European Cross Country Championships: Barnicoat and Forero win U20 titles
Coverage of the U20 races at the European Cross Country Championships, from James Davis in Turin.
Will Barnicoat and Maria Forero took the men’s and women’s U20 titles at the European Cross Country Championships in Turin, Barnicoat winning a tight contest as Forero pulled away for a comfortable gap in the final part of her race.
Men’s race
Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Barnicoat won the men’s U20 contest in 17:40, outkicking a stumbling Nick Griggs from Ireland (17:41) in a desperate race for the line. Dean Casey battled to bronze behind the pair, his 17:46 performance part of a tightly-packed Irish team.
Both Barnicoat and Griggs featured in an early lead group, joined by Danes Axel Vang Christensen and Joel Ibler Lillesø, before pulling away as they made their final circuits.
Reigning champion from the year previous in Dublin, Christensen stepped off the course near the end of the race with over a lap to go.
On the final lap, Griggs carried a significant lead down the hill that featured as a prominent part of the course, but was reeled in by a chasing Barnicoat, for whom it was third time lucky.
Finishing 22nd in the 2019 edition of the race, before 9th place and team gold last year, the 19-year-old secured the title in his final year in the U20 age group.
Speaking after the race, he said: “This was a very tough and very special race for me. It was even more special because of all the support.
“In the last lap, I saw the others struggling a bit so I started kicking. I felt I had still something left. I tried to push myself. I knew that the race was not over, and it was my plan to fight until the very end.
“I still cannot believe it. I have done it.”
In the team contest, the British team won a dominant gold, their team of Barnicoat, Sam Mills (4th), and Luke Birdseye (5th) securing ten points to Ireland’s 17, with Spain in third.
Women’s race
An early bid for the women’s U20 win from Brit Innes Fitzgerald was not to be, as she finished fourth in a race won by Spaniard Forero in 13:04.
Ingeborg Østgård of Norway finished in 13:07, a second ahead of Finland’s Ilona Mononen, to complete the podium.
Fitzgerald, still an U17 athlete, took things out early, attacking the hill up towards Castello de La Mandria, but was closely followed by Forero and Jane Buckley of Ireland.
Megan Harris also was placed highly early on, the Brit attacking the top ten, but she faded to 23rd.
Fitzgerald’s performance only bodes well for the future, with a full three years in the U20 age group ahead of her.
Forero was thrilled by the result, saying: “I feel incredible. I can’t really find the words to explain how I am feeling right now. It’s a gold medal – an individual medal at European level.”
Spain, Turkey, and Germany made up eight of nine athletes placing between sixth and 14th place in a tightly packed team competition, the Spaniards edging Turkey to the title by four points, ahead of Germany.
The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team placed fourth, Rebecca Flaherty the other scoring athlete.
Read more – senior races report: European Cross Country Championships: Ingebrigtsen and Grøvdal double up for Norway
Read more – U23 races report: European Cross Country Championships: U23 golds go to Hicks and Battocletti
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