2013

:01:46. > :01:54.Good afternoon. Welcome to our final athletics coverage of 2013. We

:01:55. > :01:56.should go out in style because the cross-country championships have

:01:57. > :02:04.always been a happy hunting ground for the British team. We are in

:02:05. > :02:15.friendship Park on the banks of the River Danube in Belgrade. The races

:02:16. > :02:26.start in ten minutes. Get in touch with us by social media. Joining me

:02:27. > :02:27.in the studio are Paula Radcliffe and a young athlete who is very much

:02:28. > :03:10.on the up. Bouncing around on the start line.

:03:11. > :03:17.Raring to go. She is so strong. Will this be another great day for Jessic

:03:18. > :03:24.Judd? Under two minutes. What a champion.

:03:25. > :03:31.Welcome to both of you. What are your reflections on what was an

:03:32. > :03:38.amazing summer for you? I was so happy with how it went. 2013 will

:03:39. > :03:42.all be stick in my memory. European Championships and the Diamond

:03:43. > :03:47.League. I have just finished my A-levels. This has all happened so

:03:48. > :03:57.quickly. It was brilliant. You were running in Moscow waiting for your

:03:58. > :04:06.results. Are you at university now? I have deferred my place until next

:04:07. > :04:14.year. You're surprised all of us, to be honest. How surprised were you? I

:04:15. > :04:20.was surprised. I did not expect to run our personal best in my first

:04:21. > :04:23.race over 800. That was surprising. I was happy enough to get picked for

:04:24. > :04:32.the European Championships. It was surreal. It was a brilliant

:04:33. > :04:38.experience. I was lucky to have done it. What did you make of it, Paula?

:04:39. > :04:43.It was a perfect breakthrough season. We saw the Snowball effect

:04:44. > :04:51.of one race boosting your confidence. She went in with nothing

:04:52. > :04:57.to lose. She could race against seniors who did not want to get

:04:58. > :05:03.beaten by this little 18-year-old. It is the tactical awareness which

:05:04. > :05:06.is exciting for the years to come. Especially in Birmingham. If you

:05:07. > :05:12.look back at last summer, but was the one which was more special to

:05:13. > :05:16.you? I think so. People expect me to go out from the front. My parents

:05:17. > :05:21.were concerned when I was sitting in. I don't know what came over me.

:05:22. > :05:29.I had some confidence that I was going to be able to push through. I

:05:30. > :05:33.was shocked. You had hoped to run in Belgrade, but you had a setback?

:05:34. > :05:38.Your Mac I fell over in training a few weeks ago, so I could not do the

:05:39. > :05:43.trials. Everything is going OK now and I am trying to get back into it.

:05:44. > :05:54.It is a setback, but the real aim is next summer.

:05:55. > :05:58.You have not retired. How are your injuries? I don't no if I ever will

:05:59. > :06:08.retire. Hopefully there never will be a time when I'm not running as a

:06:09. > :06:14.distance athlete. I am able to do back-to-back sessions now. I don't

:06:15. > :06:19.have a timetable for competitions. When I get to the point where I feel

:06:20. > :06:25.that I can compete at the level I want to, then I will do so. Until

:06:26. > :06:28.then, I'm just happy that my foot has recovered to enable me to have a

:06:29. > :06:35.normal life to run around with the kids and train as much as I want to.

:06:36. > :06:45.Thinking about today, this has always been a strong championships

:06:46. > :06:49.for the British team. Last year, all 36 members of the British team came

:06:50. > :06:55.back with medals. There are some strong teams out there. You had an

:06:56. > :07:02.interesting experience in Budapest last year, Jessica. I did not

:07:03. > :07:11.expected to be so-called. That was the problem. I got hypothermia. To

:07:12. > :07:15.win team gold was amazing. I was always good at cross-country when I

:07:16. > :07:24.was younger. I was happy to be selected. You were not only podium.

:07:25. > :07:30.Noel! I had worked so hard! In this disappointing. I came round in the

:07:31. > :07:37.medical tent to the sound of the national anthem. But I got my medal

:07:38. > :07:42.later in the day. We can see the girls there are freezing. You had

:07:43. > :07:47.hypothermia. I was crying. I was so upset not to be there. We all ran so

:07:48. > :08:02.well. There was a great team atmosphere. To be with team members

:08:03. > :08:04.is what you want. Let's head to the commentary box. Steve Cram is

:08:05. > :08:14.waiting to describe the women's race. We're looking for filler

:08:15. > :08:41.Britain to go for three in a row. No one has ever won three in a row. She

:08:42. > :08:52.has been ill the season. I think Gemma Steel has a great chance. How

:08:53. > :09:04.strong is the field apart from Fionnuala Britton? It is very

:09:05. > :09:07.strong. Ana Felix from Portugal is up there. These athletes know each

:09:08. > :09:14.other well and have exchanged medals over the years. Fionnuala Britton

:09:15. > :09:19.has another couple of weeks to get more fit, but I expect it to be

:09:20. > :09:27.tough. I think it will be open. Half a dozen woman will come into this

:09:28. > :09:33.thinking they could win this. Gemma Steel is in the form of her life.

:09:34. > :09:41.This is quite straightforward cross-country course? It is. Paula

:09:42. > :09:45.Radcliffe and myself kind of wins at things like this. We like to see

:09:46. > :09:50.more mode. This is a typical European event. Lots of laps. You

:09:51. > :09:58.have to be careful about how you judge your effort. This will suit

:09:59. > :10:02.the track runners. The real cross-country runners will have to

:10:03. > :10:07.make their strength tell on a course like this. No hills, now over to

:10:08. > :10:19.break up the rhythm too much. -- nowhere. Obviously you don't like

:10:20. > :10:23.the course? It's not that I don't like it, I think it's boring and it

:10:24. > :10:29.doesn't show the strength and beauty of cross-country running. There are

:10:30. > :10:41.no hills and hardly any mode. There is the token log to jump over but

:10:42. > :10:46.that is it. It would be more appealing with a more interesting

:10:47. > :10:52.course? Absolutely. This is not just a track race transferred onto a flat

:10:53. > :10:59.park. There are things which test the field. People have different

:11:00. > :11:03.techniques and they can ensure their strengths. This is not really a

:11:04. > :11:10.course that tests that. Gemma Steel to look out for. We have the start

:11:11. > :11:15.list up on the screen, so that means we are nearly ready to go. Paula,

:11:16. > :11:22.you need to hotfoot it to the commentary box! I will get these

:11:23. > :11:32.stopwatch on her! The British team led by Gemma Steel will be very

:11:33. > :11:40.strong. Stephanie Twell is there. The French will be very strong. We

:11:41. > :11:47.have already mentioned Felix. There is Fionnuala Britton as we just go

:11:48. > :11:52.down the start line. Inevitably, she is the one that they will be looking

:11:53. > :12:10.to. Can she possibly make it three in a row? Belete from Belgium might

:12:11. > :12:13.also figure in this. Anyone of half a dozen woman might fancy their

:12:14. > :12:18.chances your. Big opportunity. Some shining. Temperatures have picked up

:12:19. > :12:24.over the last few days. There was snow on Friday when the British

:12:25. > :12:30.athletes arrive. They were relieved to make it out on Friday because of

:12:31. > :12:37.the travel disruption yesterday. Hopefully the British women will

:12:38. > :12:42.perform well. Last year, every single member of the British team

:12:43. > :12:49.right through the age groups, men and women, one and medal. Either

:12:50. > :12:56.individual or in the team event. There is a short lap. The women here

:12:57. > :13:02.have one of those to negotiate. Eight kilometres. Five miles on this

:13:03. > :13:09.flat course. Almost a track runners Paradise. It has not really cut up.

:13:10. > :13:18.There was some concern that that might happen on the earlier races,

:13:19. > :13:24.but it has held firm. The first lap is a chance to feel your way into

:13:25. > :13:30.it. All these athletes will of had a chance to have a really good look at

:13:31. > :13:35.the course. There are no hills on this at all. There are a couple of

:13:36. > :13:47.token logs for them to negotiate. That is all. The early leader is

:13:48. > :14:02.well-known to European athletics fans. There is the log. I have seen

:14:03. > :14:17.bigger logs where I live. Not exactly a big barrier. It is still a

:14:18. > :14:21.good test of injury and is. One which brings together the complete

:14:22. > :14:29.mix of endurance running. We have marathon exponents in here. We have

:14:30. > :14:34.tracked specialists. We have the five kilometre and tentacle on that

:14:35. > :14:38.track runners. And those for whom cross-country is where the shine

:14:39. > :14:49.best. Grovdal is the early leader. The others know her well but are

:14:50. > :15:03.happy to let Tir Gofal stop Paula Radcliffe has happily joined me

:15:04. > :15:09.know. -- happy to let her go. Paula Radcliffe has happily joined me

:15:10. > :15:17.know. It took me a while to get your. She is pushing on and getting

:15:18. > :15:20.a clean run at the course. The others are bunching up. It is not

:15:21. > :15:24.believe the type of course were deemed to be able to get a clear run

:15:25. > :15:28.at the ground in front of them. Aside from the small logs they have

:15:29. > :15:34.to jump over, that is the only thing they need to watch out for in terms

:15:35. > :15:38.of underfoot conditions. The rest of them are just getting a chance to

:15:39. > :15:45.feel out the course and see where Fionnuala Britton is. This year, she

:15:46. > :15:47.has come off those difficulties. She had to pull out of the world

:15:48. > :15:56.championships in Moscow and then went to France and was fairly

:15:57. > :16:07.comparably beaten by her French competitor. It is a longer course

:16:08. > :16:11.here. The extra distance will work in Fionnuala Britton's favour. She

:16:12. > :16:18.is definitely stronger over a longer distance. Grovdal is the early

