All against Ingebrigtsen in European Cross Country; schedules and where to find them

This is the first time Türkiye is hosting the European Cross Country and in its 30th edition it will do so in Antalyawhich already hosted the World Team Walking Championships in May, which was attended by 566 athletes from 39 countries. Spain will be looking this Sunday to improve on last year’s poor result Brusselswhere she achieved three team medals with silver for the full women and the bronze for sub 23 and sub 20. Cross country was one of the disciplines that brought the most joy to Spanish athletes, with a total of 85 medals in 29 editions, 56 of which are in the absolute category (21 individuals and 35 for teams). The most obvious option for Spanish is Thierry Ndikumwenayo in full and in mixed relay together Esther Guerrero, Marta Pérez, Adrián Ben and Jesús Gómez.

The next rival in the men’s event is Jakob Ingebrigtsenwho will return to Continental cross country after last year’s absence and will do so in an event in Antalya that looks like a ‘tailor-made suit’. The race will be shorter than usual (7,500 meters) and have a very fast and runnable profile. Ingebrigtsen concentrated for four weeks at the altitude of Sierra Nevada (Granada) to reach his first big goal of the season at his peak.

The Norwegian is looking for his third overall crown after back-to-back achievements in Dublin 2021 and Turin 2022when he debuted in the top category. Previously, he had won four consecutive titles as an U-20, an unparalleled letter of introduction. His closest rival is the Spanish Thierry Ndikumwenayoa great cross country specialist and one of the hardest runners of the season. The Spaniard, born in Burundi, will make his debut with the national team in a continental cross country and will do so with the brand favorite alongside the Italian. Yemen Crippa and the defending champion Yann Schrub. In the female category, the great reference is the three-time champion Karoline Grovdalwhich will have a strong Italian rival Nadia Battocletti and to the ever-fighting Koko Klosterhalfen and the Turkish Yasemin Can.

The 40 Spanish representatives

Spain went to Antalya with a strong team of 40 members, 20 men and 20 women, the maximum possible. The captains are, by seniority, Adel Mechaal and Carolina Robles.

Man

• completely: Fernando Carro, Nassim Hassaous, Aarón Las Heras, Adel Mechaal, Thierry Ndikumwenayo and Abdessamad Oukhelfen
• Under 23 years of age: Pablo Alba, Brahim El Ourzadi, Eric Loré, Miguel Ángel Martínez, Jaime Migallón and Pol Oriach
• Under 20 years of age: Marcos Crespo, Óscar Gaitán, Andrés Lara, Unai Naranjo, Àlex Pintado, Gonçalo José Sousa

woman

• completely: Carla Arce, Alicia Berzosa, Carla Gallardo, Idaira Prieto, Carolina Robles and Cristina Ruiz
• Under 23 years of age: Claudia Corral, Jihad Essoubai, María Forero, Marta Serrano, Àmbar Tomàs and Ángela Viciosa
• Under 20: Candela Blázquez, Laia Cariñanos, Emma Méndez, Anna Rovirosa, Nadia Soto and June Sudupe

Schedules and where to find them

Telesport will offer full competition live on Sunday, December 8 with the following races (Spanish time):

• 08:55h – Women’s Under 20
• 09:25h – Men’s Under 20
• 09:50 am – Mixed relay
• 10:20 am – Women’s Under 23
• 10:55h – Men’s Under 23
• 11:25h – Women’s Absolute
• 12:05h – Men’s Absolute
• 1:00 pm – Medal presentation

A very fast and favorable route to Ingebrigtsen

All races are held in the park Antalya Dokuma and there will be two marked routes, a short one of 1,510 meters and a long route of 1,800 meters. Depending on the test distance in each category, you need to do more or less laps. The floor is attractive, with freshly planted grass as if it were a soccer field, quite runnable and no difficulty in other scenarios with dirt and mud. It is important to wear well-fitting shoes with spikes to prevent slipping. The morphology of the park is quite flat, so they have created some artificial obstacles to create some difficulty in a route that invites you to run and that can be very helpful in the characteristics of Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

In addition, the distance of the men’s race will be shorter than usual (7,500 meters), which will give the Norwegian more options to show – remember that he is the current Olympic 5,000m champion -. “For my part, I see it well.”ensures Ndikumwenoyo after meeting the route in person with the RFEA. “They have already said it is fastbut i think not so much”, he added with his characteristic caution before competitions.

The race old woman will be played 40 minutes earlier on the same route 7,500mwhich will provide many clues for his teammates on the men’s team. This time, there will be complete equality between the men’s and women’s races in all categories, with identical routes and distances. In this way, the under-20s will complete 4,500 meters and the under-23s a total of 6,000 meters. The mixed relay sections will make up a 1,500m relay each.