieved 16 December 2013. but she failed to win a third straight title and ended the race in fourth. Sophie Duarte took the lead in the penultimate lap and ran on her own over the last lap to take her first European gold medal at the age of 32. The 2011 minor medallists Ana Dulce Félix of Portugal and Great Britain's Gemma Steel closely raced each other in the final lap, with the British runner gaining the edge over the Portuguese on this occasion. Steel headed the British women to the team title, while Duarte led France to second and Spain took the bronze medals.Mulkeen, Jon (8 December 2013). Third time lucky for Duarte at European Cross as Bezabeh regains title. IAAF. Retrieved 16 December 2013.Duarte is the toast of France. European Athletics (8 December 2013). Retrieved 16 December 2013.

Andrea Lalli entered the men's senior race as champion and fellow 2012 medallists Hassan Chahdi and Daniele Meucci were also present.Chahdi and Meucci return for the grand finale. European Athletics (7 December 2012). Retrieved 16 December 2013. None of the three reached the podium on this occasion. The leading pack was soon whittled to two runners: 2009 champion Alemayehu Bezabeh and (despite an early fall) Polat Kemboi Arıkan of Turkey. Bezabeh extended his lead to over twenty seconds by the time he crossed the finish line. Arıkan was a clear second and British athlete Andy Vernon produced a fast finish to edge Belgium's Jeroen D'Hoedt to the bronze medal. Bezabeh headed up the Spanish team victory, followed by D'Hoedt's Belgium and Vernon's British side.Bezabeh runs away to victory as Arikan recovers in style. European Athletics (8 December 2013). Retrieved 16 December 2013.

In the under-23 races Pieter-Jan Hannes of Belgium won the men's race and Great Britain topped the team rankings.Hannes shows what he is made of. European Athletics (8 December 2013). Retrieved 16 December 2013. Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands was dominant in the women's under-23 race, where the British under-23 team easily won the team gold with five women in the top eight.Hassan's Dutch delight as Terzic brings joy to Serbia. European Athletics (8 December 2013). Retrieved 16 December 2013. The junior men's race saw Turkey's Ali Kaya come out on top in a two-man race against Belgium's Isaac Kimeli.Kaya's late speed takes him to gold in a thriller. European Athletics (8 December 2013). Retrieved 16 December 2013. Women's junior champion Emelia Gorecka won a fourth straight junior team title for Great Britain and also her fourth straight podium finish (she previously won the title in 2011). She was unrivalled and won by a margin of ten seconds.Gorecka strolls away to win gold again. European Athletics (8 December 2013). Retrieved 16 December 2013.

Three of the six event winners (Alemayehu Bezabeh, Sifan Hassan and Ali Kaya) were born in East Africa and gained European citizenship. Three of the individual silver medallists were also born outside of Europe: Arıkan in the men's senior race, Kimeli in the men's junior race, and Sofia Ennaoui in the women's junior race. This prompted concern of growing African participation in the European event – the falling interest in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, partly due to a prolonged period of African dominance of the competition, had recently led to the world event being reduced to a biennial event.Foley, Cliona (9 December 2013). Irish runners call for halt to African recruitment by European countries. The Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 December 2013.Kelly, Feidhlim (10 December 2013). European Cross Conundrum . Jumping the Gun. Retrieved 16 December 2013. Excitement over Bezabeh's large margin of victory was also tempered by discussion of his doping ban stemming from Operación Galgo, which had expired at the beginning of the year.MacKay, Duncan (8 December 2013). Spanish drugs cheat wins European Cross Country title by biggest margin for nine years. Inside The Games. Retrieved 17 December 2013.