:16:19. > :16:31.leader. Julia Bleasdale, great to see her

:16:32. > :16:38.back. The British team. Full of experience. She has had a fantastic

:16:39. > :16:51.Olympic aims, of course. Lauren however, she had a great indoor

:16:52. > :16:55.season last year -- Lauren Howarth. The top four count towards the team

:16:56. > :16:59.race. They will be plenty of rivalry, even within the British

:17:00. > :17:03.team, to get into the counting positions. Gemma Steel won the trial

:17:04. > :17:17.very comfortably. She ran really comfortably in the trial. We pick

:17:18. > :17:21.the teams from that. We can see Lauren Howarth white behind Gemma

:17:22. > :17:30.Steel. Steph Twell is right up there as well. And there is the log that

:17:31. > :17:33.they have two jump over, which is not very high. And it is not really

:17:34. > :17:38.test them too much. But it is good to see how well the British team are

:17:39. > :17:42.performing. They are definitely coming into this with a strong shot

:17:43. > :17:48.at winning the team title and hopefully an individual medal as

:17:49. > :17:52.well. Grovdal, she is a past champion in the junior ranks here

:17:53. > :17:55.and she certainly feels that for her, and even pace from the start is

:17:56. > :17:59.what suits her running and she is sticking to her plan and the others

:18:00. > :18:04.are realising there is a little bit of a gap that they need to work to

:18:05. > :18:09.close up. It is Felix at the front of the group with two art of France

:18:10. > :18:49.on her shoulder. Many of these have won medals in the

:18:50. > :18:53.past as well. Some of these are having that somebody is having a

:18:54. > :19:02.problem with typing errors. It should be Grovdal in front. Already

:19:03. > :19:07.things are spreading out because of what Grovdal is doing. Often in

:19:08. > :19:11.these races, you will see a fairly big loop in the early stages but it

:19:12. > :19:17.is spreading out. Gemma Steel looking comfortable. That lead is

:19:18. > :19:26.diminishing fairly quickly, the Norwegian, the main contenders will

:19:27. > :19:33.be cutting up in the next half mile or so. That's catching up. The

:19:34. > :19:42.Norwegians do have a strong pedigree in cross-country running.

:19:43. > :19:45.Definitely, that gap is closing now and we can see that the main

:19:46. > :19:49.contenders are coming back in with Fionnuala Britton running on the

:19:50. > :19:58.shoulders of Gemma Steel and Julia Bleasdale. Grovdal has realised now

:19:59. > :20:06.that the better tactic is to allow them to come to her and sit back in

:20:07. > :20:10.that group. It'll be interesting to see what the group do. Once you

:20:11. > :20:14.chase, you are in a rhythm and you might not want to be the leader.

:20:15. > :20:25.Felix has been leading the chasing pack and now finds herself leading

:20:26. > :20:30.the race. Duarte looking pretty good. Steph Twell just off that

:20:31. > :20:35.leading group but that group has pulled well away from the rest of

:20:36. > :20:39.the field. As we look a bit further down. Of course, the Irish women are

:20:40. > :20:46.not as strong as last year. Missing a couple of their top runners. They

:20:47. > :20:51.did so well last year. But I think the British women starting today

:20:52. > :20:56.very much the favourites for the team gold medal and let's hope that

:20:57. > :21:00.Gemma Steel can stay involved with this top four because the gaps are

:21:01. > :21:04.starting to appear and she really needs to knuckle down. She has been

:21:05. > :21:07.in good form, the form of her life. She has been racing in the United

:21:08. > :21:11.States and looked great in the trials. She was pretty dominant air.

:21:12. > :21:17.Marathons beckoning for Gemma Steel as well. That strength from that

:21:18. > :21:22.training can come to the four-year. She needs to be patient and stay in

:21:23. > :21:29.touch. Yes, she may be is a more natural runner than a cross-country

:21:30. > :21:34.runner. But she just needs to react a little bit quicker to moves when

:21:35. > :21:37.they are made on the cross-country because you cannot allow yourself

:21:38. > :21:41.the same gradual reaction as you can when you are racing on the road

:21:42. > :21:50.sometimes. She is just losing a little bit head to the speed which

:21:51. > :21:54.would show -- with which Duarte has. She is looking in great condition

:21:55. > :21:58.this year. She already has a personal best at the half marathon.

:21:59. > :22:01.It will be interesting to see if she wants to move to the marathon

:22:02. > :22:41.watching can do there because I think she have the potential.

:22:42. > :22:49.Duarte has been in fine form this year. Felix, the bronze-medallist

:22:50. > :22:53.and silver-medallist from the last two years behind Fionnuala Britton.

:22:54. > :22:59.She is working hard to stay with this group. But the longer she stays

:23:00. > :23:03.with them, the more of a threat she becomes. It is good to see Julia

:23:04. > :23:09.Bleasdale there as well. Lauren Howarth just behind the lead group

:23:10. > :23:15.and then a big gap towards Steph Twell and the chasers. I think

:23:16. > :23:18.Fionnuala Britton seems to be considering as much energy as

:23:19. > :23:29.possible in these early stages while ensuring that she stays in touch.

:23:30. > :23:32.She does not have a hugely fast finish but she did surprise a few

:23:33. > :23:34.people with her result in the indoor Championships last year in

:23:35. > :23:40.Gothenburg when she did really well to grab a medal in the 3000 metres.

:23:41. > :23:59.She does have a turn of speed. At that but had completed -- or they

:24:00. > :24:38.have completed three laps. When you are running round and you

:24:39. > :24:46.have more laps to go, the attitude is important. Definitely. I think

:24:47. > :24:48.that is another factor that we will maybe discuss tomorrow when we are

:24:49. > :24:52.talking about the cross-country. You think about the strengths of

:24:53. > :24:59.cross-country and track running and the more you make it laps, the

:25:00. > :25:04.closer it is to track racing. But it can give you an opportunity to

:25:05. > :25:10.learn. You do get the chance to learn the better route, the less

:25:11. > :25:14.sticky mud, the better line up and down the hills, but here it is less

:25:15. > :25:21.of a factor and it does become more about looking at split times. I saw

:25:22. > :25:26.Gemma Steel looking at her watch. I'm not sure it is a type of

:25:27. > :25:32.courseware that can help you. She has been racing so much on the roads

:25:33. > :25:36.recently. Surely you just race it, you are surrounded by the big

:25:37. > :25:40.names. It sounds well and good to say, I wonder what I did for that

:25:41. > :25:46.lap but essentially, you are trying to win a medal. You have two gauge

:25:47. > :25:51.how you are going, how you are feeling, you pick the right moment.

:25:52. > :25:54.But is why I love cross-country racing. It is not like track racing

:25:55. > :25:59.where it is often about splits and various laps where you can break it

:26:00. > :26:06.down that way. This is pure reason, usually. Exactly. In my mind, there

:26:07. > :26:09.is not much need to start a stopwatch at the beginning of a

:26:10. > :26:14.cross-country race because times do not matter and that is one of the

:26:15. > :26:17.beauties of cross-country. You run to your strengths and when you feel

:26:18. > :26:22.good, you push the pace and try and do as much damage as you can. It is

:26:23. > :26:28.about being more in tune with your body and how much you have left. And

:26:29. > :26:31.mentally judging it right to get to the finish at the right time and

:26:32. > :26:35.being able to throw in those surges which you are less likely to do on

:26:36. > :26:40.the track just because you have that lap mark each time which tells you

:26:41. > :26:55.the lap times. And it gives you more of a uniformity. That lead group is

:26:56. > :27:01.full of medallists, Gemma Steel is a former Broadlands medallist two

:27:02. > :27:04.years ago. -- bronze-medallist. Fionnuala Britton tending to win

:27:05. > :27:11.this title for a third time. Pretty good crowds in Belgrade. What the

:27:12. > :27:14.short lap does is allow the spectators to get a really good view

:27:15. > :27:19.of the races. Julia Bleasdale working hard. We have not seen her

:27:20. > :27:23.for a while. She has had a couple of problems and it is really good to

:27:24. > :27:27.see her back in the British team and back running cross-country. She is

:27:28. > :27:32.working hard to try and stay with that group. Yes, she has been

:27:33. > :27:35.struggling with Achilles problems this year but it is good to see her

:27:36. > :27:40.back racing and she has not given up. Every time the gap opens up, she

:27:41. > :27:46.manages to close it and pull yourself back into the group. She

:27:47. > :27:51.does not look easy or smooth but she is hanging in there. The further it

:27:52. > :27:56.goes on, the more to her strengths it will play. She is a strength

:27:57. > :28:01.runner. Duarte is now going to the front. Although she made the move

:28:02. > :28:04.from the steeplechase up to the 5000 metres last year, she was bitterly

:28:05. > :28:09.disappointed in Moscow that she was in one of the seats which went out

:28:10. > :28:12.very slow and she said -- she stepped off the track and not having

:28:13. > :28:16.qualified, not feeling that she had worked hard. She has gone into his

:28:17. > :28:30.cross-country season really aiming to do well. She will be aiming to

:28:31. > :28:37.lead a fairly strong French squad. I think Britain leading the team race

:28:38. > :28:41.though. I thought the French would be a bit of a threat. They have not

:28:42. > :28:59.been racing significantly as a group. I think we will just see the

:29:00. > :29:02.names coming through. Yes, there is a really big gap from that lead

:29:03. > :29:11.group of seven. Lauren Howarth was in eighth place last time we sure of

:29:12. > :29:18.-- last time we saw. You mentioned Duarte, she has not yet look in 15

:29:19. > :29:22.minutes for 5000 metres and I would suggest that even for a top-level

:29:23. > :29:28.cross-country runner from a TrackBack round, but is OK but you

:29:29. > :29:35.would expect something a little bit better. Yes, she did only make the

:29:36. > :29:38.move to 5000 metres this summer and I think she actually qualified for

:29:39. > :29:42.the World Championships in the race in Paris that Steph Twell

:29:43. > :29:50.essentially lead everyone out to get the qualifying time and then

:29:51. > :29:59.unfortunately just misted herself. It was such a slow race in Moscow,

:30:00. > :30:02.Duarte was not able to do that. She has a British coach. She does have a

:30:03. > :30:07.cross-country background through that. In the summer, she said when

:30:08. > :30:10.she started working with him, it was the first time she had been

:30:11. > :30:14.introduced essentially to true endurance, cross-country sessions.

