2012

:00:50. > :00:54.Welcome to our final athletics coverage of the year and what a

:00:54. > :00:57.calendar 2012 will make. It is the start of a new season and a new

:00:57. > :01:01.Olympic cycle. There is no more road to London now. It is the road

:01:01. > :01:04.to Rio. The European Cross Country Championships has always been a

:01:04. > :01:14.happy hunting ground for the British team.

:01:14. > :01:21.The Brits have topped the medal table for the last last two years.

:01:21. > :01:27.Ireland's Fionnuala Britton has a title to defend and she will face

:01:27. > :01:32.stiff opposition. The men's race features last year's

:01:32. > :01:39.champion and no European Cross Country Championships would be

:01:39. > :01:46.complete without the Ukraine. We will cast our minds forward to

:01:46. > :01:48.next year and get Steve Cram's view on who might be the faces to look

:01:48. > :01:55.out for. The championships are billed as

:01:55. > :01:59.taking place in Budapest. The course is outside the capital.

:01:59. > :02:06.There is snow on the ground. There is sub-zero conditions. It will be

:02:06. > :02:12.a challenge for the athletes and the animals too!

:02:12. > :02:16.First, let's introduce our special guest this afternoon, she won in

:02:16. > :02:22.championship a couple of times and plenty more besides.

:02:22. > :02:28.And she is is taking them on. Paula Radcliffe, champion of Europe. The

:02:28. > :02:38.Commonwealth champion, this is the gold medal she wanted and she wins

:02:38. > :02:40.

:02:40. > :02:43.Personality of the year, ladies and gentlemen, Paula Radcliffe.

:02:43. > :02:46.A new world record for Paula Radcliffe. A fantastic performance.

:02:46. > :02:51.The best yet. Paula Radcliffe is changing the

:02:51. > :03:01.rules. She is bringing that women's world record closer and closer to

:03:01. > :03:09.

:03:09. > :03:15.the men. Paula Radcliffe becomes Paula Radcliffe storming down the

:03:15. > :03:21.finishing straight and wins the New York City Marathon, one of the best

:03:21. > :03:24.races you will ever see. It is hard to believe that Sports

:03:24. > :03:27.Personality of the Year, when you won it, was ten years ago. You look

:03:27. > :03:31.young and glamorous. It is great to have you here. Some amazing

:03:31. > :03:36.memories. It must be special to look back at all of that? Yes, it

:03:36. > :03:41.is very special looking back and I'm kind of at that cross roads now,

:03:41. > :03:46.I have come off a big surgery, coming up on four months ago and I

:03:47. > :03:52.don't want my career to be finished and I'm working on keeping going

:03:52. > :03:56.and adding more and more to that memory bank that I have, but there

:03:56. > :04:04.are some special memories there. What have you had done? And how are

:04:04. > :04:08.you getting on. Paula is looking gingerly, when she is walking along,

:04:08. > :04:14.how are you getting on? It has been a slow and hard process. I had

:04:14. > :04:19.three foot operations in one across the mid-foot area, including bones

:04:19. > :04:24.taken away and cartilage repair tried to be done on the inside of

:04:24. > :04:30.my foot. Two of them have taken really well and the cartilage is at

:04:30. > :04:33.that stage where we are waiting to see did it come or did did did it

:04:33. > :04:40.not? The goal is to be back by Christmas and building up to racing

:04:40. > :04:45.next year. Any idea with a date? I I would

:04:45. > :04:49.love to be in London, but that's going to be close and I think I'm

:04:49. > :04:54.more likely looking at a 10 kilometre race, building up to a

:04:54. > :04:57.marathon in the autumn. How tough has this year been? We

:04:57. > :05:02.saw the highlights of of your career, the gap is the Olympic

:05:02. > :05:06.Games, when we think back to Athens and with Beijing. How tough was it

:05:06. > :05:09.to make the decision to pull out of London and to to watch it on

:05:09. > :05:14.television? It wasn't actually a decision that I could have. I

:05:14. > :05:20.couldn't even walk come the race. So it was really taken out of my

:05:20. > :05:23.hands. We tried everything at least I can look back and say, "There was

:05:23. > :05:27.nothing that could have enabled my foot to get through that race." We

:05:27. > :05:31.tried everything and it didn't work, but the hardest time ever in my

:05:31. > :05:33.career. Happening once in an Olympics is bad luck, but happening

:05:33. > :05:38.twice and three times, it broke my heart.

:05:38. > :05:44.We have got the pictures there. It seems cruel to show them, it wasn't

:05:44. > :05:48.my idea. Did you watch it? I did watch it in a hotel room crying. I

:05:48. > :05:51.couldn't face being out on the streets, but I was glad that I had

:05:51. > :05:55.the strength to come to London and to watch the Olympics and to go

:05:55. > :06:00.into the stadium. I think London did an amazing job and the Games

:06:00. > :06:03.makers were superb and the athletes performed. I was glad to be part of

:06:03. > :06:06.that in some respect, even though I couldn't be part of it.

:06:06. > :06:12.You said it is touch and go perhaps whether you get back to racing at

:06:12. > :06:17.all. How important do you think it is to finish on two feet running

:06:18. > :06:22.rather than to look back and say, "That was the end in London.".

:06:22. > :06:26.is important for me and my pride. The swaying that I I ended up in

:06:26. > :06:30.London, where I was struggling to walk, and where I am not back to

:06:30. > :06:33.yet, I would settle to run around with the children and play play

:06:33. > :06:37.around with them, but the competitive side of me is still

:06:37. > :06:41.slogging away hard, cross training, doing the rehab exercises because I

:06:41. > :06:44.want to be able to keep running in ten years for the fun of it and for

:06:45. > :06:48.the pleasure, but I want to be able to finish a race and finish my

:06:48. > :06:53.career and finish a race. People might say that perhaps your

:06:53. > :06:59.your strength is is also your weakness, you are so single minded

:06:59. > :07:05.that you are going to go out and win every time, do you have to

:07:05. > :07:11.change, are you ambition is perhaps to get back into racing? I think as

:07:11. > :07:17.your career goes on and you change. If I look back to where I was in

:07:17. > :07:24.200 and 2003, probably where Murray is now, in your mind you are

:07:24. > :07:29.invincible and in your opponent's mind sometimes you are, as your

:07:29. > :07:33.career goes on, you know the most important is getting yourself back

:07:33. > :07:37.to that mindset so the others can believe it and you know and

:07:37. > :07:42.understand that your body is more vulnerable and you had your peak

:07:42. > :07:46.time, but the base competitor who thinks she is 18 and trying to run

:07:46. > :07:50.as as she can is never going to be gone in me.

:07:50. > :08:00.Thank you, Paula. We are going to head out to Budapest. We can look

:08:00. > :08:01.

:08:01. > :08:08.at the races that happened earlier on. Steve Cram describes the action.

:08:08. > :08:12.The women's junior race which Great Britain owns, three individual

:08:12. > :08:18.individual runners. The defending champion who won this title last

:08:18. > :08:28.year, all thee of them are coached by Mick Woods and a strong British

:08:28. > :08:32.

:08:32. > :08:36.by Mick Woods and a strong British team. Jen Walsh was very close to

:08:36. > :08:46.the leader. Minus 6 Celsius, not all of the athletes are able to

:08:46. > :08:53.

:08:53. > :09:01.cope with the conditions, and there was good packing from the British

:09:02. > :09:09.team. Serbia's athlete has quite got on the podium. For a long time

:09:09. > :09:16.it looked as if that was going to follow the script. For a highly the

:09:16. > :09:20.Serbian looked very, very tired. The two of them well ahead of the

:09:20. > :09:28.rest of the field. As they approached the final stages in a

:09:28. > :09:34.slight downhill section in this twisty, turny course, the Serbian

:09:34. > :09:40.found extra. It was used to good effect over the last 400 meters.

:09:40. > :09:49.There was nothing, absolutely nothing, the defending champion

:09:49. > :09:55.could do. And once she was in sight of the finish, she was never to be

:09:55. > :10:05.headed. After winning a silver in the past two years, it was obvious

:10:05. > :10:09.

:10:09. > :10:19.she prepared for this event and wasn't phased by these conditions.

:10:19. > :10:21.

:10:21. > :10:27.The Gold Medallist Amelia Terzic. It was a good run and behind her

:10:27. > :10:37.some really good performances. Annabel Mason ran particularly well

:10:37. > :10:46.

:10:46. > :10:52.to come into fifth place and was backed up with Jen Wap Wal Walsh.

:10:52. > :10:59.A more open race in the junior mens. No outstanding favourites. Great

:10:59. > :11:03.Britain were hoping that they could get some individual on to the

:11:03. > :11:07.rostrum, but I am not sure who that would be. The trials which are are

:11:07. > :11:10.held in Liverpool were on a muddier course and of course, cross-country

:11:10. > :11:20.you get different conditions in the winner and this is different to

:11:20. > :11:30.

:11:30. > :11:39.what they faced in Liverpool. As things started to settle down,

:11:39. > :11:43.rather surprising - James Wilkinson of Great Britain had a good race.

:11:43. > :11:51.James Wilkinson stayed strong. As though the first tworks there was

:11:51. > :11:57.no doubt about -- two, there was no doubt about gold and silver, James

:11:57. > :12:01.Wilkinson produced a storming finish to clinch the gold medal.

:12:01. > :12:11.The team performance performance was one, they were hoping they

:12:11. > :12:19.

:12:19. > :12:24.Some more medals for the British team. Brendan has joined us. Let's

:12:24. > :12:27.pick up from Paula and I finished on the chat. As you get towards the

:12:27. > :12:35.end of your career, maybe changing your ambitions, finding a different

:12:35. > :12:39.way, I guess to compete? Well, thinking back, I can't remember

:12:39. > :12:43.what it was like then. For Paula, I understand, I mean the Olympics, I

:12:43. > :12:47.felt for her when I knew she was getting ready and six weeks

:12:47. > :12:49.beforehand, she was in really good shape and the Olympics was coming

:12:50. > :12:54.and it was a chance and it was in London and then when that

:12:54. > :12:58.disappeared and the operations and so on and so fort, I think it is --

:12:58. > :13:02.fort, I think it is a situation only she can tell, but you've got

:13:03. > :13:07.to agree that it would be wonderful to see Paula go out of the race, a

:13:07. > :13:13.descent race where she is actually competitive in some shape or form,

:13:13. > :13:19.whatever distance, it doesn't really matter, 10,000, half

:13:19. > :13:22.marathon, marathon, me and the rest of the British public would hate

:13:22. > :13:30.hate to think we have seen the last of Paula.

