Great Britain dominates the Euro Cross

Great Britain dominates the Euro Cross

Great Britain and Northern Ireland topped the medal table with 12 medals overall, five gold  and three individual champions crowned at the 2024 European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey.

Phoebe Anderson [U23 women], Will Barnicoat [U23 men]  and Innes Fitzgerald [U20 women] all secured individual titles – the latter two retaining their titles from 2023. There were also first-time individual medals for Jess Bailey [U20 women – silver], George Couttie  [U20 men – silver] and David Stone  [U23 men – bronze], alongside team medals for six of the seven teams.

In a repeat of Brussels 2023, Will Barnicoat stormed to U23 men’s gold with his training partner and compatriot David Stone securing a brilliant bronze, and the team winning gold overall.

Showing his quality over the cross country terrain, Barnicoat hit the head of the field early on, with Stone doing a lot of the work to keep the pace moving throughout the race. Nicholas Griggs (IRL) and Konjoneh Maggi (ITA) were also key protagonists throughout, but the British duo and the Irish athlete were ultimately locked in battle during the final run-in to the line. Barnicoat held off the fast-finishing Griggs, while Stone held on for bronze.

An elated Barnicoat spoke post-race, “It’s unbelievable, I am just so happy and even happier for David (Stone) too, it’s more impressive than my gold after where he has come from.  I had to dig in, but I knew if I was there in the last 100m, I would be in with a shot of crossing the line first, so I am very happy I managed to do that.”

BarniGOAT! 🐐

A third successive title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships for Will Barnicoat! ✨

It’s back-to-back U23 titles in #Antalya2024. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Bs0JRjL8T4

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 8, 2024

In a magnificent display, Phoebe Anderson took an excellent gold medal in the women’s U23 race. Anderson ran an incredibly measured race, timing her sprint for the line to perfection and gliding past Maria Foreno (ESP) and Ilona Mononen (FIN) to reach the top step of the podium.

Anderson positioned herself well throughout, sitting in as the pace was set by compatriot Mia Waldmann who led for stages of the race. As the Finnish and Spanish athletes pressed at the front, Waldmann dropped back, but Anderson kept them within her sights and accelerated away from them with aplomb to earn her golden moment.

A delighted Anderson said, “I feels incredible, I definitely didn’t expect this, but I wanted to medal. My coach said if I was in the top three with one lap to go, then it is just about what colour the medal was. I thought bronze would be great, but I was thinking, after this barrier I have to give it everything, so if I die then it’s a bronze, but I had to give it a go.” She didn’t die and has gold to prove it!

Innes Fitzgerald was relentless in her pursuit of her second Euro cross U20 title, oozing class to retain her title from 2023 comfortably, while Jess Bailey achieved silver after an equally good performance. Fitzgerald ran a conservative first lap as she found her rhythm over the obstacles, but the second lap was where Fitzgerald exerted her  dominance, pulling away from the field with the gap only extending further as the race unfolded. Bailey initially went with Fitzgerald at the start of lap two, with German Julia Erhle joining her for company, and it would be a move which would guarantee her a medal.

Another British distance runner on the rise! 📈

Phoebe Anderson 🇬🇧 keeps the European U23 cross country title in British hands. 🫶#Antalya2024 pic.twitter.com/jUlqqOzcHq

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 8, 2024

Fitzgerald though was supreme as she moved away to bring home the gold and lead a British 1-2 on the podium. There was further good news for the pair as they also contributed to team gold after Eleanor Strevens finished in sixth place.

Afterwards Fitzgerald said, “It is just a relief to have defended my title, and now I am just excited to see what is to come. There was quite a bit of pressure on me, but it is a privilege to have that, and it fuelled me to get that win.” On the team success, she added, “It is amazing to have such good girls domestically. I knew we could do it as a team, we did it last year, and I knew the girls were just as good, if not better. I am really pleased to come away with the team gold – the girls deserve it too.”

Title defended. 🫡

Innes FitzGerald 🇬🇧 retains her U20 title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships! ✨

And she leads a GB 1-2 from Jess Bailey! 🥇🥈 #Antalya2024 pic.twitter.com/KqcqLZT92e

— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 8, 2024

George Couttie carried his strong form from the NCAAs into the Europeans as he produced a superb display to bag the U20 men’s silver behind Olympic 1500m finalist, Niels Laros (Netherlands).  Couttie was at the sharp end of the race for much of the contest, pushing the pace on as part of the concertinaed pack from the early stages. Couttie kept the pressure up on Laros and co, and the pair made a breakaway in the last kilometre.

Couttie was neck-and-neck with Laros in a sprint finish, but the Dutchman held him off to take the individual title, with Couttie settling for silver. The Briton said post-race, “It feels absolutely amazing to get the silver medal. I obviously wanted gold, but it is amazing to get a silver behind such an incredible athlete. It was hard, it was fast, but I enjoyed it, and I felt really comfortable. I just had to give it everything on that home straight. You just have to leave everything out there.”

 Great Britain and Northern Ireland medal tally:

Gold (6): Phoebe Anderson (U23 women), Will Barnicoat (U23 men), Innes Fitzgerald (U20 women), U23 women, U23 men, U20 Women

Silver (3): Jess Bailey (U20 women), George Couttie (U20 men), Senior Women

Bronze (3): David Stone (U23 men), Mixed Relay, Senior Men