:30:15. > :30:21.And things like the two mile repeats. That, I think, is giving

:30:22. > :30:26.her added strength because before that, yes, she was doing the

:30:27. > :30:31.steeplechase but I do not think she was doing the injuries that she has

:30:32. > :30:35.started to do this year. She is certainly demonstrating a different

:30:36. > :30:39.style of running to what she has done in the past. She would never

:30:40. > :30:48.have attacked this early on. Gemma Steel is realising she has to cover

:30:49. > :30:54.that move. It is earlier for Duarte. Britain are dominating at the

:30:55. > :31:08.minute. Spin in third place at the moment. -- Spain. It is interesting

:31:09. > :31:23.that Duarte is making this big push and has completely broken up that

:31:24. > :31:33.group. Belete tried to come with her but I think she is not in great

:31:34. > :31:36.form. Gemma Steel will have two tried to keep plugging away and

:31:37. > :31:47.close that gap. Who knows? Duarte might struggle on the last lap. She

:31:48. > :31:55.is taking herself away from the others. Of the list plenty of danger

:31:56. > :32:16.behind. -- but there is plenty of danger. Duarte looks comfortable.

:32:17. > :32:25.Gemma Steel is perhaps a bit more comfortable, but Duarte can be

:32:26. > :32:43.deceptive. The lead is not getting bigger. I think Duarte looks like it

:32:44. > :32:48.is hurting her. Her face is tense. The hurdling technique is not great

:32:49. > :33:00.for Felix, even though the log is small. For me, Sophie looks like she

:33:01. > :33:05.has put in more miles in training this year. She looks leaner and has

:33:06. > :33:12.a lot more strength than she has demonstrated in the past. I don't

:33:13. > :33:19.know. Every time the camera angle changes, it seems that the size of

:33:20. > :33:27.the gap changes. Grovdal has run a really good race, but looks as

:33:28. > :33:30.though she is tiring. Belete is definitely drifting backwards in

:33:31. > :33:37.that group. The others are moving forward. The sound of the bell

:33:38. > :33:42.signals the fact that there is just 1500 metres to go. Gemma Steel is

:33:43. > :33:51.about five seconds behind Sophie Duarte of France. The challenge

:33:52. > :33:58.behind her will come perhaps from Gemma Steel, but Fionnuala Britton

:33:59. > :34:07.and Felix of Portugal is not far away. Fionnuala Britton looks as

:34:08. > :34:12.though she is not able to go with Felix who is closing down on Gemma

:34:13. > :34:21.Steel. The Frenchwoman is looking strong. If anything, that gap is

:34:22. > :34:26.getting bigger. Gemma Steel worked hard to stay with her, but that is a

:34:27. > :34:33.good five second gap. And now Felix looks like she will put Gemma Steel

:34:34. > :34:44.under pressure for the silver. She needs to keep maintaining that

:34:45. > :34:51.pace. Hopefully she will be able to get information from her team about

:34:52. > :34:58.how the gap is closing behind her. But Duarte will grow in confidence.

:34:59. > :35:04.She knows that the gap is building and she is getting closer. I think

:35:05. > :35:12.Gemma Steel knows that Felix is causing. She needs to maintain

:35:13. > :35:20.focus. The team race is one which Britain got wrapped up in with Gemma

:35:21. > :35:28.Steel, Stephanie Twell and the others. Gemma Steel once this silver

:35:29. > :35:37.medal. Fionnuala Britton is not far away. She is starting to pick up.

:35:38. > :35:41.Closing the gap. Gemma Steel looks as though she is OK for an

:35:42. > :35:51.individual medal. She will want to make it silver rather than bronze.

:35:52. > :36:02.And here is the battle for the back. Lauren Howarth and Stephanie Twell

:36:03. > :36:14.are there. The top four from each country can't for the team race. The

:36:15. > :36:17.team race is not sewn up, but I think they are clearly away and

:36:18. > :36:25.hopefully Lauren and Stephanie can work together to build themselves

:36:26. > :36:30.are few places up so that their individual results are higher. For

:36:31. > :36:40.Gemma Steel, it is about trying to hold off Felix. She is worried about

:36:41. > :36:53.Fionnuala Britton closing on her as well. Finola Britain looks very

:36:54. > :36:59.tired. They are into the last few hundred metres here. Sophie Duarte

:37:00. > :37:05.of France has a good clear lead. And it will be a very welcome gold medal

:37:06. > :37:09.for the Frenchwoman. That a lot of work into this cross-country season.

:37:10. > :37:14.Gemma Steel eating in again, trying to get rid of the Portuguese athlete

:37:15. > :37:20.who has finished in the last three for the last couple of years. Finola

:37:21. > :37:35.Britain at the moment is out of the medals. Sophie Duarte pushed on, not

:37:36. > :37:40.far after halfway. Gemma Steel just starting to get a little bit of

:37:41. > :37:45.daylight. Felix maybe not got the finish that we suspected she might

:37:46. > :37:51.have. Gemma Steel trying to secure the silver medal. Sophie Duarte

:37:52. > :37:54.France just has one more bend to blunt then she will be able to see

:37:55. > :38:00.the finish line ahead of her. A couple of hundred metres to go.

:38:01. > :38:04.Being cheered on by the crowds here. The battle for second place is still

:38:05. > :38:10.being fought between Gemma Steel and Felix of Portugal. The two of them

:38:11. > :38:18.locked together. Gemma Steel doing her best. We now Felix can be fast.

:38:19. > :38:25.But in cross-country it is not just about effort. Gemma Steel is not

:38:26. > :38:29.giving up easily. Duarte will have a comfortable win. But who will get

:38:30. > :38:33.second place? Both athletes looking behind them. There is no danger

:38:34. > :38:41.behind. They have moved right over to the far side. Gemma Steel getting

:38:42. > :38:45.some daylight. Duarte will get the gold medal for France. A really good

:38:46. > :38:51.performance. She takes gold. Gemma Steel of Great Britain takes the

:38:52. > :38:55.silver medal after a real battle with Felix who once again has to

:38:56. > :39:03.settle for a top three finish, but not the middle she would have

:39:04. > :39:13.wanted. The early leader from Norway, Grovdal, comes in first. A

:39:14. > :39:17.welcome return for Julia Bleasdale. Running well for Great Britain.

:39:18. > :39:21.Second canter home. Then there will be a bit of a scrap for the minor

:39:22. > :39:25.places. I would suggest Great Britain is looking really good for

:39:26. > :39:30.the team race. That looks like Lauren Howarth just coming in using

:39:31. > :39:36.some track pace to get herself ahead of her team-mate Stephanie Twell.

:39:37. > :39:45.British athletes in the top 15 are our top four. Great Britain will be

:39:46. > :39:55.confirmed as the winner of the Gold medal for the team race. No joy for

:39:56. > :40:06.the Irish team with Finola Britain finishing out of the top three. But

:40:07. > :40:10.she has had lots of difficulties. Before this race, we said it was

:40:11. > :40:16.between five or six. The would've had chances. Some not performing

:40:17. > :40:29.quite so well, but I think the likes of the experience we talked about of

:40:30. > :40:32.Duarte, Felix, Belete and Gemma Steel coming to the fore. Great

:40:33. > :40:38.Britain continuing with their success at these championships.

:40:39. > :40:44.Everyone is fighting for their own little bit of personal glory. Great

:40:45. > :40:52.Britain were dominant in the team race as we would have expected.

:40:53. > :40:56.Silver medal for Gemma Steel. Gold for France, but from a British point

:40:57. > :41:03.of view, what a great run from Gemma Steel. Brilliant to come second.

:41:04. > :41:08.Probably not her most favoured of distance his. She showed great

:41:09. > :41:15.determination to hold off Felix. Brilliant performance. A couple of

:41:16. > :41:21.times, it looks like -- it looked like Felix had got her. Amazing

:41:22. > :41:28.determination from Gemma Steel. It was brilliant, the way she held

:41:29. > :41:33.her. It looks like she had beaten at one point. When she sprinted back

:41:34. > :41:36.past, it was brilliant. The thing about Gemma Steel's running style is

:41:37. > :41:42.she always looks like she's working hard. With a colour mattered to go,

:41:43. > :41:50.you think probably Felix has got it. She just kept right there. Felix

:41:51. > :41:57.probably has greater success on the track. You think that Gemma Steel

:41:58. > :42:01.doesn't work like she is quick, but she has deceptive speed. She knew

:42:02. > :42:07.that. She is very tough and will take deep and then dig the again.

:42:08. > :42:15.She has shown that on the road. She has the potential for the future.