:13:30. > :13:32.You haven't! Knowing what you are like. Take a bet? Let's talk about

:13:32. > :13:36.the European Cross Country Championships. How much do the

:13:36. > :13:40.conditions afet the athletes and I guess, some some prefer dry

:13:40. > :13:48.conditions and some would like that? I love running in conditions

:13:48. > :13:52.like that. I remember so many times doing cross-country in the snow. My

:13:52. > :13:57.junior cross-country title was in conditions to that. You need to be

:13:57. > :14:02.comfortable. You don't need to be running with reputation. They need

:14:02. > :14:05.to be sure of that food wear, have the -- footwear, have the right

:14:05. > :14:12.spikes so they can run up and down the hills with total confidence. It

:14:12. > :14:15.is a different style. A long loping style on a course like that doesn't

:14:15. > :14:20.work as well as the choppier high left.

:14:20. > :14:24.You suffer with asthma and the cold mustn't be great? It is, but they

:14:24. > :14:28.will have warmed up adequately. I think the big thing with asthma in

:14:28. > :14:36.conditions like that is making sure you warm up and you start gradually

:14:36. > :14:42.maybe with a scar of over your -- - - scarf over your mouth.

:14:42. > :14:46.Brendan, we have Fionnuala Britton back to defend her title. She had a

:14:46. > :14:50.great battle last year with Felix of Spain? She had an interesting

:14:50. > :14:54.summer. She made progress after the winter. She looks as if she will be

:14:54. > :14:57.a great cross-country runner, I wonder if she will be as good a

:14:57. > :15:03.track runner. Nobody has defended the title before and she is in with

:15:03. > :15:06.a chance. She is running well. She ran good races recent ly. She is a

:15:06. > :15:16.class athlete and it would be great to see her do well.

:15:16. > :15:22.

:15:22. > :15:26.Paula is going to head to the far today have struggled with the

:15:26. > :15:29.underfoot conditions, as the guys were saying, it is a case of first

:15:29. > :15:34.of all making sure you are warm before you start. We are seeing a

:15:34. > :15:43.few people not managing to get the temperature up at all. Minus six

:15:43. > :15:47.Celsius. And then coping a really hard underfoot scene here. It is

:15:47. > :15:53.one they would have expected. To make a point, all these teams have

:15:53. > :15:56.had their preparations affected by travelling to bud pa pest, the

:15:56. > :16:02.airport was -- Budapest, the airport was closed because of a

:16:02. > :16:07.fire. A lot had to make changes to their plans. The British team ended

:16:07. > :16:12.up flying to Vienna and getting a bus from there to Budapest. They

:16:12. > :16:17.all arrived safely. So far, so good. Great Britain have such a good

:16:17. > :16:22.pedigree in these championships. The senior women though is an area,

:16:22. > :16:28.which despite the successs in the past, despite the likes of Paula,

:16:28. > :16:33.one who might struggle to find some individual success here today.

:16:33. > :16:36.One or two early flurrys to the front in the earlier races have not

:16:36. > :16:41.proved to be that successful. The laps they are going to run here, I

:16:41. > :16:47.will try and explain to you. It is not always easy to pick it out. It

:16:48. > :16:51.is a beautiful setting, this outdoor museum, tenkms north-west

:16:51. > :16:56.of Budapest. They have 500 metres after the

:16:56. > :17:05.start. Four of them to negotiate and four longer gaps, which are

:17:05. > :17:11.roughly 400 metres each. The total distance is 8,000 metres.

:17:11. > :17:17.Around about five miles. Not too hilly. A drop down to the far

:17:17. > :17:24.section and they climb back up to the start line. Kind of a very slow,

:17:24. > :17:34.gradual climb up, when they are on the long lap and then a nice gentle

:17:34. > :17:36.

:17:36. > :17:42.down-hill run to the finish line. Start to pick out one or two names,

:17:42. > :17:46.was Belete. A lot of these women race against each other regularly.

:17:46. > :17:53.The cross-country season is under way. Events particularly through

:17:53. > :17:57.the last four or five weeks, but in warmer climates, such as Spain and

:17:57. > :18:03.other venues. It is a day which is about horses for courses. Who can

:18:03. > :18:12.run well in these conditions. Britton, there she is - has had a

:18:12. > :18:17.good winter so far. She has not had it all her own way.

:18:17. > :18:23.Ejjafini, of Italy is a name which is coming familiar.

:18:23. > :18:31.Some of the contenders, and indeed the French will be hoping - going

:18:31. > :18:41.through the pitch, Duarte may be someone who will figure as well. I

:18:41. > :18:44.

:18:45. > :18:53.can see Moreira there. A little difficult to follow them

:18:53. > :18:58.around the course, as I said, with the short lap and the long lap.

:18:58. > :19:02.Paula had made it to the commentary box. Sometimes you have to modify a

:19:02. > :19:06.bit, particularly in the early stages, when you are not running

:19:06. > :19:11.flat-out, but modifying the stride length and how you run on this type

:19:11. > :19:21.of surface. It's something not everybody manages to do. Absolutely.

:19:21. > :19:21.

:19:21. > :19:28.If you think back to the under-20 race and how Emelia was side to

:19:28. > :19:34.side on her style. More relaxed, up and down, and it

:19:34. > :19:41.seems to work better. A lot is confidence as well and being sure

:19:41. > :19:51.have the right footing. That lack of fear can help a lot too. I am

:19:51. > :19:55.

:19:55. > :20:00.sure you can see the transponders. In these championships, through the

:20:00. > :20:05.six events, they are hoping to go beyond the 100 medals. Teams and

:20:05. > :20:13.individuals at these championships. Considering they only started in

:20:13. > :20:19.1994 - it's not a bad record, is it? It's very good. I think the

:20:19. > :20:27.strength of all the European countries, ahead of France and I

:20:27. > :20:32.think it just shows we staged the inaugural in 1994 and have

:20:32. > :20:37.continued to support it very well. The question of whether the under-

:20:37. > :20:42.23 race should still be part of the championships at this level was

:20:42. > :20:51.introduced as more of a stepping stone at world level. Is it really

:20:51. > :21:00.needed here? It will still go on. The two smallest fields have been

:21:00. > :21:04.very proud of the fact they 56 had more entries. The two which had the

:21:04. > :21:11.least were the under-23s and senior women. Why on earth they don't put

:21:11. > :21:16.them together, I am not sure. Those under the-23s are capable of

:21:16. > :21:20.winning in the senior women events as well. The iner with of the

:21:20. > :21:30.under-23 race would have probably been up there in the senior race. I

:21:30. > :21:34.

:21:34. > :21:41.think it does certainly, from a have us of having a shot of wining

:21:41. > :21:47.the team race. You can see Caryl Jones on the left-hand-side.

:21:47. > :21:52.Did really well in the Great North Run. Performed well as in the half

:21:52. > :21:57.world marathon championships as well. A surprise to see her in the

:21:57. > :22:01.team, but when you run that well across all surfaces you cannot help

:22:01. > :22:06.yourself. Rosie Smith, not back in the team

:22:06. > :22:10.since she was a junior, a good few years ago. Emily Wicks and Katrina

:22:11. > :22:16.Wootton. Hopes that if not an individual medal, that certainly

:22:16. > :22:23.the team can run well enough to pick up a med until the team race.

:22:23. > :22:28.The French will be strong. The top four finishers are the four who

:22:28. > :22:32.count for the team race. Just taking a while for anyone to

:22:32. > :22:36.push on here. Fionnuala Britton is at the front. Look at Caryl Jones -

:22:36. > :22:41.it looks as if she wants to rush on a bit. It looks as if it is a

:22:41. > :22:44.comfortable pace. Yes, she looks very comfortable on it. I don't

:22:44. > :22:50.think Louise is looking so comfortable. She probably would

:22:51. > :22:56.have been better on a muder, turned up course T way this has worked out

:22:56. > :23:02.today - because the temperatures are so subzero, although it is

:23:02. > :23:06.rutted, it is hard on the ground. They are running pretty quickly.

:23:06. > :23:11.Fionnuala Britton has been training. Here she comes... You get respect

:23:11. > :23:18.when you win, but you have pressure to do it. It's not easy. You have

:23:18. > :23:24.to go into every race the same way and take every race one race at a

:23:24. > :23:29.time and look at it the same way as the race last year and see what

:23:29. > :23:32.happened then. We were not sure when the organisers would play any

:23:32. > :23:37.interviews. When she was talking about Fionnuala Britton, up she

:23:37. > :23:41.pops! There's been a fair of the British

:23:41. > :23:45.squad who have been up there and training. There'll be another bunch

:23:45. > :23:50.- in fact some have stayed out - there's another bun nch January.

:23:50. > :23:53.It's a major part of any endurance athletes preparation, if of course

:23:53. > :24:01.you can get somebody to get you there.

:24:01. > :24:06.And if you can get easily in there as well. So, some of thoseing back

:24:06. > :24:09.-- some of those coming back. I don't know if anybody has gone and

:24:09. > :24:13.come back. The whole team's travel plans were disrupted with the

:24:13. > :24:17.closure of the airport. Some people's races will have been

:24:17. > :24:25.thrown off by that. Hopefully not too many. They did seem to get

:24:25. > :24:35.there in plenty of time to get a look at the course. Fionnuala

:24:35. > :24:39.

:24:39. > :24:47.Britton is following in the footsteps of Katrina McKern.

:24:47. > :24:52.More we may see a move to the marathon at some point.