Race results Senior men

+Individual race Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s) Alemayehu Bezabeh 29:11 Polat Kemboi Arıkan 29:32 Andy Vernon 29:35 4Jeroen D'Hoedt 29:35 5Hassan Chahdi 29:40 6Mohamed Marhum 29:46 7Richard Ringer 29:49 8Bashir Abdi 29:53 9Koen Naert 29:54 10El Hassane Ben Lkhainouch 29:56 11 Iván Fernández 29:58 12Tom Farrell 29:59

+Teams Rank Team Points BezabehMarhumFernándezAntonio Dávid JímenezAntonio AbadíaJavier Guerra31 D'HoedtAbdiNaertSoufiane BouchikhiLander TijtgatAbdelhadi El Hachimi49 VernonFarrellKeith GerrardAdam HickeyCharlie HulsonFrank Tickner60 466 569 690 7 105 8151

Senior women

+Individual race Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s) Sophie Duarte 26:34 Gemma Steel 26:39 Dulce Félix 26:41 4Fionnuala Britton 26:45 5Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal 26:52 6Almensh Belete 27:00 7Julia Bleasdale 27:02 8Veronica Inglese 27:12 9Carla Salomé Rocha 27:13 10Iris Maria Fuentes-Pila 27:17 11Lauren Howarth 27:18 12Clémence Calvin 27:25

+Teams Rank Team Points SteelBleasdaleHowarthSteph TwellKatie BroughLauren Deadman35 DuarteCalvinChristine BardelleLaila TrabyLaurane PicocheClaire Perraux54 Fuentes-PilaDiana MartínLidia RodríguezMarta SilvestreTeresa UrbinaAlba García61 497 5109 6115 7 117 8197

Under-23 men +Individual race Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s) Pieter-Jan Hannes24:02 Mitko Tsenov24:07 Nemanja Cerovac24:08 4Ivan Strebkov24:10 5Luke Caldwell24:13 6Ørjan Grønnevig24:15 7Callum Hawkins24:18 8Michele Fontana24:19 9Paul Robinson24:22 10Henrik Ingebrigtsen24:23 11Dmytro Siruk24:23 12Jonathan Hay24:24

+Teams Rank Team Points CaldwellHawkinsHayDewi GriffithsRichard GoodmanJack Goodwin40 StrebkovSirukOleksandr KuzmichovIgor Porozov72 Romain Collenot-SprietFrancois BarrerDjilali BedraniYoussef MekdafouMichael GrasSofiane Boulekouane78

Under-23 women

+Individual race Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s) Sifan Hassan19:40 Amela Terzić19:46 Charlotte Purdue19:49 4Kate Avery19:56 5Lily Partridge20:10 6Liv Westphal20:21 7Rhona Auckland20:25 8Laura Weightman20:28 9Corinna Harrer20:32 10Gulshat Fazlitdinova20:37 11Ekaterina Sokolenko20:45 12Svetlana Riazantceva20:47

+Teams Rank Team Points PurdueAveryPartridgeAucklandWeightmanJess Andrews19 FazlitdinovaSokolenkoRiazantcevaLuiza LitvinovaAnna Fedorova54 HassanMaureen KosterIrene Van LieshoutMarlin Van Hal70

Junior men

+Individual race Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s) Ali Kaya17:49 Isaac Kimeli17:51 Mikhail Strelkov18:05 4Jonathan Davies18:06 5Lorenzo Dini18:06 6Alexandre Saddedine18:12 7Yemaneberhan Crippa18:14 8Steven Casteele18:16 9Seán Tobin18:18 10Viktor Bakharev18:20 11Aleksandr Novikov18:22 12Medhi Belhadj18:22

+Teams Rank Team Points SaddedineBelhadjAlexis MielletMaxime Hueber MoosbruggerTheodore KleinHamza Habjaoui48 StrelkovBakharevNovikovVildan GadelshinAlexey Vikulov51 Lorenzo DiniYemaneberhan CrippaSamuele DiniNekagenet CrippaOsama ZoghlamiItalo Quazzola55

Junior women

+Individual race Rank Athlete Country Time (m:s) Emelia Gorecka13:06 Sofia Ennaoui13:16 Maruša Mišmaš13:27 4Georgia Taylor-Brown13:31 5Alina Reh13:34 6Aleksandra Guliaeva13:38 7Maria Larsson13:39 8Bobby Clay13:40 9Emine Hatun Tuna13:40 10Maya Rehberg13:41 11Jessica Gibbon13:41 12Ebba Andersson13:44

+Teams Rank Team Points GoreckaTaylor-BrownClayGibbonLydia TurnerAmy Griffiths24 LarssonAnderssonIsabelle BrauerTova Euren-MagnussenAgnes Sjostrom75 RehRehbergCaerina GranzVera CoutellierLea MeyerTatjana Schulte95

Medal table

References

External links