:42:16. > :42:21.Fionnuala Britton coming in fourth. Just short of the fitness she has

:42:22. > :42:26.shown over the last few years. Her coach knew that she was not in the

:42:27. > :42:31.same shape as she was last year or there before. She knew she had her

:42:32. > :42:37.work out. She had raised Sophie Duarte in Dunkirk a few weeks ago,

:42:38. > :42:42.so she knew she had some work to do to close that gap. Sophie is a much

:42:43. > :42:49.stronger athlete than she was at these championships last summer --

:42:50. > :42:56.last year and even on the track in the summer. The British team did

:42:57. > :43:01.really well. To have four runners in the top 20 is brilliant. The mens

:43:02. > :43:07.rea is is off in half an hour. Now we will back over the junior men's

:43:08. > :43:15.and junior women's race. Steve Cram describing the action. These

:43:16. > :43:18.championships have provided so many medals for Great Britain in the

:43:19. > :43:41.past. She was happy to sit in the group

:43:42. > :43:46.early on. Good team backing her up. More than happy to just sit in the

:43:47. > :44:06.group. Turner from the north-east in her first Great Britain vest. She

:44:07. > :44:15.waited for a mile before she started testing her competitors. She was

:44:16. > :44:19.careful early on. When she went to the front, the only athlete who

:44:20. > :44:26.tried to cover the move was from Slovenia. For a little while, it

:44:27. > :44:38.looked like she might give a million something to think about. -- Emelia.

:44:39. > :44:53.She has had a great couple of years, coached by Mick Woods. There

:44:54. > :44:59.was no doubt about the result once she was away. This is an athlete who

:45:00. > :45:02.has so much strength. She knows that when choosing a sort of race like

:45:03. > :45:16.this against athlete in her age group, she can run with authority.

:45:17. > :45:20.It will be interesting to see how Gorecka can cope as she moves into

:45:21. > :45:29.running up with more senior athletes. Toner looking like she

:45:30. > :45:34.might have a chance of getting amongst the medals. Upfront, it was

:45:35. > :45:42.Gorecka who took the gold medal for a second time. She took silver last

:45:43. > :45:45.year and won gold in 2011. Utterly dominant when for Gorecka as

:45:46. > :46:29.expected. The British team clapping. Gorecka leading the team. Lydia

:46:30. > :46:31.Turner performing well in her first Championships. Great Britain

:46:32. > :46:36.completely and utterly dominant. She is getting used to this now, on the

:46:37. > :46:42.track and the country, medals galore. We will all be interested to

:46:43. > :46:47.see as she moves into the senior ranks how well she does. Totally

:46:48. > :46:51.dominant for the great British team. Sweden rather surprisingly getting

:46:52. > :46:54.into the medals. They are not known for their cross-country abilities

:46:55. > :47:03.but it is good to see them performing well. The gold medal for

:47:04. > :47:08.the British team. And there they are, holding up the trophy. This was

:47:09. > :47:17.the junior mens rea is. It was a cracking race. The sort of race you

:47:18. > :47:23.love to see. Two former Kenyan 's, they had it pretty much their own

:47:24. > :47:29.way right from the beginning. Great Britain had high hopes. But it was a

:47:30. > :47:37.real sprint finish. Come a lake, this 1500 metre medal on the track

:47:38. > :47:56.last summer, he thought he was going to get it but it was Kaya who came

:47:57. > :48:04.through to win it, a great duel between the two of them. Davies just

:48:05. > :48:09.missed out on a medal. Coming in fourth place. Fortunately, that --

:48:10. > :48:13.unfortunately, that meant no medals for Great Britain. It was a good

:48:14. > :48:16.individual performance for Jonathan Davies but a couple of others not

:48:17. > :48:23.running as well as we might have hoped that they could. Great Britain

:48:24. > :48:26.unfortunately just finishing out of the medals. France took the gold,

:48:27. > :48:42.Russia the silver and Italy the bronze. A great performance from

:48:43. > :48:48.Great Britain 's junior women. Especially Gorecka signing off from

:48:49. > :48:52.her junior career. Yes, that was a fantastic performance. She was upset

:48:53. > :48:55.last year not to win but to come back this year and be so dominant,

:48:56. > :49:00.it is brilliant and the team as well, I think they have always been

:49:01. > :49:08.quite strong but they really showed it today. What next for Gorecka? It

:49:09. > :49:15.is the transition to the senior ranks. Absolutely. It feels as if

:49:16. > :49:20.she has been a junior for ever. She is properly very excited and excited

:49:21. > :49:23.about moving into the senior race. I am not sure that the under 23

:49:24. > :49:28.section is really necessary at European level. These girls can go

:49:29. > :49:36.from the juniors and compete Copley with the senior women. There is not

:49:37. > :49:46.really that need for a transition. I think that is what the European

:49:47. > :49:48.authorities are thinking. What we are seeing in the European

:49:49. > :49:53.Championships is that so many of the girls could be figuring in the

:49:54. > :49:56.senior race and I think it is dilutive in the strength of the

:49:57. > :50:05.senior com petition a little bit. We will take a bit of a look back at

:50:06. > :50:10.the 20 13th season now. Steve Cram gave us five to watch for the

:50:11. > :50:20.season. This is how they get on. That's how they got on.

:50:21. > :50:29.He was described as the future of the event. He signed for the San

:50:30. > :50:34.Francisco 49ers, choosing a different path and a great career in

:50:35. > :50:41.the NFL. Jack Green had a very difficult year. But he showed what

:50:42. > :50:46.was likely to come from him. He will want to put 2013 behind him. Plenty

:50:47. > :50:55.of injuries but that talent is still there. Johnson Thomson learned so

:50:56. > :51:00.much alongside Jess Ennis at the Olympic Games. A great long jump

:51:01. > :51:02.year for her individually and then she went to the World Championships

:51:03. > :51:10.in Moscow and finished in fifth race, not too far off the medals.

:51:11. > :51:20.She should have a great platform in 2013. After his breakthrough, Adam

:51:21. > :51:27.Jimmy Lee had everyone excited about his 2013 season. It did not start to

:51:28. > :51:32.well but Moscow, he really came the fore, running under 20 seconds for

:51:33. > :51:42.200 metres, just outside the British record. Perhaps just a taster of

:51:43. > :51:45.what is to come. And for Jessica Job, it could not have gone any

:51:46. > :51:53.better, winning the European team champion ships. She followed that up

:51:54. > :52:00.by winning the trials over 800 metres and running under two minutes

:52:01. > :52:07.for the first time. Three out of five ain't bad. 60%, Steve, that is

:52:08. > :52:17.on the borderline. I am claiming 80%. I could not figure that one

:52:18. > :52:24.out, going to play in the NFL. Good luck to him. And Jack got injured as

:52:25. > :52:30.well. The other three had outstanding seasons. Yes, the one I

:52:31. > :52:39.was particularly pleased about, Jessica, that was an easy one, I

:52:40. > :52:44.knew she would have a great season, but I think Adam was the? . It was

:52:45. > :52:49.whether or not he could continue to build. We have seen him run so well

:52:50. > :52:52.over 100 metres but that performance over 200 metres in Moscow was

:52:53. > :53:01.thrilling and I think everyone is very excited and rightly so about

:53:02. > :53:04.his prospects going forward. He ran under 20 seconds in the semifinals

:53:05. > :53:10.but he backed it up with a very strong run in the final. Yes, this

:53:11. > :53:15.board, you know, Jonathan, it is not just about times, it is about being

:53:16. > :53:18.a competitor -- this bought. You can go into major championships and

:53:19. > :53:22.produce your best form it is, not the worried about the big names and

:53:23. > :53:27.reputations. That is what I like about him. He has a great attitude

:53:28. > :53:31.and he is a good competitor. You need to have the times, obviously.

:53:32. > :53:36.You need to be able to content but I think he is someone who has a big

:53:37. > :53:42.future ahead of him. A big future ahead of him this year. He has a

:53:43. > :53:47.chance to win at a major champion ships. Hopefully he will have a good

:53:48. > :53:53.year. Who will be sitting in this chair where Jessica is sitting now

:53:54. > :53:57.next year? That is difficult. We have had a couple of years with

:53:58. > :54:04.Olympics and World Championships will stop next year is interesting.

:54:05. > :54:09.You can have real youngsters who are not on the radar. You have the

:54:10. > :54:14.Commonwealth Games. I think one of our most exciting athletes Morgan

:54:15. > :54:20.Lake is someone who might have the opportunity to go to the

:54:21. > :54:24.Commonwealth Games. Maybe not in terms of winning medals, but people

:54:25. > :54:34.who might use 2014 is a big stepping stone towards Rio de Janeiro. There

:54:35. > :54:37.was no Jess Ennis in the World Championships last year. Thompson

:54:38. > :54:44.Johnson stepped up to the plate. She definitely did. You saw her aims and

:54:45. > :54:48.her goals change as the competition went on and she saw what she is

:54:49. > :54:53.capable of. I saw her the following day and she was really disappointed

:54:54. > :54:56.not to get a medal. At if she had been asked that the start of the

:54:57. > :54:57.jumping gypsy she was happy with that, she would have been over the

:54:58. > :55:14.moon. Dad Championships. She is capable of setting her sights

:55:15. > :55:18.a little higher now. How do you think she will respond to having

:55:19. > :55:23.Jess Ennis alongside her? Will she feel that she has lost her place in

:55:24. > :55:27.the spotlight? I think she will get strength from it. She looks up

:55:28. > :55:33.hugely to Jess Ennis and I think she likes having -- having her there.

:55:34. > :55:36.The girls to go through so much together, there is a huge

:55:37. > :55:40.camaraderie and a huge amount of respect amongst them. I think they

:55:41. > :55:44.do support each other and help each other through it. She has learned a

:55:45. > :55:48.lot over the years. I think she will relish the fact that she has her

:55:49. > :55:54.competing alongside Herbert also want to close the gap and be able to

:55:55. > :56:00.beat here. Also there are some of the changes within UK Athletics.

:56:01. > :56:08.There was talk about your coach, Jessica, working with a consultant?