:24:52. > :24:57.Dulce Felix letting her know she is a force to be reckoned with too.

:24:57. > :25:04.lot of these women know each other very well.

:25:04. > :25:10.And Felix, perhaps the favourite to win here, but it was at the

:25:10. > :25:16.European track championships, the two of them - I think the last two

:25:16. > :25:21.they raced each other, Britain missed out on a medal.

:25:21. > :25:27.Jo Pavey not able to contend with the Portuguese athlete in the

:25:27. > :25:35.contending stages. Starting to settle down. Rosie Smith moving in

:25:35. > :25:40.a bit. She's been training with Jen Walsh.

:25:40. > :25:45.Jen is at University. She was in the junior race. You saw that a few

:25:45. > :25:53.minutes ago. Rosie is coming back to good form. She was in the team

:25:53. > :26:03.as a junior. Bark bark going through the picture

:26:03. > :26:04.

:26:04. > :26:09.-- Baker going through the picture. Louise Damen is struggling further

:26:09. > :26:15.back. Louise was born with a dislocated hip. It is probably

:26:15. > :26:18.unfortunately going to mean she's less at home on such a rutted and

:26:18. > :26:28.uneven changing surface as she S she's the only one - I cannot pick

:26:28. > :26:34.

:26:34. > :26:39.her up there. The rest of the team are doing very, very well.

:26:39. > :26:43.This venue is one of the places you should vis it if you are ever in

:26:43. > :26:48.this part of the -- visit if you are ever in this part of the world.

:26:48. > :26:52.I will tell this story to embarrass Paula. The statistician in

:26:52. > :26:56.conversation with a man who is the director of the museum, said, yes,

:26:56. > :27:03.he thought it would be a good idea to have races here because they

:27:03. > :27:08.wanted to see the girl with the bobbing head. Mark said, "Do you

:27:08. > :27:15.mean Paula?", he said, yes, it is here.

:27:15. > :27:20.-- it is her. I think we see such a variety. Looking at that shot there

:27:20. > :27:30.of clothing and the levels that people have got on, just watched

:27:30. > :27:33.

:27:33. > :27:36.Felix struggle to remove her gloves and throw them to the side.

:27:36. > :27:40.Fionnuala is bundled up. It is being in the right amount of

:27:40. > :27:50.clothing to be warmed, but not so wrapped up you feel you cannot get

:27:50. > :27:55.

:27:55. > :28:00.management contingent out there in full force. The performance

:28:00. > :28:07.director, Neil Black and the head of endurance, over from the USA.

:28:07. > :28:14.That will be a wake-up call for him, over to wintry conditions in Europe.

:28:14. > :28:20.He's come in from California. They do get their fair share of snow up

:28:20. > :28:25.there. But a first for him to be at a European Championships as well.

:28:25. > :28:35.They don't see cross-country like this in the US. Things starting to

:28:35. > :28:35.

:28:36. > :28:39.settle down a little bit. The group of 12-15 athletes, Rosie

:28:39. > :28:46.Smith, Caryl Jones at the front there.

:28:46. > :28:53.Felix, Ball, all the pre-race favourites t two French and a team-

:28:53. > :29:01.mate, who has been having a good season as well. Herzog there. Look

:29:01. > :29:05.at Britain - you can see now it's head down, Felix has her mouth open

:29:05. > :29:08.more and breathing heavier, as Britain starts to apply some early

:29:08. > :29:12.pressure here. Katrina Wootton going through the pitch. Ireland

:29:12. > :29:17.doing well in terms of packing behind Britain. The team race will

:29:17. > :29:22.be interesting. I think Britain, I have to be careful here - Great

:29:22. > :29:25.Britain as opposed to Fionnuala Britton, certainly well placed. The

:29:25. > :29:31.French perhaps with the advantage at the moment. You can see how that

:29:31. > :29:35.has broken up. She is pushing on here. She looks very comfortable

:29:35. > :29:39.there. Very economical as she is running over the surface. You can

:29:39. > :29:49.see the style is much more laboured of the girls running behind, trying

:29:49. > :29:50.

:29:51. > :29:58.to hold on to it. Belete settling in comfortably

:29:58. > :30:01.there. She's running for Belgium now. But of Ethiopian origin. Her

:30:01. > :30:05.sister is running for Bahrain. She probably doesn't see conditions too

:30:05. > :30:11.much like this, but would have spent time in Belgium and has

:30:11. > :30:21.already raced on the cross-country circuits. She doesn't look scared

:30:21. > :30:27.

:30:27. > :30:32.reminds of the cross-country race in Italy where they would go up and

:30:32. > :30:37.down steps and go through the barn. It does make it more difficult

:30:37. > :30:40.because you don't know what the surface is like there. If you have

:30:40. > :30:44.a concrete surface through the barn, that will make it more difficult.

:30:44. > :30:52.This log that you have to jump over, the last thing you want is your

:30:52. > :31:01.spikes to get stuck as you try to jump off. I think it is safe, they

:31:01. > :31:04.are not getting too stuck in that. One or two who sets off with big

:31:04. > :31:07.intentions are maybe starting to struggle a bit, but Felix in

:31:07. > :31:11.particular for me with this pressure applied by the defending

:31:11. > :31:16.champion, Fionnuala Britton, you can see the team standings, it is

:31:16. > :31:19.close. Ifrld are well up -- Ireland are well up and there and France

:31:19. > :31:23.and Great Britain, a few points are separating the top three. Spain in

:31:23. > :31:28.fourth place, but the top three places will chop and change as

:31:28. > :31:38.athletes move up and down the field in the latter stages. Still a good

:31:38. > :31:44.

:31:44. > :31:54.way to go here, but Britain is pushing, is putting a lot of

:31:54. > :31:57.

:31:57. > :32:06.pressure on ba on boa on ba letty, full of confidence. There is a good

:32:06. > :32:16.run from fin from fin from Fionnuala Britton. Surely if you

:32:16. > :32:17.

:32:17. > :32:25.are a distance runner you can do both well, when Fionnuala gets on

:32:25. > :32:35.the track she runs with confidence. 's more at home and relaxed instead

:32:35. > :32:35.

:32:35. > :32:40.of the bouncing around and you can see the tension there. Fionnuala

:32:40. > :32:48.Britton seems to be floating over it and on the track she has the

:32:48. > :32:53.feeling of constraint at looking at too many people packed around here.

:32:53. > :32:57.Here she can run how she wants to run and control it. The cross-

:32:57. > :33:07.country is more run how you feel rather than set times and she is

:33:07. > :33:11.

:33:11. > :33:20.more at home there and throwing in surges which made the likes of

:33:20. > :33:25.Felix suffer. Sophie did struggle with foot

:33:25. > :33:30.injuries and has come back OK from that now because I think any type

:33:30. > :33:37.of foot worry would find you out on this course today.

:33:37. > :33:40.Yes, it is interesting, there is a benchmark, Fionnuala Britton in her

:33:41. > :33:47.last race before coming to the championships a couple of weeks ago,

:33:47. > :33:52.finished in third behind a couple of Ethiopians and the two two

:33:52. > :33:58.French women were fifth and eighth. She might have been surprised to

:33:58. > :34:01.see her come alongside her and it pushed her on to another effort.

:34:01. > :34:05.She wouldn't have expected her to be this close and Felix having to

:34:05. > :34:15.work hard, but Fionnuala Britton, using the banks, using the parts of

:34:15. > :34:15.

:34:15. > :34:21.the course where she can apply her strength a little bit, but it is a

:34:21. > :34:26.good run so far. Sophie doesn't always get her

:34:26. > :34:30.pacing right and we have seen that with the earlier races. If you

:34:30. > :34:36.haven't got your pacing perfect, something Fionnuala Britton is good

:34:36. > :34:40.at, it will find you out later on. The other thing we have seen today

:34:40. > :34:43.is the more comfortable you are running downhill on slippy, hard

:34:43. > :34:46.icy surface like that, it will stand you in good stead as the run

:34:47. > :34:51.into the finishing straight on the back part of the lap is downhill

:34:51. > :34:59.the whole way and I think you need to be secure and relaxed running

:34:59. > :35:06.over that. Well, they are heading at the top

:35:06. > :35:10.end of the course from the start/finish area through this

:35:10. > :35:19.rescone structed -- reconstructed village. They have brought various

:35:19. > :35:24.bits of Hungarian culture culture to this one site and of rural

:35:24. > :35:28.interest and hence, I was going to say, we will be going through the

:35:28. > :35:32.barn and this is the bit Paula, next time round, when they are on

:35:32. > :35:37.the last lap, they will be thinking, from this point it is not far from

:35:37. > :35:40.the finish and you have got to negotiate this part well, Fionnuala

:35:40. > :35:46.Britton would like to have not too much company. She trying hard to

:35:46. > :35:49.break them up. She pushed on again and wants to get the gaps and keep

:35:49. > :35:55.the pressure on as she heads towards the last lap.

:35:55. > :35:59.Yes, definitely. She would like to be coming out and put ago surge on

:35:59. > :36:05.going into the buildings, in towards the logs in to that twisty

:36:05. > :36:11.set because running hard around a bend when they can't always see you

:36:11. > :36:21.is a good way to get a jump on people. She is not a slouch, but

:36:21. > :36:36.

:36:36. > :36:43.she is not going to be finishing as fast as her competitor.

:36:43. > :36:46.Fionnuala Britton and behind her is the Belgian. She has been happy to

:36:46. > :36:50.let Fionnuala Britton do all the work. These two are pulling away.

:36:50. > :36:55.Fionnuala Britton will be able to hear her breathing and the

:36:55. > :37:00.footsteps behind and maybe just sensing if she can keep more

:37:00. > :37:10.pressure on here, she might be able to break the Belgium athlete.

:37:10. > :37:11.

:37:11. > :37:15.It is a difficult situation for Fionnuala Britton. It is hard to

:37:15. > :37:20.race someone like that and you have to just keep applying the pressure,

:37:20. > :37:30.applying the pressure and just trusting at some point you might

:37:30. > :37:31.

