Great Britain and Northern Ireland topped the medal table with 12 medals overall and three individual champions crowned at the 2024 European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Türkiye.
Phoebe Anderson [U23 women] (Wayne Vinton, Herne Hill), Will Barnicoat [U23 men] (Tim Eglen, Aldershot, Farnham & District) and Innes Fitzgerald [U20 women] (Gavin Pavey, Exeter) all secured individual titles – the latter two retaining their titles from 2023.
There were also first-time individual medals for Jess Bailey (Dean Miller, Leven Valley) [U20 women – silver], George Couttie (Ben Thomas, Harrogate) [U20 men – silver] and David Stone (Dean Miller, Shaftesbury Barnet) [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. Brett Rushman’s (Andrew Hobdell, Herts Phoenix) 13th place confirmed team gold for GB&NI on the day. James Kingston (Mark Hookway, Tonbridge) was next home in 16th with Peter Molloy (Central) 32nd and Dafydd Jones (James Thie, Swansea) 44th.
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.”
In a magnificent display, Phoebe Anderson took an excellent gold medal in the women’s U23 race.
Following on from Megan Keith’s gold in the event last year, the title stayed with GB & NI in the shape of Anderson who 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 (Mark Booth, Reading) 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.
Waldmann would come home in sixth place, and combined with Tia Wilson’s (Bill Foster, Bedford & County) 17th position, the U23 women sealed team gold ahead of Türkiye. Kate Willis (Dean Miller, City of Norwich) was next in 18th, Trials winner Megan Gadsby (Mick Woods, City of Norwich) in 23rd and Poppy Craig-McFeely (Philip O’Dell, Herne Hill) in 58th.
A delighted Anderson said, “I feels incredible, I definitely didn’t expect this, but I wanted to medal. My coach said if I in the top three with one lap to go, then it is just about what colour it is. 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.”
Innes Fitzgerald was relentless in her pursuit of her second Euro cross U20 title, oozing class to comfortably retain her title from 2023, while Jess Bailey achieved silver after an equally stunning performance.
The Briton ran a conservative first lap as she found her rhythm over the obstacles, but the second lap is where Fitzgerald exerted her sheer 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.
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 (Christopher Voice, Eastbourne) finished in sixth place. With the top three counters in the top six, GB & NI were clear gold medallists ahead of France and Italy.
Zoe Gilbody (Sarah Benson, Telford), on her GB & NI debut, was just outside the top 10 in 11th, while Lizzie Wellsted (Andy Henderson, Colchester) was next home in 18th and Isobelle Jones (Wolverhampton and Bilston) across the line in 36th.
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. Really pleased to come away with the gold – the girls deserve it too.”
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 (NED).
The Yorkshire-born athlete featured 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. The group also saw his teammate Henry Dover (David Smith, Shaftesbury Barnet) in contention. However, as the second lap developed, Dover dropped off the pace, but 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 the 1500m specialist 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.”
Despite the individual success, the GB & NI team just missed out on the team medals by two places to France. Miles Waterworth (Bruce Warren, Brighton Phoenix) was the second counter in 18th, while William Rabjohns (Mark Pauley, Poole) followed in 22nd. Quinn Miell-Ingram (Wendy Miell-Ingram, Radley) and Henry Dover (David Smith, Shaftesbury Barnet) came in together in 48th and 49th, while Oliver Conway (Radley) was 72nd.
Team captain Josh Lay (Matt Yates, Rugby and Northampton) led off the bronze medal winning mixed relay team, putting in a fine performance on the first leg, working hard with the French and Dutch teams to hand over to Maddie Deadman (Rod Finch, Basingstoke and Mid Hants) in third place. Deadman – trials winner – pushed on the pace during leg two, moving into second behind Marta Zenoni (ITA) over the first half of the leg, but handed over the band to Elise Thorner (Helen Clitheroe, Wells City) in third after Andorra came through into first – they were the only country with a male athlete on the second leg.
Thorner, a steeplechaser by trade, was at home over the log obstacles, and she stayed close to Italy’s Sintayehu Vissa and bided her time before moving alongside her as they came into the final straight. In a sprint for the line, there was barely anything to separate the French, Italian and GB & NI squads as they embarked on their final lap.
Tyler Bilyard (Jethro McGraw, Great Yarmouth) took up the mantle for the British team in a race for the medals with Pietro Arese (ITA) and Simon Bedard (FRA). The trio could barely be separated for the entire loop, but Arese showed his prowess to take the gold, with Bedard holding off Bilyard, so GB & NI matched their performance from 2023 with the bronze.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s senior women’s team captured silver as Kate Axford (Andy Henderson, Belgrave) came through as the top finisher in 10th place.
None of the British women featured in the lead group as the contest ramped up, but they packed incredibly well to secure a spot on the team podium. Jess Gibbon (Reading) ran superbly to finish in 12th, just a second behind Axford, while Izzy Fry (Sonia McGeorge, Newbury) was the third and final counter in 14th. The team finished just three points behind Italy who were aided by Nadia Battocletti taking the title.
Last year’s bronze medallist Abbie Donnelly (Rob Lewis, Lincoln Wellington) earned a top 20 placing in 17th while Poppy Tank (Luke Gunn, City of Plymouth) and Cari Hughes (Andrew Walling, Cardiff) were 26th and 37th respectively.
The senior men’s team held on for a bronze medal after a tough race to end the programme in Antalya. With three athletes in the top 20, GB & NI took their place on the rostrum by one place ahead of France.
Hugo Milner (Derby) had led for long periods, with Rory Leonard (Andrew Hobdell, Morpeth) sitting just behind, but a devastating turn of pace from Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) and Yemaneberhan Crippa (ITA) blew the field apart, with the Norwegian taking another European title.
Leonard finished the race strongly and secured a top ten position in ninth to lead home the British squad. Despite his early exertions, Milner held on for 11th, while Tomer Tarragano (Dean Miller, Brighton & Hove) continued his good form from the trial to take 19th place as the third and final counter for the team.
Ellis Cross (Andrew Hobdell, Aldershot Farnham & District) was next across the line in 25th, while Zak Mahamed (Idris Hamud, Southampton) finished 42nd .
Results: https://live.european-athletics.com/EXC2024/lrs/home
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