:56:09. > :56:14.Yes, it can only be positive. We will have to wait and see what

:56:15. > :56:20.happens. You have an official hat now, Paula. Yes, I am an official

:56:21. > :56:24.mentor and I am helping out. Essentially it is something that I

:56:25. > :56:27.have probably done for a few years with a certain number of athletes,

:56:28. > :56:32.just helping out and looking over their training and mentoring. This

:56:33. > :56:38.is just maybe a little bit more, trying to give back to a sport that

:56:39. > :56:41.I think has helped the a lot. And help people make that transition if

:56:42. > :56:46.they are trying to make a transition from the track to the marathon and

:56:47. > :56:50.looking at the right kind of areas but I think this year is going to be

:56:51. > :56:54.a kind of settling into those roles situation and seeing what we can do

:56:55. > :57:00.to help button achieved. The other interesting announce went is that

:57:01. > :57:12.announcement is there is no replacement for the head coach. What

:57:13. > :57:15.do you make of that? I think that is definitely something different and

:57:16. > :57:20.something that they will need to be nicking adjustments towards. Whether

:57:21. > :57:23.Neil Black will pull things together remains to be seen. The most

:57:24. > :57:28.important thing is that you have people who really understand the

:57:29. > :57:31.different areas so you really have someone who understands endurance,

:57:32. > :57:37.they have to make sure they do the same in the sprints and the other

:57:38. > :57:47.events. It is a big weekend coming up next weekend for the BBC. Mo

:57:48. > :57:49.Farah is in the mix for the Sports Personality of the Year. But is

:57:50. > :58:05.coming up in a weeks time. Virginia Wade has won the most

:58:06. > :58:09.significant victory. Our sports personality of the year goes to two

:58:10. > :58:21.people, Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean. Nigel Manson Williams. --

:58:22. > :58:36.Nigel Mansell wins. Bradley Wiggins. The most iconic trophy in sport.

:58:37. > :58:41.to catch up with the under 23 races which happened a little earlier on.

:58:42. > :58:44.to catch up with the under 23 races Steve Cram describes the action.

:58:45. > :58:50.Again, Great Britain with high hopes. Charlotte Purdue, a welcome

:58:51. > :58:59.return. Charlotte, hopes. Charlotte Purdue, a welcome

:59:00. > :59:11.to get to the front and was followed up by a very strong British team.

:59:12. > :59:19.to get to the front and was followed They are forcing the early pace in

:59:20. > :59:29.December 23 race. -- under 23 race. There is the tall figure of Terzic.

:59:30. > :59:33.Hassan possibly could have gone into the senior race and contended that

:59:34. > :59:36.as well. Charlotte Purdue did her best. The team was packing well

:59:37. > :59:53.behind her. Britain completely dominant team

:59:54. > :59:57.wise. It was a question of whether or not Charlotte Purdue could take

:59:58. > :00:03.the gold medal. And for a while, it looked like Terzic had started to

:00:04. > :00:06.struggle. But Hassan was always looking the most comfortable.

:00:07. > :00:12.Charlotte Purdue will always scrap and fight as much as you can. There

:00:13. > :00:16.was a late surge from Terzic. She is always strong in the last 500

:00:17. > :01:06.metres. But no doubt about the winner. Hassan Priddy dominant in

:01:07. > :01:29.the end. It is great to see Charlotte Purdue leading the most

:01:30. > :01:35.dominating field. In the men's race, it was interesting to see how the

:01:36. > :01:43.British men were going to fear. Considered to be a pretty open race.

:01:44. > :01:50.The winner from Norway was not in the sort of shape he was last year.

:01:51. > :01:57.Dewi Griffiths of Great Britain set a lot of the early pace. Callum

:01:58. > :02:02.Hawkins, the Scottish athlete, was well in there as well. The British

:02:03. > :02:07.men were never too far away from the leading group. It was a case of

:02:08. > :02:11.whether any of the British men could really get in there to content for

:02:12. > :02:21.an individual medal. Called well, who is based in the USA, was never

:02:22. > :02:49.far away from the lead once it all settle down. Peter Gagan Hannahs is

:02:50. > :03:00.the -- Hannas is looking really strong. Hannes took gold for

:03:01. > :03:07.Belgium. Then there was a real scrap on for the minor medals. Home crowd

:03:08. > :03:17.really had something to cheer about. No doubt about the gold. You

:03:18. > :03:35.can CD scrap was going on behalf of it. -- you can see the scrap. Callum

:03:36. > :03:40.Hawkins was in seven. Dewi Griffiths hung on for 16th place, so Great

:03:41. > :03:49.Britain took the gold medal in the team race. We were not sure how the

:03:50. > :03:56.British men would do. No individual medals. That was left to Hannes. His

:03:57. > :03:59.second gold medal of the season. One on the track and bile in the

:04:00. > :04:04.cross-country. There is confirmation. Ukraine just pipping

:04:05. > :04:15.France for the silver medal in the team race. More success for Great

:04:16. > :04:19.Britain. Turning out to be yet another good day at these European

:04:20. > :04:25.Cross Country Championships. Earlier, we saw the women's race

:04:26. > :04:31.medal presentation. Gemma Steel taking a very gritty silver medal

:04:32. > :04:35.behind Sophie Duarte of France. And there they are winning the team

:04:36. > :04:40.gold. Very impressive performance from the girls? They definitely went

:04:41. > :04:49.in as favourites and are expected to bring home that gold. It is good to

:04:50. > :04:53.see Julia coming back into form. And Stephanie Twell. The damage she did

:04:54. > :04:59.with however many places she broke her ankle a few years ago and to be

:05:00. > :05:05.back racing cross-country at full strength is really good. She is

:05:06. > :05:13.looking to put on a Scottish vest next year. You got English

:05:14. > :05:20.qualification for the Commonwealth Games? I didn't realise it at the

:05:21. > :05:28.time. But it is really close. Hopefully I can be selected for

:05:29. > :05:37.that. It is happening on the 2nd of June. I don't think there are trials

:05:38. > :05:46.this year. We will just have to see. Hopefully I have done enough. Paula

:05:47. > :05:51.Radcliffe and I have great memories of Manchester in 2002. I think

:05:52. > :05:56.Glasgow will be great off the back of London. That was one of the

:05:57. > :06:00.highlights of my career. It was so special. We were not lucky enough to

:06:01. > :06:03.be able to experience that in London. A lot of those athletes will

:06:04. > :06:14.have done and will come to Glasgow expect thing good friends and we

:06:15. > :06:18.expect some strong performances. Let's look at some previous winners

:06:19. > :06:35.for the men's race which is due to start soon. The Ukrainian athlete

:06:36. > :06:47.has moved up to marathon so will not be taking part. The only returning

:06:48. > :06:54.winner is Bezabeh, who of course was found with a bag of his own blood so

:06:55. > :07:05.hopefully we will not see him performing so well today. Mo Farah

:07:06. > :07:11.use that as a preparation for his track career. Is that you can live

:07:12. > :07:16.outlook for running cross-country? Preparing to get ready for the

:07:17. > :07:22.summer? I think so. Cross-country makes me tougher. I think it would

:07:23. > :07:25.make anyone tougher, to be honest! I have has enjoyed doing that. It

:07:26. > :07:29.gives you some endurance and hopefully will enable you to keep

:07:30. > :07:38.going through the track season before you get tired. Paula, you are

:07:39. > :07:42.talking earlier about how you run I feel -- you run by feel in the

:07:43. > :07:56.cross-country race. There is no lap time. You have people who are doing

:07:57. > :08:01.it just to keep winter interesting and to train for the summer. Then

:08:02. > :08:06.there are others who race almost like children and judge their

:08:07. > :08:11.efforts to get the finish line first. I think cross-country is

:08:12. > :08:23.about testing people in different areas of the course were you know

:08:24. > :08:28.you're stronger. Justly one-minute site being held up for the

:08:29. > :08:44.athletes. The British contingent, you just saw them leaving the tent.

:08:45. > :08:50.Andy has done well and I hope today is his day. It would be great to see

:08:51. > :08:59.him get his moment. There hears, Keith Gerrard alongside Andy Vernon.

:09:00. > :09:03.The Italian team are reasonably strong. I don't think they will

:09:04. > :09:13.necessarily content. Builder might have some. -- Belgium might have

:09:14. > :09:24.some successful stop now big names to dominate. It has not been the

:09:25. > :09:35.sort of event where the Spaniards have targeted in recent years. The

:09:36. > :09:38.men's race is ten colour matters. We have had a couple of foreigners

:09:39. > :09:44.right at the very beginning. Not sure if that was any of the main

:09:45. > :09:52.contenders. Perhaps some Italians. Not the way you want to start of ten

:09:53. > :09:57.colour matters of cross-country. The French to the four early on. The

:09:58. > :10:02.Brits sitting nicely in the pack. Hopefully they can negotiate the

:10:03. > :10:08.first bend without much more pushing and shoving. The men do a couple of

:10:09. > :10:13.short laps each and then five of the 1500 metre laps to make up the

:10:14. > :10:22.distance. I think he's short laps will settle themselves in to fuel

:10:23. > :10:29.their way in through the first 1200 metres or so. A lot of support out

:10:30. > :10:39.there for the British team wherever they go. Supporters broke their

:10:40. > :10:45.trips and give the British plenty of support. It is an event we do so

:10:46. > :10:49.well at, so lots to cheerful stop just settling down through this

:10:50. > :10:57.first few hundred metres after that little tumble at the beginning.