:37:31. > :37:39.get that break and you don't want to see if she backs up, and tries

:37:39. > :37:45.to let her opponent do the work. Well, Felix is really rallying as

:37:45. > :37:51.well in the green there of Portugal, run of the pre-race favourites, she

:37:51. > :37:55.must have been 30 meters adrift and has made a big effort. Hearing the

:37:55. > :38:05.bell that's probably helped her raise her game. Fionnuala Britton

:38:05. > :38:07.

:38:07. > :38:12.needs to keep the pressure on. She will be joined by Felix Felix and

:38:12. > :38:16.Herzog. Felix has got a very, very strong second wind here. I am

:38:16. > :38:22.wondering if early on she was suffering with a stitch or

:38:22. > :38:30.something on her shoe because she is running for comfortably here and

:38:30. > :38:35.closing the gap and bringing Herzog with her. It maybe we will see a

:38:35. > :38:41.bunch of of four by the time we go through the barn area.

:38:41. > :38:45.Rosie Smith, having a good run, but the team race as far as they are

:38:45. > :38:51.concerned seem seems to be heading one of the other teams. These are

:38:51. > :39:01.the top three, Felix finished in the top three in the last two

:39:01. > :39:09.

:39:09. > :39:13.championships. She was third to years ago, her teammate Jessica

:39:13. > :39:22.agusto. You have got to hang on and pick up a couple of paces because

:39:22. > :39:25.you never know. There is Rosie Smith. Rosy Smith leading -- Rosie

:39:25. > :39:30.Smith leading the Brits at the moment.

:39:30. > :39:37.One One thing that might help Fionnuala Britton, there seem to be

:39:37. > :39:41.lapping runners. It does give her something to pull into. We haven't

:39:41. > :39:45.mentioned the win, but it is -- wind, but it is strong and you can

:39:45. > :39:50.see how they are going into single file behind her and she is she is

:39:50. > :39:54.doing a lot of the work. Is Felix struggling again? Or is it the way

:39:54. > :39:59.she is running up the hill? This is the git where they are -- bit where

:39:59. > :40:04.they are moving away from the start/finish area and they run into

:40:04. > :40:08.the part of the course where they go into the barn and over the logs,

:40:08. > :40:15.once they burn over the logs, it is downhill. If Felix is close enough

:40:15. > :40:21.when they get to that section, if she has got anything left, she

:40:21. > :40:26.might be able to raise her game. Fionnuala Britton is getting enough

:40:26. > :40:32.of a gap, but Felix recognises and realises the danger and quickly

:40:32. > :40:39.moves to cover the Irish come. Fionnuala Britton has got a five

:40:39. > :40:47.meter lead, but heading into the latter stages and has got to keep

:40:47. > :40:52.the the pressure on, Paula? She has. She has the steeplechase experience

:40:52. > :40:56.and she needs to attack this bit so she has that little bit of a gap.

:40:56. > :41:06.She did hold that over Felix last year and seems to be Felix is

:41:06. > :41:11.

:41:11. > :41:19.looking behind, is she settling for second? Serge,

:41:19. > :41:26.Fionnuala Britton has that gap and has it in her sights and she needs

:41:26. > :41:30.to stay strong and composed there. Well, she is under danger, but

:41:30. > :41:34.Felix is struggling as you pointed out Paula, when an athlete looks

:41:34. > :41:38.behind and there is another glance behind checking there is no danger.

:41:38. > :41:45.There is still enough time for Felix if she can raise something

:41:45. > :41:52.over these last few hundred meters, but Fionnuala Britton is in for

:41:52. > :41:56.another gold medal. Can she hold on? There is the Irish flag. Herzog

:41:56. > :42:04.gets closer to her, but Fionnuala Britton could be the first athlete

:42:04. > :42:08.to defend her title in consecutive years here, but it is not over yet.

:42:08. > :42:11.Portugal hoping that Felix can muster something. She has yet to

:42:11. > :42:15.win the gold medal in these championships, but is close enough

:42:15. > :42:21.to strike. Fionnuala Britton not looking behind and concentrating

:42:22. > :42:26.and trying to find a little bit of pace. Felix with the better track

:42:26. > :42:36.cre credentials is not close enough. And gives it up because Fionnuala

:42:36. > :42:37.

:42:37. > :42:43.Britton is storming away down this home straight here. Heart Herzog

:42:43. > :42:47.pushing hard. And now Fionnuala Britton can enjoy the last 50 or 60

:42:47. > :42:56.meters. It has been a great run. A great victory and she defends her

:42:56. > :43:04.title in fine style. Fionnuala Britton takes the gold.

:43:04. > :43:14.Felix hangs on for the silver and Herzog, a really good run for her.

:43:14. > :43:18.

:43:19. > :43:23.Belete broken. The two French women coming in.

:43:23. > :43:28.Good packing from the British women, the question is will it be good

:43:28. > :43:33.good enough for them to be close to the team race? The French and the

:43:34. > :43:43.Irish will be contenting. There is Rosie Smith going through the

:43:44. > :43:46.

:43:46. > :43:52.picture so they have finished close together. There is Rosie. There is

:43:52. > :43:57.Katrina. Ireland, looking very good. It could be a great day for the

:43:57. > :44:03.Irish. They have already seen a fantastic run from Fionnuala

:44:03. > :44:13.Britton. The first woman to successfully defend this European

:44:13. > :44:20.

:44:20. > :44:26.No doubt about who won the woman's race there, a brilliant per

:44:26. > :44:32.performance from Fionnuala Britton? There is no clocks or lap times and

:44:32. > :44:36.and and nobody shouting the lap times. That was a pure piece of

:44:36. > :44:42.classy front running. She knew what she had to do and kept the task.

:44:42. > :44:48.She is running along with the Ethiopian born and Belgium athlete

:44:48. > :44:56.behind her and she kept going and going and at sometimes she looked

:44:56. > :45:02.tired, but she stuck to task and her mental strength was fantastic.

:45:02. > :45:07.That was a pure piece of class distance running by a good athlete

:45:07. > :45:12.and I think she will get better in the future. We will see her in a

:45:12. > :45:15.few weeks time running in the same competition and it was a pleasure

:45:15. > :45:18.watching her her.

:45:19. > :45:28.Felix, came second there, she dropped back, and then pulled back

:45:29. > :45:29.

:45:29. > :45:33.again. It is fascinating to watch It seemed like the pace was

:45:33. > :45:37.consistent and Fionnuala Britton kept on pushing and pushing. Behind

:45:37. > :45:40.her, she didn't seem concerned about. She did not look over her

:45:40. > :45:45.shoulder. You sense she was confident most of the way. I just

:45:45. > :45:55.thought that was a pleasure to watch. It was a really, really good

:45:55. > :45:55.

:45:55. > :46:00.run. She came under pressure and she looked as if she was whittling

:46:00. > :46:04.a little. After you could see they were all tired. Fionnuala Britton

:46:04. > :46:08.should be very proud of that. Very well done to her! In terms of the

:46:08. > :46:12.British performance, obviously saw them do well in the junior race.

:46:13. > :46:19.Are they making that transition well? It was not a great

:46:19. > :46:27.performance today. Cannot wait to see them later in

:46:27. > :46:31.the year. Julia Bleasdale, we will see her run in a few weeks. Some

:46:31. > :46:35.good athletes, they have been there before. Our team was not really -

:46:35. > :46:43.if the Irish were to win it, that would be a fantastic day. We wait

:46:43. > :46:47.on the results to come through. We wait on the final results. I wonder

:46:47. > :46:53.where this sits in the schedule. It is difficult to manage a season,

:46:53. > :46:58.isn't it? It is very frag nepbted. Distance -- Fragmented. The Olympic

:46:58. > :47:03.year is over, the track season is over. September/October they kind

:47:03. > :47:10.of get going again. By this time in December they should show some

:47:10. > :47:14.signs of fitness. Spring time is when the World Cross Country

:47:14. > :47:19.happens. This race is early. It could be better placed in January

:47:19. > :47:23.time. You always look to this event and you see signs of athletes

:47:23. > :47:28.and you see signs of athletes emerging. They have run well on the

:47:28. > :47:32.track. Some of the great names you see - not always winning this race,

:47:32. > :47:40.but often placing in the first two or three. In the junior race as

:47:40. > :47:47.well. You see, several years ago Mo Farah, who was second in the junior

:47:48. > :47:56.race. It starts the year. The track season is over and we are looking

:47:56. > :48:06.forward to next year. I heard that Ireland have won Team

:48:06. > :48:06.

:48:06. > :48:55.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 49 seconds

:48:55. > :49:01.skopgald. England ended one -- gold. That's one not to miss. I wonder

:49:01. > :49:06.who will join that gallery behind You were very dashing in the day,

:49:06. > :49:10.Bren! I was fashionable, especially with

:49:10. > :49:16.the tie and the haircut. We will talk about two awards which

:49:16. > :49:26.have been given out already. World Athlete of the skaf year in

:49:26. > :49:30.

:49:30. > :49:36.Barcelona. Usain Bolt won. I thought Rhodesia should have got it.

:49:36. > :49:41.I thought what was done was not fully appreciated and reflected in

:49:41. > :49:45.that. Yes, Bolt set the world record.

:49:45. > :49:49.Rhodesia did knit the 800 metre final. I don't think in modern

:49:49. > :49:59.times that has been done, has it? Just the quality of the field as

:49:59. > :50:00.

:50:00. > :50:05.well. The whole quality of that race and

:50:05. > :50:11.the strength and the courage that it took to go out and do that. I

:50:11. > :50:14.think it should have been reflected. He's a great man. His father was an

:50:14. > :50:19.Olympic silver medallist. He felt the Olympic tradition was important.

:50:19. > :50:23.On the day of the race, his manager told me he was going to be very

:50:23. > :50:28.fast and go as close to the world record as he could. The other young

:50:28. > :50:38.Kenya, he said "Listen, don't follow me. I am going quick. If you

:50:38. > :50:42.

