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By Bob Ramsak
San Giorgio su Legnano, ITA -- For a short time this afternoon, attention on the eve of the 13th SPAR European Championships shifted, albeit briefly, from talk of Sergey Lebid’s bid for a sixth straight continental title to the largely muddy conditions that will greet the competitors on Sunday after nearly 24 hours of virtually non-stop rain in this small town on Lombardy about 20 kilometers from Milan.
Yet regardless of the conditions, the 31-year-old Ukrainian said he’s as prepared as he’s ever been.
“I’ve been training in Russia for the past month in bad weather conditions, so I’m not too concerned,” said Lebid, whose domination at these annual December championships has dubbed him the continent’s undisputed King of Cross. “I know there will be a lot of mud, but I’m not too worried about it. We’ve had muddy courses in the past and I’ve run the same.”
For six years running, his finish position has been exactly the same in what has now become the traditional start to his winter campaign. The only male athlete to compete in each of the previous 12 editions, Lebid has won half of them, beginning with his first in 1998.
But he offered no predictions, and as usual said his quest for yet another title will be anything but a chore.
“I trained very hard again,” he said, “but this year will be particularly difficult because of many of the other athletes, especially from Spain and France. I’ll just do my best again.”
Tabbed as his primary challenger is Mo Farah, the 23-year-old aiming to become only the second Briton to claim an individual title. The first was Jon Browne a decade ago.
“I know I’ve worked hard,” said Farah, whose breakthrough 2006 season was capped by a silver medal over 5000 metres at the European Championships last August, along with dramatic improvements in the 3000 and 5000 to 7:38.15 and 13:09.40.
“I’m definitely in better shape than last year. Last year I finished 21st and my aim this year is to finish in the top six. Sergey has won many times, and it’ll be very difficult. And there are others as well. There’s a lot of guys who can finish up there near the top. It all depends on the day and comes out and performs their best. It’ll not be easy at all.”
Second in the 2001 junior race in Thun, Switzerland, Farah said he’s matured both in his training and racing since then, and particularly over the past season.
“Getting that silver medal in the European Championships has given me a boost and a lot more confidence. I’m a different athlete from who I was last year and the year before. Having that confidence is a big thing in my life, in athletics.”
“I’ve learned a lot more,” he continued. “And I’ve trained a lot more sensibly than previous years, I was young and didn’t know much. But I’ve also trained a little bit harder, because I’ve got my body to be able to train harder.”
Late last month he tested his fitness at the Cross del L’Acier in Leffrinckroucke, France, where he outkicked his housemate and training partner Micah Kogo of Kenya, this year’s fastest man over 10,000m.
“That race said that I’m in really good shape. And I won in a tight finish. So that race obviously gave me a bit more confidence, but tomorrow will be another day.”
Other challengers include Spaniards Juan Carlos De La Ossa, the runner-up in 2003 and 2004, and Jose Manuel “Chema” Martinez, who won silver in the 10,000 at August’s European Championships. Despite toeing the line as the second oldest, 37-year-old Driss Maazouzi of France is the two-time defending bronze medallist.
With no returning medallists, the women’s race promises a wide-open affair. On paper, among the chief candidates to succeed Lornah Kiplagat is Inga Abitova, the 24-year-old Russian who came to prominence with her surprise victory in the 10,000m at last summer’s European Championships. In her most recent outing, Abitova ran a 32:18 10 km leg for the runner-up Russian squad at the Chiba Ekiden. Last year, Abitova was seventh in Tilburg, leading the Russian women to the team title.
Fourth last year, Olivera Jevtic returns as 2005’s leading finisher. Known primarily as a marathoner these days – the 29-year-old was second in Gothenburg in August – the Serbian took four consecutive bronze medals in the continental championship beginning in 1997. A fierce competitor, Jevtic was fourth in last month’s Tokyo International Ladies Marathon.
After a pair of back-to-back runner-up finishes in the team race, Jo Pavey will be looking to help return the British women back to the podium top step for just the second time. The continent’s fastest 5000m runner on the track for two years running, Pavey prepped for the race with a commanding win at the British trials two weeks ago, where she battled horrendously muddy conditions. The 33-year-old was the bronze medallist in 2004. Joining Pavey is Hayley Yelling, the surprise winner in 2004. After wining a pair of domestic races, Yelling struggled in her last outing, where she finished a distant seventh in Llodio.
The women’s junior race features another Tilburg rematch between defending champion Ancuta Bobocel of Romania and young British star Emily Pidgeon, who finished two seconds behind the Romanian a year ago while leading the UK squad to the junior title. She’ll be joined by another 17-year-old, Stephanie Twell, a finalist at 1500m at August’s World Junior Championships in Beijing. At last month’s British trials, Twell upset Pidgeon winning by nine seconds.
Among the junior men, the favorites include 19-year-old Spaniard Mohamed Elbenadir, who was fourth last year; Mugdat Ozturk of Turkey, the reigning European junior champion in the 10,000m; and Algerian-born Noureddine Smail of France, a finalist in the 5000 at the World Junior Championships.
New this year is addition of an Under-23 division, where the favorites are familiar names from previous junior races. The men’s race features a battle of two-time junior winners: Hungary’s Barnabas Bene, the winner in 2004 and 2005, and Russian Anatoliy Rybakov, the winner in 2002 and 2003. Dusan Markesevic of Serbia also returns after his bronze medal showing in the junior race last year. The women’s U-23 field includes 2004 junior winner Binnaz Uslu of Turkey; Italy’s Adelina De Soccio, the reigning continental 3000m champion; and Volha Minina of Belarus, fourth and fifth in the 2003 and 2004 junior races.
The Championships return to Italy for the second time. In 1998, when Ferrara played host, Lebid won his first title, while Briton Paula Radcliffe won the first of her two. A record 509 athletes – 275 men and 243 women – from 30 countries will compete in the six races. Competition begins at 11:00 with the junior women's race, and concludes with the senior men's competition at 14:45.
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