:10:58. > :11:08.Thankfully everybody is up and into the running. This is a race which I

:11:09. > :11:17.don't think there are any real favourites. Belgium have a good

:11:18. > :11:23.strong team. I hope Great Britain do well here. A lot of experience in

:11:24. > :11:33.our team. We mentioned Keith Gerrard. Tom Farrell, who ran so

:11:34. > :11:41.well last year, as well as Frank Tickner. The women have always

:11:42. > :11:49.dominated cross-country running. In the men, it has been a little bit up

:11:50. > :11:57.and down in recent years. Once or twice the team have done well. If we

:11:58. > :12:02.look back to the very early European Cross Country Championships, we had

:12:03. > :12:09.a lot of success with John Brown. Then Mo Farah several years later in

:12:10. > :12:15.his footsteps. It would be nice to see some step up now and really make

:12:16. > :12:17.that move to medal here at the European Cross Country

:12:18. > :12:23.Championships. Andy Vernon has said that he has pinpointed six guys who

:12:24. > :12:27.are capable of getting a medal and he puts himself among them. It would

:12:28. > :12:34.be great to see him do that. I am told that the plan is for Andy

:12:35. > :12:39.Vernon to sit in and take it easy for the first few laps. He is going

:12:40. > :12:54.to see how things will settle at the start. Bezabeh is now back after

:12:55. > :13:06.serving his band. Andy Vernon just tucked into that leading group. No

:13:07. > :13:14.need to really force the pace. The Turkish athlete has good track

:13:15. > :13:27.pedigree. A couple of the good names will start getting up there seemed

:13:28. > :13:32.to cover that. You want to see the juniors dominate and move through

:13:33. > :13:41.the age groups. We have seen people like Stephanie Twell continue

:13:42. > :13:45.through and take everyone with them through the age groups. That is what

:13:46. > :13:59.you want to see. I guess we haven't quite seen that on the men's side.

:14:00. > :14:10.Perhaps that was in essence by Reid tried to bring the European cost in

:14:11. > :14:14.a in as an event so that you can see the European countries and

:14:15. > :14:19.individuals being able to compete. On the men's side, I think it has

:14:20. > :14:24.been more difficult. Hopefully we will see them come through and be

:14:25. > :14:28.able to build more. It spills over to the marathon as well. We don't

:14:29. > :14:37.quite have the strength that they did years ago. Talking about British

:14:38. > :15:00.junior talent, or athletics fans were saddened to hear about the

:15:01. > :15:11.death of Mark Sesay. Thoughts are very much with his family. It was a

:15:12. > :15:15.shock. He will be missed. He was a great talent. He was fun to have

:15:16. > :15:24.around. One of the real characters of British athletics. In the 1990s,

:15:25. > :15:29.he was someone who was up there. Perhaps his senior career had not

:15:30. > :15:42.materialise as we would hope. Very sad to hear of his passing. I have

:15:43. > :15:48.been having a go at this log, saying it is pretty pointless having it

:15:49. > :15:57.there, but he did not see it. You do not even have to jump it, it is not

:15:58. > :16:02.that high at all. Just watch this. He just clips it and goes flat on

:16:03. > :16:06.his face. I wonder if his spikes actually caught the board on the

:16:07. > :16:13.side. They seem to have an advertising board lent against it.

:16:14. > :16:19.It seemed like he dropped his foot a little bit too soon. He has lost a

:16:20. > :16:24.fair amount of ground. He is back up and running in that group. He was

:16:25. > :16:28.really pushing the pace on. And when something like that happens to the

:16:29. > :16:37.lead, you have a decision to make. Bezabeh has decided to keep pushing

:16:38. > :16:42.on. Abdi has won a couple of good races this season. But a long way to

:16:43. > :16:49.go and Bezabeh deciding he wants to keep forging on. He will be a big

:16:50. > :16:53.threat, Charlie, the Frenchman. This is where Andy Vernon needs to be

:16:54. > :16:58.careful. He is on about 11th place at the moment. Just in that group

:16:59. > :17:02.chasing. He was probably not expecting this at this early stage.

:17:03. > :17:06.I think that is a little bit of what we have been talking about, the

:17:07. > :17:10.rhythm of cross-country is so different. It does tend to ebb and

:17:11. > :17:13.flow in little bit. You need to be ready to grab opportunities and make

:17:14. > :17:18.opportunities when some thing like that happens. And that is exactly

:17:19. > :17:22.what happened there. It just change the format of the race. Some of them

:17:23. > :17:25.were looking around and others had decided it was an opportunity and

:17:26. > :17:30.they were taking it and making something of it. Now we are seeing

:17:31. > :17:35.three away and they are settling back into a rhythm now. Abdi looks

:17:36. > :17:41.as if he is struggling a little bit to maintain that. I was having a

:17:42. > :17:44.look at the ground to see had it churned up, we talk about the number

:17:45. > :17:49.of laps that have been run on this course already today. I think it is

:17:50. > :17:52.cold out there and it is hovering around freezing. You can see it is

:17:53. > :17:59.slightly soft on the top but I would not say it is muddy or churned up. I

:18:00. > :18:02.would not say they are having to deal with a much different course

:18:03. > :18:14.right now than what the juniors dealt with at the beginning of the

:18:15. > :18:21.day. Arikan trying to take the lead. Abdi in third place, he won a big

:18:22. > :18:39.race in Belgium a couple of weeks ago. But you can see that Chadli is

:18:40. > :18:44.not shore. This is a really early stage to try and win this. He is

:18:45. > :18:52.coming back from his drugs ban. He did run pretty quickly in the summer

:18:53. > :18:59.over 5000 metres. Arikan just gets back into the top four. They are not

:19:00. > :19:05.sure. Arikan making their mind up for them. I think he will suffer for

:19:06. > :19:10.this, or pay for this a little bit later on. He decided that he wanted

:19:11. > :19:19.to close the gap. I don't know. I think he has done a pretty smartly.

:19:20. > :19:25.I am just looking at Andy Vernon beading that chasing group,

:19:26. > :19:32.hopefully he can keep working and get back to these three because they

:19:33. > :19:37.do seem to have settled a little bit. Arikan is rocking and rolling.

:19:38. > :19:49.But he has worked his way gradually back there. He is not letting that

:19:50. > :19:59.gap to Bezabeh get too big. The French athlete did not feel he had

:20:00. > :20:08.it to go with Bezabeh. I like what Andy Vernon is doing. I think it is

:20:09. > :20:12.a wise move. But this is the one they have to worry about, he has

:20:13. > :20:18.really gone off at the front and is moving away from the others. I have

:20:19. > :20:27.seen him do this before. I think Arikan will suffer a little later

:20:28. > :20:31.on. But the key thing is whether the Spaniard is going to be strong

:20:32. > :20:34.enough to stay out there in front for the rest of the race. But is a

:20:35. > :20:40.decent gap he has already. I think he looks very smooth. He seems to be

:20:41. > :20:47.floating over the surface very relaxed. He is that style of runner.

:20:48. > :20:51.Even when we saw some of his jewels with Mo Farah, he would always look

:20:52. > :20:56.very relaxed. In Mo Farah 's face, you can see the years working that

:20:57. > :21:00.much harder. But definitely, he looks comfortable and he is judging

:21:01. > :21:12.this race pretty well. It is just now a case of whether Andy Vernon

:21:13. > :21:19.can close the gap. You can see the teams going through, Belgium doing

:21:20. > :21:22.really well, Spain are there. Tom Farrell for Britain in 12th place.

:21:23. > :21:28.But Belgium are leading the team race pretty comfortable in. It is

:21:29. > :21:35.well strung out. The early pace being set up by Arikan, before he

:21:36. > :21:44.fell over the log, and he has worked hard to get himself back in it. But

:21:45. > :22:01.they are 30 metres behind Bezabeh. He is looking really strong. There

:22:02. > :22:07.is the chasing group. If these three can work together, they have to look

:22:08. > :22:10.at the three ahead of them, that is the first target, get themselves

:22:11. > :22:19.back involved with the chase for a medal and then if Bezabeh does start

:22:20. > :22:23.to falter, the ground is starting to cut up slightly. It is not exactly

:22:24. > :22:30.muddy cross-country but there is some better ground on the left. Yes,

:22:31. > :22:34.we did see Julia Bleasdale doing that in the women's race as well at

:22:35. > :22:38.one point. She drifted out to the left. They are looking for firmer,

:22:39. > :22:43.faster running. I think Andy Vernon is looking for that. He did not want

:22:44. > :22:53.to see a tough, heavy, hard going course. But they do need to work

:22:54. > :22:59.together. We can see that grow one has not given up on closing that gap

:23:00. > :23:05.down towards Bezabeh. Dash-macro one.

:23:06. > :23:11.It is good to see Tom Farrell so far up there. He came out at the

:23:12. > :23:16.beginning of the year and had an injury and was pretty disappointed

:23:17. > :23:23.in the cross-country is over in the US not to perform as well as he

:23:24. > :23:32.wanted to, so it is good to see him bounce back and perform well today.

:23:33. > :23:41.He was just outside the medals he -- last year. He ran really well. His

:23:42. > :23:45.racing over in the United States has not been as impressive as it was

:23:46. > :23:49.last year. But he seems to be finding some impressive form. But

:23:50. > :23:55.there are loads of big gaps there. This early pace is perhaps not what

:23:56. > :23:59.was expected. They are not quite halfway, approaching the halfway

:24:00. > :24:18.point. This is the battle for silver and bronze. They have two keep that

:24:19. > :24:25.group insight. They are working hard. It is amazing, once the gaps

:24:26. > :24:29.start to appear, you say about covering moves, if you get in a

:24:30. > :24:37.group that moves away, you can work together and it is funny how the

:24:38. > :24:42.chasers cannot get to you. You have got to be really careful about

:24:43. > :24:47.letting the race developed in the early stages in such a way that you

:24:48. > :24:57.cannot get it back. Exactly, I think that is the thing with cross-country

:24:58. > :25:01.races, you can make a gap and the gap can feel so much bigger because

:25:02. > :25:10.there are so many turns and obstacles and things in the way. And

:25:11. > :25:19.it is not like a track or the open road. You need to really be able to

:25:20. > :25:23.stay on people and to keep within, not within touching distance, but be

:25:24. > :25:26.able to stay as if there is a little bit of string holding on to the

:25:27. > :25:34.person in front. It is easier to break those gap is.