:50:42. > :50:46.come with me, you'll die! Usain Bolt was special. We can look

:50:46. > :50:54.back to that. There was the question mark of whether he would

:50:55. > :50:59.or wouldn't win it. Was there really? They lost the Jamaican

:50:59. > :51:06.trials. Didn't get the best start, but came through. He knew he would

:51:06. > :51:13.do well. When you train every day with somebody and he knows, and

:51:13. > :51:18.Usain knows how hard, he knew Blake was a great trainer. You can have

:51:18. > :51:22.the trials - I'll have the Olympics. He is a showman. That was the big

:51:22. > :51:26.stage. He came out on the big stage and he got it right. If you are a

:51:26. > :51:33.showman, you have to win, don't you? It was not in his mind - it

:51:33. > :51:43.was never in his mind that he could lose that race. I sometimes think

:51:43. > :51:44.

:51:44. > :51:50.he doesn't get the credit he deserves,. Our sport needs Usain

:51:50. > :51:53.Bolt. He is a terrific bloke. That is not an act. Lots of other

:51:53. > :51:58.athletes have come behind him and started to act the showman because

:51:58. > :52:06.they know the cameras are on them. He is very excitable. He's been a

:52:06. > :52:10.breath of fresh air for our sport. It used to be all aggressive, the

:52:10. > :52:14.100 metre used to be like who is going to punch the hardest.

:52:14. > :52:18.sport needs more like that. One will not carry it. It is too much

:52:18. > :52:21.pressure on one person. It is not sustainable. We need more

:52:21. > :52:29.characters coming through who the public can identify and build up

:52:29. > :52:39.more interest in our sport. I am -- who might be the new faces? Steve

:52:39. > :52:50.

:52:50. > :52:54.Cram has been looking into his shis and a new record looked to --

:52:54. > :52:59.championships and a new record looked to justify that.

:52:59. > :53:09.Consistentsy is his biggest challenge. Olympic gold medallist

:53:09. > :53:16.

:53:16. > :53:24.Harting has highlighted he is the middle-distance star. Still only 17,

:53:24. > :53:29.he won silver in the 800 metres and finished third in the 800 Olympic

:53:29. > :53:32.trials. Despite Great Britain's ped free over the distance, no --

:53:32. > :53:42.pedigree over the distance, no other has run so quickly at this

:53:42. > :53:51.

:53:51. > :54:00.scene in 2012 after turning his back on a football career. He won

:54:00. > :54:10.Gold in 10.05 seconds. Britain has had promising sprinters before. He

:54:10. > :54:18.

:54:18. > :54:27.is mentally equipped to build on Olympic heptathlon. It is the

:54:27. > :54:29.beginning position. At her rate of performance, watch out for

:54:29. > :54:36.individual performances, particularly in the long jump,

:54:36. > :54:43.where she happens to be the World Junior Champion.

:54:43. > :54:47.After a disappointing World Championships in 2011, he set a

:54:47. > :54:54.personal best at Crystal Palace. A fall ended his Olympic dream. He

:54:54. > :55:04.ran a superb leg in the relay. Impressive flat speed, he will

:55:04. > :55:09.

:55:09. > :55:16.D And I almost wonder if you are a young athlete this is a list you

:55:16. > :55:21.don't want to be on, isn't it? good news is there were six shots

:55:21. > :55:29.at it. You probably want 12 shots of it. The hurdle ahead of Judd,

:55:29. > :55:34.she is a good young athlete. If you look, she handles -- she is in the

:55:34. > :55:42.hands of a former outstanding athlete. The hurdles ahead of her

:55:42. > :55:46.are just often, they often prove to be insurmountable. The pressure is

:55:46. > :55:50.sometimes a little bit too much. It is a gamble.

:55:50. > :55:55.We could probably name another six. Out of the other six, you might get

:55:55. > :56:00.one or two. It's not the list you want to be on, is it? It is hard.

:56:00. > :56:06.Probably the position you want to be in is, I want to be on that list.

:56:06. > :56:10.You are the one who is coming out with that fire and drive. I am

:56:10. > :56:13.going to show them!" as much as talent and having the talent there,

:56:13. > :56:17.it is having the mental ability to stick with it. It is tough. You

:56:17. > :56:23.have to be able to get over those pitfalls. You have to be able to

:56:23. > :56:33.get over the injuries. Not being selected when you should have been.

:56:33. > :56:37.The adjusting to new coaches, just getting your head around events

:56:37. > :56:41.like this. Waiting around to go out on the track.

:56:41. > :56:47.With the distance races there is more time for that in the races.

:56:47. > :56:51.With the sprinter and the heptathlon Katriana is showing

:56:51. > :57:01.she's at home in that situation, in London. It is a good one to watch.

:57:01. > :57:09.You mention Adam, you think of Mark Lewis Fransis.

:57:09. > :57:14.It shows the pitfalls, doesen it? If you -- doesn't it? In Jamaica

:57:14. > :57:22.they will have a programme like this saying he will be the next

:57:22. > :57:30.Usain Bolt. With Jess being there, it gives her

:57:30. > :57:37.a chance to develop. It takes some of the pressure off her of we want

:57:37. > :57:40.the next Louise Dennis. She can work her way, work, while at the

:57:40. > :57:50.same time trying to be the best in Britain, she's getting to be the

:57:50. > :57:54.best in the world. I think Jess will be the one going out tory ya.

:57:54. > :57:59.Katriana has time to work on it. Back to the action from today.

:57:59. > :58:04.Paula thinks the under-23 racers should not be here, but they are.

:58:04. > :58:14.We can see what happened earlier on. Well Great Britain had high hopes

:58:14. > :58:32.

:58:33. > :58:37.the conditions underfoot would suit. The conditions proved difficult.

:58:37. > :58:47.One of the athletes lost a shoe, bent down and took a few others

:58:47. > :59:01.

:59:01. > :59:08.or two did continue with just one shoe.

:59:08. > :59:14.Coulson moved her way through. She never looked in any doubt.

:59:14. > :59:21.Doaga pushing on. Once Coulson made her move, there was nothing anybody

:59:21. > :59:26.else could do without her. Walker, who finished second in the under-23

:59:26. > :59:31.age group was further back and it was the likes of Howarth who

:59:31. > :59:38.started particularly well, looking to provide the support behind

:59:38. > :59:46.Coulson. Coulson has had a couple of bad injuries, missed the 2010

:59:46. > :59:50.season. She is coached by Mick Woods. This year things are coming

:59:50. > :59:56.together nicely. That new-found strength and endurance is something

:59:56. > :00:00.that is putting to good effect. Looking tentative on the course.

:00:00. > :00:06.Looked occasionally as though she was over-striding a bit. Sort of

:00:06. > :00:16.picking her way through. She certainly wasn't losing

:00:16. > :00:26.

:00:26. > :00:36.anything in terms of the pace she just one shoe, why she stopped in

:00:36. > :00:40.

:00:40. > :00:43.the first place, I don't snow. -- know.

:00:43. > :00:50.Jess Coulson never looked like being caught. She settled down

:00:50. > :00:55.really nicely and kept going away from the rest of the field. And

:00:55. > :01:03.could enjoy a huge winning margin and that's been under lining the

:01:03. > :01:08.sort of form she has been in all season around Europe. Now the

:01:08. > :01:18.European under 23 cross-country champion. Who knows how well she

:01:18. > :01:20.

:01:20. > :01:24.could have run in the senior race. A really good performance from the

:01:24. > :01:28.British women. Not good enough to win the team gold. That would go to

:01:28. > :01:38.Russia who packed very well. They had three in the top ten and took

:01:38. > :01:41.

:01:41. > :01:45.the title. Jess Coulson could enjoy her

:01:45. > :01:50.individual success. Whether or not the to age groups get merged, it

:01:50. > :01:55.may well suit the British team who have one or two senior athletes in

:01:55. > :01:59.the British team. The same could be said of the men's. The British men

:01:59. > :02:03.came here hoping that they could produce one or two good

:02:03. > :02:10.performances, but without too many expectations and it is an odd age

:02:10. > :02:18.group this under 23 mens. There have have been winners in the past

:02:18. > :02:21.who have gone on to do very well. Last year, the silver medal went to

:02:21. > :02:26.James Wilkinson and he was set to have another good performance today,

:02:26. > :02:30.but he wasn't really figuring in the early stages. Although this

:02:30. > :02:40.race isn't as far as the senior men, it is a good test and not always

:02:40. > :02:41.

:02:41. > :02:47.one which suits the track athletes because the race race progressed,

:02:47. > :02:51.you you started to see the European 1500 meter champion, moving to the

:02:51. > :02:58.fore. James Wilkinson did well to follow him through.

:02:58. > :03:03.They just waited and waited. Wilkinson leading that chasing

:03:03. > :03:08.group. The leader took full advantage.

:03:08. > :03:12.That helped him close the gap. He stayed patient indeed and then you

:03:12. > :03:17.saw when he got into the latter stages there wasn't going to be a

:03:17. > :03:21.question whether whether the tall Norwegian athlete would have enough

:03:21. > :03:28.pace, James Wilkinson staying on strong. He would have to run well

:03:28. > :03:35.to hang on to the medal. There is Wilkinson and the Yorkshireman

:03:35. > :03:45.leading his team superbly well. The silver medal last year and

:03:45. > :03:47.

:03:47. > :03:56.third this year, but this year's winner improved from 15th last year

:03:56. > :04:06.to win the gold medal. Will win son really good performance from rim. A

:04:06. > :04:12.

:04:13. > :04:22.really good performance from rim. A solid run -- from him. A solid run.

:04:23. > :04:28.

:04:28. > :04:33.It was gold for Britto n! Not Britain, but Fionnuala Britton!

