by Larry Eder
Neck and neck, toe to toe, two British athletes ran their very hardest to the line in the quest to become the European Cross Country Champion. In their sprint towards the finish, their goal was the same, yet their journey to get there could not have been more different.
Ultimately separated by the tiniest of margins, it was Gemma Steel who would win the epic battle with Kate Avery by .002 of a second, in what must have been the closest race in the competition’s history. Pre-race the pair’s build up, race plans and running styles may have seemed further apart than the mountain range within which they competed, however as the race panned out they became more and more alike.
After breaking the resistance of their rivals with two laps to go, the pair ensued in a tussle that saw both press the pace on numerous occasions, without gaining any notable ascendancy and so as they headed into the final 600 metres all was to play for.
First, Steel took the lead before Avery responded fiercely to place herself just in front of her rival, and it seemed the Iona University student would strike victory, before Steel gave the pivotal push in the final embers of the race, raising her arms primitively in delight. Gold was hers, just.
The reaction of both athletes as the broke the tape was a combination of shock and ecstasy at the intensity of the contest which they had just been involved.
Having finished as runner-up the previous year and as the bronze medalist two years earlier, Steel came to the event as one of the favourites in light of her recent success on the road and becoming the champion of the recent British trials. Running full of confidence it seemed as though she might be on course to end her reign as bridesmaid and take her place on the throne. As her more fancied rivals including the likes of former winners Sophie Duarte and Fionula Britton as well as European 3000m champion Meraf Bahta of Spain began to falter, the Brit gained the power to push on and stay with her young rival and eventually take the win.
Speaking post race Steel said: “I’m over the moon, I didn’t expect it to be a domestic battle in the end, Kate was a bit of a shock,
“I though she (Kate Avery) was going to give in but she was really strong and I felt a bit weak to be honest.”
“It’s a great end to a turbulent year, I feel like I’ve come into my own this year and this was my chance to shine. Had I got silver again I would have been very disappointed.”
For Avery despite the sense of what could have been, today’s performance provided a marked improvement from her fourth place in the under 23 race last year as she almost made the perfect step up to the seniors. Despite having come into the event as a contender following her brilliant victory at the NCAA championships and a fourth place finish at the Commonwealth Games, the Shildon AC runner said she was unsure what to expect in Bulgaria: “Coming into the race I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t really expect a medal, but being so close(to winning), I’m disappointed because I had it, yet she (Gemma) managed to kick pass me in the last few metres
“I really struggled with the under footing, not so much the muddy bits but where it was icy and your ankles were turning and that’s what I found tough today and that’s probably what cost me the win.”
As for her improvements in the last 12 moths she added: ” I know I’m training well but I still keep surprising myself, I can’t really believe how well I’m running and the fact I’m able to compete with the senior women in Europe…I don’t know exactly what it is (That’s causing it) but I’m doing more miles and I’m doing a little bit more of the little things, and so I’m really enjoying it.”
Although only one runner could claim the individual accolade, both were able to share victory in the team race as they won the title by over 50 points thanks to great runs by Steph Twell and Lily Partridge who were 7th and 11th respectively with team-mates Sonia Samuels and Elle Vernon both inside the top 20 too.
Twell’s run which included a stage where she looked set to challenge for a medal, was her best in the senior category and big indicator that she may well be returning to her form as a junior athlete.
Running in her 9th consecutive Euro Cross, the Aldershot and Farnham District athlete was given the responsibility of being team captain for the weekend and she certainly led by example with her gritty performance. Although she admitted that she had been scared about the talk beforehand she said she had enjoyed the opportunity.
Similarly to Avery, Partridge was making her senior debut and looked strong throughout, gradually making her way through the field to finish as the fourth scorer and achieve her target of a top 15 placing.
In the individual contest, it was Bahta who completed the podium places after an excellent surge on the last lap saw her move up from 6th to 3rd. Her medal as an African-born athlete was to be an indicator of what would come in the men’s race, where the top three runners all deriving from either Ethiopia or Kenya ran away from the rest of the field to contest their own battle from around 1k.
Last year’s runner-up Polat Kemboi Arikan emulated Steel by taking the win this time from 2013 U23 winner Ali Kaya and defending champion Alemayehu Bezabeh.