:25:35. > :25:41.Still three laps to go, the best part three laps to in this men's

:25:42. > :25:48.ace. There is the battle for silver and bronze. Arikan is certainly

:25:49. > :25:54.doing the best at the moment. Andy Vernon now in seventh place, seeing

:25:55. > :25:59.the medals just move away from him at the moment. The British men, I

:26:00. > :26:04.would suggest, it is Belgium leading the team race, Spain well up there

:26:05. > :26:07.as well, and Great Britain will have to do well to get amongst the medals

:26:08. > :26:14.because France are packing quite well. There is your second, third

:26:15. > :26:17.and fourth. The leader, Bezabeh, well ahead of these three. And these

:26:18. > :26:22.three are quite away in front of the chasing group. Abdi is in bronze

:26:23. > :26:29.medal position at the moment. chasing group. Abdi is in bronze

:26:30. > :26:34.plenty of running left in this race. chasing group. Abdi is in bronze

:26:35. > :26:41.through. But those top three certainly looked as if they are

:26:42. > :26:44.running strong to me. Yes, I think chart dash-macro to

:26:45. > :26:53.running strong to me. Yes, I think is struggling to close that gap. --

:26:54. > :26:56.Chadi. Andy Vernon had done quite a lot of work at the

:26:57. > :26:57.Chadi. Andy Vernon had done quite a pack of three trying to close that

:26:58. > :27:01.gap and now he has drifted to the back of that. We are seeing the

:27:02. > :27:06.Spanish athlete actually moving the best of all and he has the best

:27:07. > :27:10.chance of moving up. The Belgians are looking very strong. I think it

:27:11. > :27:17.is Belgium from Spain and possibly France in third position in the team

:27:18. > :27:22.race. Tom Farrell just going through. It is really important.

:27:23. > :27:26.Every single place counts. But I think Spain, France, Belgium and

:27:27. > :27:30.Britain, with Belgium very much leading the team challenge, it is

:27:31. > :27:37.going to be between those other three teams for silver and bronze.

:27:38. > :27:43.And the Spanish athlete we saw, that is a big run from him. He has moved

:27:44. > :27:47.through very quickly, coming from a very long way back. He has already

:27:48. > :27:56.moved into fourth place. Moving onto the shoulder of Chadi of France.

:27:57. > :28:05.The local coverage is very much concentrating on Arikan and Abdi. I

:28:06. > :28:08.am just wondering why we have not seen Bezabeh for a little while. But

:28:09. > :28:16.the fact that Spain are leading the team race, there is the leader,

:28:17. > :28:23.Bezabeh, a long way ahead. 50 metres at least. But I think that there is

:28:24. > :28:28.still a chance for others to come through and maybe have a chance at

:28:29. > :28:36.picking up the minor medals. Arikan still working hard. Andy Vernon not

:28:37. > :28:45.too far away. He is in seventh place at the moment. You will definitely

:28:46. > :28:49.see that the guys as they are chasing, they will gain in

:28:50. > :28:54.confidence from that start, moving through. That is where on a multiple

:28:55. > :29:00.lap course, it can get a little bit confusing. The director did not show

:29:01. > :29:03.Bezabeh ahead for a while because he was so far ahead. When guys have

:29:04. > :29:06.moved through the field and they start to pick people off, they need

:29:07. > :29:11.to make sure they have enough information from the coaches to know

:29:12. > :29:16.that they are not in the lead, they are in second. As a Bay is quite a

:29:17. > :29:20.way ahead. Arikan knows that he is working on Bezabeh and that is why

:29:21. > :29:23.he is continuing to keep pushing and to work hard, even though he has a

:29:24. > :29:28.comfortable gap ahead of Abdi in third. I think he is coming under

:29:29. > :29:39.pressure from the guys behind him and they are working together as

:29:40. > :29:45.well. That makes it a tougher task. He is looking strong at the front,

:29:46. > :29:49.never really been any threat at all where the title was going. We will

:29:50. > :29:54.not sure what type of form he was bringing to these championships. He

:29:55. > :30:03.was the winner in 2009, when he got the better of Mo Farah. But he still

:30:04. > :30:07.has two laps to go. He looks most serene out there in front. Bezabeh,

:30:08. > :30:12.you can have your opinions and I do not think that any of us, Paula was

:30:13. > :30:17.talking about his drugs ban, but big controversy in Spanish athletics, he

:30:18. > :30:21.was part of it, and he has served his ban and he is back. And he looks

:30:22. > :30:32.to be running as well, if not better, than ever. Just watching

:30:33. > :30:35.them go through. There is Arikan. Britain have really got to knuckle

:30:36. > :30:41.down to get a medal. They have a chance of a medal in terms of the

:30:42. > :30:53.team race. They really have to work for every position. It is good to be

:30:54. > :31:10.pretty close. Ever possession they can't pull back really counts. --

:31:11. > :31:19.position. You want to make sure that when you cross the line, you

:31:20. > :31:25.maintain your position. You don't want that to be taken away from you.

:31:26. > :31:35.We had an update on the course after these three laps Britain were six

:31:36. > :31:42.points behind France. Keith Gerrard and Adam Hickey need to work hard to

:31:43. > :31:50.pick up some places. He was outside the top 20, but looks as though he

:31:51. > :31:58.is doing a good job of picking up. You just have to be aware of every

:31:59. > :32:05.other athlete and the teams that are in contention. You are running your

:32:06. > :32:08.own race, but you would be gutted to learn that you would have had a

:32:09. > :32:14.medal in your pocket if you had passed one more athlete. That is why

:32:15. > :32:18.it is important to get information from members of the team on the

:32:19. > :32:23.course. The candour running totals in their head and they know for you

:32:24. > :32:26.are in the team standings. The biggest thing is that individually

:32:27. > :32:30.you're trying to get the best position you can for yourself. That

:32:31. > :32:34.all adds together to make the team event. If there is one person ahead

:32:35. > :32:43.of you that you think you can catch, then you will give everything you

:32:44. > :33:04.can't able to close that gap. Just looking at the splits for Bezabeh,

:33:05. > :33:18.he has hardly slowed. For: 21. -- 4:21. Spot the track specialist

:33:19. > :33:26.because times don't matter! That is the first time I have seen him look

:33:27. > :33:35.behind in this race. He looks very relaxed and like a metronome. Those

:33:36. > :33:44.gaps are growing and growing. Know there will be confusion as he starts

:33:45. > :33:47.lapping runners in front of them. We have been given great information

:33:48. > :33:55.about the team race. Most athletes are on the fifth lap. Spain and

:33:56. > :33:59.Belgium look as though the gold and silver is between them. Britain and

:34:00. > :34:06.France battle back out for the bronze medal. Bezabeh of Spain with

:34:07. > :34:16.a good lead. A really insurmountable lead I would suggest. Probably a

:34:17. > :34:28.good 20 seconds. He is just 1500 metres from the title that he won in

:34:29. > :34:42.2009. Big gap between second and the chasers. This is the battle for

:34:43. > :34:49.bronze. We were talking about single points difference. Andy Vernon is

:34:50. > :34:55.leading the British. It is really about the French. We would prefer

:34:56. > :35:03.Charlie to finish in fifth instead of third. Hats off to him. He has

:35:04. > :35:11.really rallied and fought back to keep himself in contention. They are

:35:12. > :35:17.working together but still battling each other. That will push them

:35:18. > :35:27.further ahead of Andy Vernon who is desperately trying to get back.

:35:28. > :35:31.Arikan is rocking and rolling a little bug looking very strong. No

:35:32. > :35:40.doubt about the fact that he will win a medal here. Bezabeh is the

:35:41. > :35:47.leader. A long way ahead. It has not been the most competitive race at

:35:48. > :35:56.the front, but from a British perspective Andy Vernon, do you

:35:57. > :36:00.think he missed the chance? Looks as though the medallists are too far

:36:01. > :36:06.ahead of him as he starts the final lap. I think he has run a good race.

:36:07. > :36:12.If he had committed more when the gaps first opened up was the stumble

:36:13. > :36:25.over the log and Bezabeh may be surge, he was slow to react. -- made

:36:26. > :36:34.the surge. He did not have the confidence to react when he should

:36:35. > :36:40.have done. Andy Vernon will perhaps have to settle for a top six

:36:41. > :36:45.position. There is a real scrap for bronze in the team race. All of the

:36:46. > :36:56.top three runners are ahead of Britain. It will come down to the

:36:57. > :37:10.fourth position. The second-place winner ahead of Tom Farrell. --

:37:11. > :37:16.second-place runner. Bezabeh came back this summer and ran pretty well

:37:17. > :37:23.over 5000 metres. As good as he was before he served his two-year ban.

:37:24. > :37:30.He is back now and is we taking the title that he won in 2009, ahead of

:37:31. > :37:33.Mo Farah. Plenty of people will not be particularly enjoying his

:37:34. > :37:43.performance year-to-date, but it has been a very dominant one. In a year

:37:44. > :37:48.where perhaps Britain has dominated in distance running, it will be

:37:49. > :37:53.interesting to see what happens next summer. Mo Farah is concentrating on

:37:54. > :37:55.the marathon. There will be medals up for grabs in the track

:37:56. > :38:02.championships in the distance events. This man, on the basis of

:38:03. > :38:08.what has happened here today, will certainly be a contender. Very, very

:38:09. > :38:15.easy victory. Went to the front at an early stage after Arikan set a

:38:16. > :38:20.strong pace. When the Turkish athlete tripped and fell over the

:38:21. > :38:33.log, he forged on and has not looked back since. At least metaphorically.

:38:34. > :38:38.So, Bezabeh will win. Spain has such good pedigree. Gold medal for Spain

:38:39. > :38:46.in the men's European Cross Country Championships. A long way behind for

:38:47. > :38:54.silver. A real battle going on for bronze. Andy Vernon might still have

:38:55. > :38:59.a chance. The British athlete is trying to get there. And get bronze?