:04:33. > :04:37.It was a super day. Paula, you made comments in

:04:37. > :04:40.commentary about the fact that that perhaps it is an unnecessary

:04:40. > :04:45.category, just expand on that a bit? I don't think it is

:04:45. > :04:51.unnecessary, but at this level on the European... At the European

:04:51. > :04:54.level it is unnecessary because we saw how far ahead Jess was and how

:04:54. > :04:58.much she dominated the race, it would have been a bigger challenge

:04:58. > :05:03.for her and she could have competed well in the senior race. It would

:05:04. > :05:08.have made our team stronger both Jess and Hanna Walker finished

:05:08. > :05:12.ahead of our leading seniors and in the build-up of the cross-country

:05:12. > :05:16.races she has been getting in there with the likes of Fionnuala Britton

:05:16. > :05:19.and Felix and I think she should have been challenged. She could

:05:19. > :05:22.have been up there in the lead group and we might have come out

:05:22. > :05:27.with a winner of that event, you never know.

:05:27. > :05:31.For some athletes, you have to pick your way through and if you are an

:05:31. > :05:35.outstanding athlete who is 23, you have got a choice to make? Do you

:05:35. > :05:39.go for the big one or stick with the smaller one? The ones who

:05:39. > :05:45.haven't made it, it makes a lot of sense, but for the quality athletes,

:05:45. > :05:50.I don't think, I think she should have been running the senior race.

:05:50. > :05:54.She might have won that. We are going to look to the men's

:05:54. > :06:04.race now, we have the defending champion. How do you see this race

:06:04. > :06:07.going, Paula? I don't think, there has been controversy surrounding

:06:07. > :06:17.one of the athletes because of the missed test, but he had an injury

:06:17. > :06:18.

:06:18. > :06:28.and he suffered with a virus. He says he is not on top form. I I

:06:28. > :06:32.

:06:32. > :06:38.think just an outstanding achievement to see one of the

:06:38. > :06:43.athletes who won nine times. I don't think we will see a tenth.

:06:43. > :06:47.Still, an amazing achievement. He was there in that first race?

:06:47. > :06:54.When Paula won, it, only a few years later, he was winning the

:06:54. > :06:57.men's race then. He he has been a great athlete. At sometimes he

:06:57. > :07:04.threatened to be better, we thought are you going to breakthrough on to

:07:04. > :07:09.the track, he never did that. But he has been - it has been an honour

:07:09. > :07:13.to watch him, the fact that he wears the nice bright vest means we

:07:13. > :07:23.will see him today. They are on the start line. It is

:07:23. > :07:26.

:07:26. > :07:36.back to Crammy. You better get underway. All the questions have

:07:36. > :07:38.

:07:38. > :07:43.been asked there and of course Bekele will figure, but there maybe

:07:43. > :07:47.one or two surprises. The conditions throwing up all sorts of

:07:47. > :07:55.different results o to that which we might have expected. So far, so

:07:55. > :08:00.good for the British team. We've won five team gold medals so far.

:08:00. > :08:07.Excuse me, I'm going to correct that, we have won four team medals

:08:07. > :08:14.so far. Four individual, five team. At the beginning, I was saying if

:08:14. > :08:19.Great Britain were to win nine medals, they would back the 100

:08:19. > :08:24.mark, that's individual and team medals since 1994. That's good for

:08:24. > :08:27.Great Britain and that's something which just underlines really their

:08:27. > :08:30.dominance across the age groups particularly the younger age groups

:08:30. > :08:35.and the interesting debate to continue at this level around the

:08:35. > :08:43.under 23 races. Britain particularly in the junior mens and

:08:43. > :08:52.womens have done very, very well. One or two past champions this this

:08:52. > :08:57.race. Andy Vernon maybe the man who leads the British trials. He is

:08:57. > :09:01.right there, we saw him going through, Andy Vernon and Steve

:09:01. > :09:05.Vernon coming back to good form. Andy had a problem at the early

:09:05. > :09:09.part of the year, he had a stress fracture and he is beginning to

:09:09. > :09:14.come into form, he finished strongly in the trials, Andy Vernon.

:09:14. > :09:24.He might be somebody who might enjoy this today. It is early

:09:24. > :09:29.stages. That's Steve Vernon, it is good to see him back in good form.

:09:29. > :09:33.His His fiance ran in the women's race. Helping the women to a team

:09:33. > :09:40.bronze, Ireland winning the gold medal. What a day for them, two

:09:40. > :09:45.gold medals, Fionnuala Britton individually and they will be

:09:45. > :09:51.hoping Joe Sweeney will have a good race, two gold medals for Ireland

:09:51. > :09:55.to celebrate. I don't know if they sell Guinness nearby, I am sure

:09:55. > :10:00.they do in Budapest, but there maybe a few glasses of that

:10:00. > :10:10.disappearing tonight. A little bit of elbowing around the

:10:10. > :10:29.

:10:29. > :10:37.corner there. There was a question mark over how

:10:37. > :10:42.one of the of the come pet competitors would perform. The

:10:42. > :10:46.Spanish athlete has gone through the picture there. He is about

:10:46. > :10:48.ninth or or tenth, when you see somebody running on the track and

:10:48. > :10:55.on the country, never quite managing to win and there is always

:10:55. > :11:00.a bit of a sympathy vote hoping this could be their day. Past under

:11:01. > :11:05.23 champion, the Italian competitor. He has been having a good season,

:11:05. > :11:09.watch out for him today. The French competitor won a kusm good races --

:11:09. > :11:12.couple of good races and he is in good form. And until they come

:11:12. > :11:22.together and I keep making the point about the conditions here,

:11:22. > :11:22.

:11:22. > :11:27.who can cope with the cold? And the icy ground underneath? They are

:11:27. > :11:32.just settling down. The men, of course, the senior men men. A race

:11:32. > :11:38.which really does test the endurance, I am not sure that the

:11:38. > :11:43.men would particularly enjoy so many laps. I was never a big fan of

:11:43. > :11:50.lots of small laps and large laps, I used to lose count.

:11:50. > :11:54.I was going to say that, Steve. I was the same. It is so cold that

:11:54. > :11:58.all the runners going over the course, they are not chewing it up

:11:58. > :12:02.at all, the snow is on the surface, the ground is really frozen solid.

:12:02. > :12:05.It is about minus 6 Celsius here and you can tell how cold it is and

:12:06. > :12:09.that wind must make it really difficult. I noticed in some of the

:12:09. > :12:13.earlier races, some of the athletes were finishing in a distressed

:12:13. > :12:17.state and that's a bit concerning at times because running in this

:12:17. > :12:21.cold and working so hard, it can be difficult. They are all wearing

:12:21. > :12:27.hats. They are all wearing long sleeves. They are all doing it

:12:27. > :12:32.sensibly. It will make for an overall, interesting race and it is

:12:32. > :12:42.good to see Jonathan Taylor in third place there and running

:12:42. > :12:46.

:12:46. > :12:50.strongly. Yes, Jonathan's coach we know well.

:12:50. > :12:54.Gordon Gordon will be delighted to see Jonathan going well. When he

:12:54. > :13:01.won the times, he said it wean a surprise to him. It was to a lot of

:13:01. > :13:05.other people. He was confident going into the the trials and he

:13:05. > :13:09.took that race by the scruff of the neck in the latter stages and did

:13:09. > :13:13.well. Andy Vernon came through brilliantly in the last mile-and-a-

:13:13. > :13:17.half of the trial race and maybe showed that he is just coming into

:13:17. > :13:20.the sort of form that might see him do well here today, but he is

:13:20. > :13:30.further back in the early stages, but that's not a bad tinge. You

:13:30. > :13:43.

:13:43. > :13:53.have got to be careful. So they are going through this twisty, turny,

:13:53. > :13:53.

:13:53. > :13:57.bit of the course. Of course, with so many teams

:13:57. > :14:01.arriving late, normally if they arrived earlier on the Friday, more

:14:01. > :14:05.would have had a chance to look around the course. So many of them

:14:05. > :14:10.arrived during the night, disrupting sleep patterns, etcetera

:14:10. > :14:15.and I think indeed, Tom Farrell who is in the British team here, I

:14:15. > :14:21.think Tom was left overnight in Amsterdam Airport. Tom is coming

:14:21. > :14:27.over from the States. He is at Oklahoma State University. He had a

:14:27. > :14:30.cracking year last year. He ran brilliantly early on in the season,

:14:30. > :14:37.he got injured and it was a real disappointment for him, but he is

:14:37. > :14:41.somebody with real talent. I think, he is, Steve. Sadly when

:14:41. > :14:47.he was training for what was a marvellous Olympic Games that we

:14:47. > :14:51.witnessed, there was spare places going in the 5,000, if he had

:14:51. > :14:56.stayed healthy, he would have been competitive there. There is Tom

:14:56. > :14:59.Humphreys. Looking further down the field for the other British

:14:59. > :15:09.athletes, Jonathan Taylor is in fifth place. The gaps are beginning

:15:09. > :15:10.

:15:10. > :15:16.to open. It is the very early stages.

:15:16. > :15:20.Chandi and ap couple of athletes, Kenyan athletes running for Turkey.

:15:20. > :15:24.They are in third place. It will be interesting to see if he can

:15:24. > :15:32.survive these conditions, but for the moment, the Frenchman leads

:15:32. > :15:36.from the Italian, not the favourite Italian. He is about eighth there.

:15:36. > :15:43.He is up there, but this is going to change a lot because I don't

:15:43. > :15:53.think this will be a race where Chahdi leads from start to finish

:15:53. > :16:18.

:16:18. > :16:22.well. This is not a race they would necessarily expect to win the team

:16:22. > :16:26.race. It is more about their overall equality here. If they can

:16:26. > :16:31.pack well, they will have a good chance. The French will be

:16:31. > :16:38.contenders. I will be interested to see whether the rest of the team

:16:38. > :16:42.from Ukraine will follow Lebid. He's tenth place at the moment.

:16:42. > :16:51.Lebid - he's got two or three good other athletes who have been

:16:51. > :17:01.running well with him. You never know - watch out for them - if they

:17:01. > :17:04.

:17:04. > :17:08.can put four together. He looks very composed at the

:17:08. > :17:18.moment - senior men run 10,000 metres. On a day like this, that is

:17:18. > :17:21.

:17:21. > :17:30.a real test. He's taking a long, hard look over his shoulder. He was

:17:30. > :17:33.a European junior cross-country chasm pi -- champion. Now 25 - the

:17:33. > :17:43.Italy. Is he going to be good enough to keep this one going? Well,

:17:43. > :17:55.

:17:55. > :18:00.there are a lot of good athletes. There's one of the Kenyan athletes.

:18:00. > :18:06.These condition won't be foreign to him. There's the American-based

:18:06. > :18:11.athlete, he's running well there. These look like big gaps. They've

:18:11. > :18:17.only been going ten minutes. With the wind blowing, as you can see

:18:17. > :18:21.from the tapes on the side, it is blowing strongly. It is still minus

:18:21. > :18:26.six Celsius. These guys have a hard 20 minutes ahead of them. There

:18:26. > :18:30.goes Taylor, running well. There's Humphries, just behind him and I

:18:30. > :18:40.saw Farrell behind him. So the British team are featuring well in

:18:40. > :18:52.

:18:52. > :18:56.the pack. There's a long way to go. long-legged. He's a choppy sort of

:18:56. > :19:06.style, which suits him well. Dropping his arms there, trying to

:19:06. > :19:09.

:19:09. > :19:19.relax. Taylor is chasing. A gap then to

:19:19. > :19:25.

:19:25. > :19:30.cross-country was always a trial of mental fortitude. If it was frozen

:19:30. > :19:35.like this I didn't mind it. It was more like a road. These would have

:19:35. > :19:42.been good conditions for you. I talk about cross-country as being

:19:42. > :19:52.the purest form of distance running. I feel it is a great part of an

:19:52. > :19:55.

:19:55. > :20:05.athlete's background. I checked the Olympic results, Farah winning the

:20:05. > :20:14.

:20:14. > :20:17.mens five and ten, he's been the distance races in the Olympic Games

:20:17. > :20:22.are cross-country runners of good ability. Whatever you say, cross-

:20:22. > :20:29.country running, for some reason, is the basis of distance running.

:20:29. > :20:34.They all, nearly all, even our middle-distance runners, in your

:20:34. > :20:43.day, Steve and others were able to run cross-country. They ran

:20:43. > :20:48.competitively in the country. It is part of every athlete's endurance.

:20:48. > :20:51.I hope that take the message home that cross-country running is the

:20:51. > :20:57.basis of distance running and is extremely important for our

:20:57. > :21:02.athletes to be competitive, at some stage of their career cross-country

:21:02. > :21:07.has to feature in their portfolio, I think. I agree. It is good if you

:21:07. > :21:14.set out on that particular path and the junior race would have - you

:21:14. > :21:18.probably won't make that many waves - but it is good to see one of our

:21:18. > :21:22.best here. He finished ninth in the race. You don't have to be the best

:21:22. > :21:26.at cross-country to do well. Even 1500 metre runners should be

:21:26. > :21:36.competitive. You should be good enough to make the British team and

:21:36. > :22:13.

:22:13. > :22:20.come to an event like this and be might, you might have understood

:22:20. > :22:25.there. Some interviews from the press conference yesterday. Brendan

:22:25. > :22:31.will translate! He was saying it would be a hard race today - I

:22:31. > :22:40.think he is right. He's low down the field, but it is hard race. You

:22:40. > :22:43.could have said that yesterday, couldn't you? A former cross-

:22:43. > :22:53.country junior champion. Look at this - Britain now one point behind

:22:53. > :23:02.

:23:02. > :23:07.Spain, who are packing really well in a group. That group have caught

:23:07. > :23:12.Taylor and that group of three that were giving chase. Farrell has

:23:12. > :23:22.joined address well. So two British athletes in there. At least two

:23:22. > :23:26.

:23:26. > :23:32.from Spain, maybe three. Two group, as Lalli continues to run

:23:32. > :23:39.with confidence. He's no stranger to winning this European Cross

:23:39. > :23:45.Country Championships. Part is getting in shape just before

:23:45. > :23:54.Christmas. Knuckle down to training in October and November. Here Lalli,

:23:54. > :24:00.spending a lot of time looking over his shoulder.

:24:00. > :24:05.There's a good gap for Lalli. He's nowhere near halfway yet. Maybe

:24:05. > :24:12.just approaching the half-way point, actually. At half-way he has a good,

:24:12. > :24:16.strong lead. It is different than track running. On the track, an

:24:16. > :24:19.athlete would be reluctant to go lap after lap and ones that would

:24:19. > :24:23.increase his speed. He would get the nfgs from the timing and the

:24:23. > :24:27.score -- the information from the timing and the scoring. One of the

:24:27. > :24:34.Portuguese athletes coming to a standstill, dropping out of the

:24:35. > :24:38.race. Lalli is going and running in an unconventional way for him -

:24:38. > :24:43.bursting away. That gap starting to get serious. He's looking

:24:43. > :24:48.comfortable. He's looking strong. He doesn't seem to be wobbling at

:24:48. > :24:52.all. It is difficult for some people. There he is. Look at his

:24:52. > :24:56.technique there! He's just continuing. His form is good. He

:24:56. > :25:00.works on the hill pretty well. There you see him up the hill and

:25:00. > :25:05.the chasing group. They are working in there. There are a lot of them

:25:05. > :25:08.and they are closing that gap. There's the British team, packing

:25:08. > :25:13.well into second place. The Spaniards are in a very, very

:25:13. > :25:19.strong position, as we expected. Farrell, in his race he's come over

:25:19. > :25:23.from America. He's come here today. This is the first I have seen him

:25:23. > :25:27.in a real international competition. He's making a good thing of it

:25:27. > :25:34.himself. He's put himself in a good position, chasing Lalli, in that

:25:34. > :25:38.chasing group. He still looks good. He's moving

:25:38. > :25:44.well. His disadvantage is they can work together and there is plenty

:25:44. > :25:53.of time for them to haul him back. Probably a good 10-11 minutes left

:25:53. > :25:57.of running, at least. That's a good group. A little surprising that...

:25:57. > :26:05.When you get reports that he's fit and well and been training well,

:26:05. > :26:11.you expect him to come here and be competitive. He did drop out there

:26:11. > :26:15.-- last year. We will see, he is certainly in 15th place a lap or so

:26:15. > :26:19.again, but not in that chasing group and that's a big, big gap. Of

:26:19. > :26:23.course when you twist and turn like this and the leader disappears

:26:23. > :26:28.around the next corner that does not help you. This is good for him.

:26:28. > :26:33.It breaks up the rhythm of the others as well. If you look at the

:26:33. > :26:36.chasing group, Steve, there's nobody trying to take it on, trying

:26:36. > :26:39.to change that gap. They are changing the lead on a few

:26:39. > :26:43.occasions. They are in the group. They intend on staying in that

:26:43. > :26:47.group. There's not many, looking down the road to see how far ahead

:26:47. > :26:52.Lalli is. He has the confidence of his position. Coming up to 20

:26:52. > :26:56.minutes, two-thirds of the distance. All the time he wants to look over

:26:56. > :27:06.his shoulder. I must feel his form comes into this. He didn't suggest

:27:06. > :27:08.

:27:08. > :27:13.he would win it by a distance. There's Steve Vernon. He's a

:27:13. > :27:17.European mountain runner. He runs extremely well. He runs well in

:27:17. > :27:21.cross-country. It is good to see him back in the team. This is a big

:27:22. > :27:27.gap that Lalli has now. In the chasing group, well we've some

:27:27. > :27:32.Britons in there. We have Farrell in that group. I think there's

:27:32. > :27:37.another British athlete. The scoring team from Spain are doing

:27:37. > :27:41.exceptionally well today. In the background you will see the guys in

:27:41. > :27:46.the kilts. That's the East Kilbride members. They come everywhere. They

:27:46. > :27:51.watch all over the world. We will see them in a few weeks' time in

:27:51. > :27:57.Edinburgh. We see them wherever it is held. They know all the results,

:27:57. > :28:07.all the runners. They love their tour of Europe. Been going to the

:28:07. > :28:13.

:28:13. > :28:17.here. Those who managed to get out here in the end after all the

:28:17. > :28:22.problems at the airport. Lalli didn't have too far to come. At the

:28:22. > :28:25.moment, he's doing brilliantly and that lead, if anything, has been

:28:25. > :28:29.getting bigger. The others not doing anything about closing it

:28:30. > :28:35.down. Now, all of a sudden, maybe there's a push on from behind. This

:28:35. > :28:39.is a man who looks comfortable. I get frustrated when people look

:28:39. > :28:43.behind, when he has that much of a lead. He looks relaxed. Still

:28:44. > :28:48.moving nicely across the surface. Really good action on this snowy,

:28:48. > :28:58.hard ground here and Lalli, with a decent lead. 14 seconds, Tom

:28:58. > :29:04.Farrell now leading that chasing group.

:29:04. > :29:08.Abele, Chahdi, three Spanish athletes and now ver ver trying to

:29:08. > :29:12.close up with Taylor -- Vernon trying to close up with Taylor. I

:29:12. > :29:17.would say Spain perhaps, in fact there are three from Ukraine - the

:29:17. > :29:21.team race will be really, really interesting. Spain perhaps with the

:29:21. > :29:25.advantage. Of course those positions, in a group, eventually

:29:25. > :29:28.they will stretch out. You can be in a group and be second in a group

:29:29. > :29:35.of ten. All of a sudden that becomes tenth place in the latter

:29:35. > :29:39.stages. No question that Lalli is still

:29:39. > :29:44.going well. I think you can usually see when somebody is starting to

:29:44. > :29:51.suffer. They may well start to close a little bit, but he is yet

:29:51. > :29:57.to show any real signs of stress as Farrell is doing a good run. Having

:29:57. > :30:02.come from the States. Not there at the trials, has chosen to compete

:30:02. > :30:07.in these championships. He had to stay overnight in Amsterdam airport.

:30:07. > :30:17.He is leading that group behind Lalli. He's making an effort to get

:30:17. > :30:30.