:39:00. > :39:08.It will be right to the line! I think Andy Vernon might have got

:39:09. > :39:17.it! The photo has given it to Andy Vernon, or has it? Impossible to

:39:18. > :39:26.tell from that angle. 400 metres to go, he was in sixth place. Goodness

:39:27. > :39:46.me! Did he find something extra of there? Keith Gerrard just crosses

:39:47. > :39:57.the line. It might be tight. We will have to wait to get confirmation.

:39:58. > :40:08.Waiting for confirmation. We have our four men in. Have we nicked two

:40:09. > :40:12.bronze medals? Perhaps Andy Vernon individually and also the team might

:40:13. > :40:18.have sneaked in. Trying to do the maths and get some confirmation.

:40:19. > :40:25.Have we just nipped in ahead of the French to take a bronze in the team

:40:26. > :40:30.race as well? That just shows you. It is never over until it is over.

:40:31. > :40:41.Medals can be won in the latter stages, even when you think it has

:40:42. > :40:50.been decided. We hope Britain will get onto the podium. We had sort of

:40:51. > :40:59.given up hope for the men. What a great finish from Andy Vernon. We

:41:00. > :41:03.thought he was out of it. I missed that because I was in the left! I

:41:04. > :41:15.think he will go away very pleased and proud of how he has done -- in

:41:16. > :41:23.the lift. I think you might have got him on the line. To me, it looks

:41:24. > :41:30.like he has got it. It is difficult to tell from a camera angle. The

:41:31. > :41:36.team medal has gone to Great Britain. The women have stolen the

:41:37. > :41:41.show today. They have been very strong. Medals across-the-board. The

:41:42. > :41:47.junior women started it off with gold. It has just continued. I think

:41:48. > :41:52.that is brilliant with the team standings. You would have liked to

:41:53. > :42:00.have been out there running with the junior women. I love cross-country.

:42:01. > :42:15.It is fun. It is hard work. It is disappointing I am not there, but

:42:16. > :42:23.maybe next year. It was a nice way for Gorecka to sign of her junior

:42:24. > :42:31.career. She goes out on a high. She can really look forward to moving

:42:32. > :42:34.into the next age group up. I think she will be looking to sneak into

:42:35. > :42:43.the team for the Commonwealth Games. The other gutsy run was in

:42:44. > :42:56.the senior women's race from Gemma Steel. I felt that was brilliant.

:42:57. > :43:00.Just brilliant. She is very tough and will always dig deep and fight

:43:01. > :43:04.forever is spot. That is what you want to see and a cross-country

:43:05. > :43:09.race. That is what we saw Andy Vernon doing there. In terms of the

:43:10. > :43:18.women's performance overall, how does this translate onto our world

:43:19. > :43:23.stage? We don't expect that we will see the British team go on and

:43:24. > :43:30.duplicate that success in a world Cross country, but I think we can go

:43:31. > :43:38.and perform. We have one individual medals in the past. Britain has a

:43:39. > :43:52.tradition in cross-country running. If it is the right course, then it

:43:53. > :43:55.is an area when we can win medals. We have had confirmation that Andy

:43:56. > :44:04.Vernon did take the bronze medal. That is the last athletics action of

:44:05. > :44:10.2013, so a good way to finish. He is following in the footsteps of John

:44:11. > :44:18.Brown and Mo Farah. It will be good to see him build on that. He

:44:19. > :44:23.suffered disappointment with an injury and was not able to compete

:44:24. > :44:28.in 2012. It is good for him to finish 2013 on a high and build on

:44:29. > :44:34.that next year. What will his aims be for next summer? Commonwealth

:44:35. > :44:44.Games and European Championships. 5000 and 10,000 metres. So, that is

:44:45. > :44:50.it for 2013. Not long to wait until 11th January four the great

:44:51. > :44:58.Edinburgh run. Then we will head indoors. The international match

:44:59. > :45:09.from Glasgow will be on 25th January. Then one of the top

:45:10. > :45:15.athletics meetings on the indoor circuit in Birmingham. That is the

:45:16. > :45:31.beginning of what 2014 looks like. If it is half as exciting as 2013,

:45:32. > :46:01.we are in for a treat, ardent we? ! -- aren't we?!

:46:02. > :46:24.Look at this. She gets it. 9.91, while! She is coming, she has made

:46:25. > :46:33.it. Mo Farah is going to get there again. Yes, it was a good 2013, but

:46:34. > :46:42.what a 2014. Let's start by talking about Jess Ennis Hill. Injured, an

:46:43. > :46:49.injury which proved to be much more troublesome than we initially

:46:50. > :46:52.thought. Yes, she could get out there and compete but she was not

:46:53. > :46:57.able to compete at the level that she wants to be at and there was a

:46:58. > :47:00.risk on competing on an Achilles that was weak. I think she made

:47:01. > :47:07.absolutely the right calling wresting it. She is back in training

:47:08. > :47:15.now. She is building back to where she wanted to be last year. Your

:47:16. > :47:20.coach has been out into the fold, Tony Minner channel has been brought

:47:21. > :47:25.back. How important do you think it is to have your coach as part of the

:47:26. > :47:28.setup? I think it is really important. It helps in so many

:47:29. > :47:32.levels. To have someone who knows what they are talking about and to

:47:33. > :47:35.help you get through the competitions and the training

:47:36. > :47:41.schedules and have a point of contact as well, it makes it so much

:47:42. > :47:44.easier, I think. It was a difficult year for Jess Ennis. Also a

:47:45. > :47:55.difficult year for Greg Rutherford. We can now go to Steve Cram to talk

:47:56. > :47:58.about Greg Rutherford. He went to Moscow, perhaps should not have gone

:47:59. > :48:04.with the benefit of hindsight. This is a big year for him. I think when

:48:05. > :48:08.you have a year like he had in 2012, you become the Olympic champion and

:48:09. > :48:14.for some people, they have had a lot of success in their career building

:48:15. > :48:17.up to that. Jess Ennis would be a good example of that and you have

:48:18. > :48:22.coped with it a little bit better. I think Greg perhaps struggled to come

:48:23. > :48:28.to terms with what he had achieved and that had an affect on his

:48:29. > :48:35.performances in 2013. The long jump, you will know, you have to be on top

:48:36. > :48:38.form to come back and perform again and again. It became a little bit

:48:39. > :48:43.more competitive this year. He knew that for the first time in his

:48:44. > :48:47.career, the spotlight was on him. Maybe it was a year that he has come

:48:48. > :49:00.to terms with our toll-free can get himself back together now and come

:49:01. > :49:06.back. I am looking forward to the London Marathon. It is a fantastic

:49:07. > :49:12.opportunity for Mo Farah to show us what he's capable of. I really

:49:13. > :49:18.cannot wait. A lot of questions, is he going to be any good at it? I was

:49:19. > :49:24.talking about it two or three weeks ago. His preparations are going

:49:25. > :49:27.well. Of the marathon is so unpredictable and I think Paula

:49:28. > :49:31.knows as well as anybody that anything can happen. He has the

:49:32. > :49:38.ability but it is an event that can certainly come and bite you if you

:49:39. > :49:45.are not careful. I think he will run really well but let's not too much

:49:46. > :49:50.expectation on him. Indeed. Everyone can talk about potential at Marathon

:49:51. > :49:55.and whether you can make the transition and oversee Mo Farah has

:49:56. > :49:58.shown Howard standing he is at everything from 1500 metres up to

:49:59. > :50:02.the half marathon but you never know until you do it. And he does not

:50:03. > :50:08.know himself. Letting go in and enjoy the first one and feel it a

:50:09. > :50:12.little bit and find out if the marathon is the distance for him. It

:50:13. > :50:16.is very difficult to predict how your body will cope. He can go in

:50:17. > :50:22.with all of the criteria that we think you need to have two make it

:50:23. > :50:29.in the marathon and not make it. It really is about seeing how he does.

:50:30. > :50:32.He definitely has a huge arsenal and he has grown up with the London

:50:33. > :50:37.Marathon as well. He has run the mini marathon for years. It is

:50:38. > :50:45.something he wants to perform well at and I think it will be exciting.

:50:46. > :50:52.Let's chat a little about Christine. Maybe she is going to have Perri

:50:53. > :50:55.shakes Drayton for company. The coach has perhaps said she will not

:50:56. > :50:59.hurdle again and she will focus on the flat. Maybe that is the impetus

:51:00. > :51:05.that Christine needs to take forward. I think it will give her

:51:06. > :51:09.huge impetus. She does not need a huge amount of motivation. She is

:51:10. > :51:14.very motivated herself. She is an expert at judging races to

:51:15. > :51:21.perfection. But Perry has shown her talent on the flat. It is

:51:22. > :51:24.interesting but it is sad that it has come around this way because of

:51:25. > :51:33.that horrific injury that she is not able to hurdle. I think she is

:51:34. > :51:37.brilliant. She really helped me after the 800 metres. I was really

:51:38. > :51:43.upset after my heat and just to have her too hard and that gets you over

:51:44. > :51:49.it. She is a great leader and a great role model for everyone. And

:51:50. > :51:57.in terms of your summer? It is very exciting. It is going to be a tough

:51:58. > :52:04.time but it is exciting. Thank you for joining us. This time next

:52:05. > :52:09.Sunday, we will be getting ready for sports personality of the year.

:52:10. > :52:19.Celebrating 60 years, that is on BBC One. All that remains for me to do

:52:20. > :52:25.on behalf of the team is to wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy New

:52:26. > :52:28.Year and we look forward to you joining us in 2014 for what we hope

:52:29. > :52:35.is another brilliant year for athletics.