:30:30. > :30:35.finding himself in a position where we were surprised to find the

:30:36. > :30:40.athlete who we have mentioned earlier, the European junior cross-

:30:40. > :30:44.country champion in 2006 and then European under 23 champion in 2008,

:30:44. > :30:49.and here in 2012, he looks as though he is well on his way to

:30:50. > :30:53.becoming the senior champion. He is an interesting athlete, he run ins

:30:53. > :30:58.the whicher in the cross-country and in the summer he tends to

:30:58. > :31:05.ignore the track and he runs a couple of half marathons, but we

:31:05. > :31:09.are today, he is showing them a clean pair of heels as they come

:31:09. > :31:18.through the museum part of the course. That's Lalli and a long way

:31:18. > :31:27.down the field, but Tom Farrell from Border Harriers in the the

:31:27. > :31:32.Lake District. He ran a good 5,000 meters earlier in year. He

:31:32. > :31:36.qualified br the Olympic Games -- for the Olympic Games, but sadly

:31:36. > :31:46.got injured and couldn't run. Here he is taking on the best of Europe.

:31:46. > :31:46.

:31:46. > :31:55.At, at the moment, Lalli, Andreaally from Italy -- Andrea

:31:55. > :32:05.Lalli from Italy. Some of them find the comp competition in the winter

:32:05. > :32:08.

:32:08. > :32:17.to their liking. There is one of the athletes who I thought would be

:32:17. > :32:22.a big threat. The Spaniards are taking a vice-

:32:22. > :32:26.like grip on this race now. He has complete balance. He is not swaying

:32:26. > :32:32.from side to side. He is not sliding on the ground. He is

:32:32. > :32:42.running extremely well. His form is consistent and powerful and he is

:32:42. > :32:45.

:32:45. > :32:54.doing everything he needs to do. He is not going to throw this away

:32:54. > :32:58.surely, he will dig dig deep for this one. It will make him a trim

:32:58. > :33:02.champion -- triple champion and no one has done this before. There is

:33:02. > :33:07.over a mile to go and he is looking, and he is looking, he is taking a

:33:07. > :33:14.longer look because they are so far behind.

:33:14. > :33:24.Here is the bell, he knows he has got over a mile or so to complete.

:33:24. > :33:27.

:33:27. > :33:32.He hasn't had too many races, he beat Meucci, I don't think he would

:33:32. > :33:42.expect to dominate like this. 20 seconds ahead of the chasing group.

:33:42. > :33:45.Britain are doing well. She together packing well. Andy Vernon

:33:45. > :33:49.- there is good packing from Great Britain. It will stand them in good

:33:49. > :33:55.stead. The Spanish quartet have been broken up a little bit and I

:33:55. > :34:00.think the team race will be very, very close indeed. No doubt at all

:34:01. > :34:04.unless something rather dramatic happened on this last lap. Lalli

:34:04. > :34:09.Looking strong. They are closing a little. It is not 20 seconds the

:34:09. > :34:11.lead, but it is far enough given that he has only 1200 or 1300

:34:11. > :34:16.meters to go and I doubt they will catch him.

:34:16. > :34:21.They were watching the defending champion. He is not able to go

:34:21. > :34:24.defending his title as Lalli, Andrea Lalli from Italy enjoying if

:34:24. > :34:28.you can enjoy a run on a day like this in conditions like this, he

:34:28. > :34:34.will enjoy the roar of the crowd and he will enjoy this record. It

:34:34. > :34:44.will be unique, junior, under 23, and senior champion. The chasing

:34:44. > :35:06.

:35:06. > :35:10.group are getting closer. Tom Farrell is leading that group

:35:10. > :35:13.alongside Meuchi. Your job is to enjoy this. Enjoy

:35:14. > :35:18.the last lap. Enjoy your visit to the tourist attraction here in

:35:18. > :35:25.Hungary and enjoy the crowd as you come down the finishing straight.

:35:25. > :35:35.As he will come down the finishing straight he will get a great cheer.

:35:35. > :35:39.

:35:39. > :35:45.Impressive running from the Italian. Lalli twice winner at these

:35:45. > :35:55.European Championships as a a junior under 23. He could be the

:35:55. > :36:06.

:36:06. > :36:12.first man to win all three titles. There is is Chardy. Lalli can enjoy

:36:12. > :36:16.the nice downhill run. Lalli has been hugely impressive. I think his

:36:16. > :36:21.action has helped and he is in great shape and will be rewarded

:36:21. > :36:26.with a fine, fine victory. He is waving to the crowd who

:36:26. > :36:31.turned out here. It is probably hard tore watch than run on a day

:36:31. > :36:35.like this. His track credentials aren't good at all, but this man is

:36:35. > :36:39.at home on the country. Here he is on the way to recording his first

:36:40. > :36:44.senior victory and there he is saluting already. Well done, Andrea

:36:44. > :36:54.Lalli of Italy. An impressive performance like we saw in the

:36:54. > :36:54.

:36:54. > :36:57.women's race from Fionnuala Britton. Well done to him.

:36:57. > :37:03.Totally dominant and he took it on in the early stages and goodness me,

:37:03. > :37:06.is he enjoying this! Lalli makes it his third title of the European

:37:06. > :37:11.Cross Country Championships. It is all about him today and he is right,

:37:11. > :37:16.picking up the it tale the Italian flag. They haven't had too much to

:37:16. > :37:20.cheer about in Italy as far as athletics is concerned, but here in

:37:20. > :37:26.Hungary, they have a gold medal to celebrate in the senior men's

:37:26. > :37:31.events. He looks behind him. They are nowhere in sight. Lalli takes

:37:31. > :37:41.the win. Just outside 30 minutes. He will have time to catch his

:37:41. > :37:55.

:37:55. > :38:00.breath, get a cup of tea and turn around before he sees Chandy. A

:38:00. > :38:07.really good run from the British quartet. I think the British team

:38:07. > :38:10.are looking really good as far as the team competition is concerned.

:38:10. > :38:15.I don't think Spain have got four men in because one of theirs has

:38:15. > :38:19.been slipping back a little bit. Lalli with an unexpected win. Not

:38:19. > :38:25.in the sense that, there was one or two warm favourites, it was just

:38:25. > :38:27.the way in which he won the race. It blew them apart. A good run from

:38:27. > :38:32.Tom Farrellment we can watch for something from him this summer if

:38:32. > :38:37.he can back up when what he did last year as well, it is close for

:38:37. > :38:41.the team race, but Great Britain may have won six team medals. Will

:38:41. > :38:46.it be the gold in this senior men's? We will clear that up as

:38:46. > :38:52.men's? We will clear that up as soon as we can.

:38:52. > :38:59.A great performance from Lalli and Tom Farrell in fourth place.

:38:59. > :39:04.We didn't call it, did we? Not at all. Lalli was coming into the race

:39:04. > :39:07.with the pedigree of having won the under 20s and the under 23s, but he

:39:08. > :39:11.has gone ahead and become the first person to get the clean sweep on

:39:11. > :39:16.the men's side and a very, very impressive win. So much time there

:39:17. > :39:19.and he is coming down the home straight unravelling the flag and

:39:20. > :39:22.no worries about anyone catching him. Right from the start he went

:39:22. > :39:25.out and beautifully in control of his running action and we are

:39:25. > :39:32.waiting for the big names to come back, but it never happened? No, he

:39:33. > :39:37.was very in control. Very comfortable, you could see running

:39:37. > :39:43.downhill, very on control on that surface. He was moving away. A

:39:43. > :39:46.great run by Tom Farrell there and by the whole British team. Fingers

:39:46. > :39:51.crossed, we might have sneaked the team.

:39:51. > :39:57.Tom Farrell got himself into hot water before the team was selected.

:39:57. > :40:02.He is American based base and he made comments about the team

:40:02. > :40:10.selection. He got stuck in Amsterdam Airport. He would have

:40:11. > :40:13.had a journey to come back and he felt he proved his form with his

:40:13. > :40:18.race in the cross-country. He has come there and been part of the

:40:18. > :40:21.team and hopefully we have done well and it does show that Tom

:40:21. > :40:25.being based in the States, now we have had the American coaches come

:40:25. > :40:30.over and become part of the coaching set-up in the UK and you

:40:30. > :40:34.have to work with that. They are people people we are racing on a

:40:34. > :40:36.world stage. We might have to integrate that mindset into our

:40:36. > :40:41.world as well. We have got news that Britain came

:40:41. > :40:51.second in the team race and Spain got the gold medal. A descent

:40:51. > :40:54.

:40:54. > :41:04.performance. Let's talk about the changes. Charles has has gone, he

:41:04. > :41:04.

:41:04. > :41:11.didn't make his medal totals. Then the coach who came in for the for

:41:11. > :41:16.Paralympics team? Charles set the bar very high for himself, he felt

:41:16. > :41:20.he didn't meet the targets and he moved on. Peter had success with

:41:20. > :41:28.the Paralympics. It is different dealing with the UK Athletics side

:41:28. > :41:32.from the Paralympics side and and and would need time to adapt. Neil

:41:32. > :41:38.Black has come in as performance and Neil knows the athletes very

:41:38. > :41:42.well and knows how things work and was a distance runner himself and

:41:42. > :41:47.he will be good at bringing together that performance side and

:41:47. > :41:53.making sure that the and the athletes are serviced and are per

:41:53. > :41:58.fortunatelying. -- performing.

:41:58. > :42:02.You have the coach who coaches Christian Taylor. There is a

:42:02. > :42:07.competitive nature between the athletes they look after? And also

:42:07. > :42:10.coaching American athletes and British athletes needing to be base

:42:10. > :42:16.base there. On the hole, that will bring them on because they are

:42:16. > :42:24.competing with their top rivals and you can only learn from that.

:42:24. > :42:34.we wish you all the best with your recovery and we hope you will

:42:34. > :42:35.

:42:35. > :43:34.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 49 seconds

:43:34. > :43:40.feature in our athletics coverage BBC are very much your home for

:43:40. > :43:45.athletics and we begin the Great Edinburgh Cross-country and into

:43:46. > :43:51.2013, there we go, all the athletics.