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And the good afternoon. Welcome to the first live athletics of the | :00:47. | :00:52. | |
Olympic year. We have the perfect start this afternoon in the | :00:52. | :00:59. | |
Scottish capital as three reigning Olympic champions go head to head. | :00:59. | :01:04. | |
Asbel Kiprop is the Olympic champion at 1500 metres and world | :01:04. | :01:11. | |
champion at the same distance. He will hope to beat his compatriot, | :01:11. | :01:17. | |
rich macro, the reigning 1,000 metres steeplechase champion. -- | :01:17. | :01:22. | |
Brimin Kipruto. Both Kenyans might end up chasing the greatest of them | :01:22. | :01:31. | |
all. He is the Olympic champion! The reigning Olympic 50101000 metre | :01:31. | :01:41. | |
:01:41. | :01:43. | ||
champion, Bekele. What a race that promises to be. | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
Edinburgh Castle provides the backdrop to be Great Edinburgh | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
International Cross Country. The Bekele race is box office. The | :01:52. | :01:59. | |
supporting card is not too bad. And there is a team competition. The in | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
the men's race, the European team looks to have the edge with a star- | :02:03. | :02:13. | |
:02:13. | :02:28. | ||
We will keep a close watch on the women's race and Stephanie Twell, | :02:28. | :02:34. | |
and she makes her comeback after injury. Fionnuala Britton is the | :02:34. | :02:43. | |
star turn. The team race comprises four | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
different races. Two junior races and the men's eight kilometre race | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
and the women's race. It is great Britain and Northern Ireland | :02:54. | :03:02. | |
Britain and Northern Ireland against the USA and Europe. It is a | :03:02. | :03:08. | |
beautiful day in Edinburgh. It is windy. Not as cold as it was last | :03:08. | :03:18. | |
:03:18. | :03:23. | ||
year. I do not think anything could have stopped Mo Farah that time. It | :03:23. | :03:24. | |
have stopped Mo Farah that time. It have stopped Mo Farah that time. It | :03:24. | :03:32. | |
is the men's race up first. We can hear from the leading contenders. | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
Steve Vernon representing Great Britain. The team challenge will | :03:36. | :03:43. | |
come into it, especially on the last lap. It is about Great Britain | :03:43. | :03:52. | |
beating the USA or Europe. I hope we can do that. Ben Bruce, USA. | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
Even if you are not having the best day, and knowing you cannot give in. | :03:57. | :04:02. | |
You have to make the best of where you are in the race. It makes it | :04:02. | :04:08. | |
exciting. If there is a sprint finish, it is exciting, but if it | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
is for a place, it is not, but in this race it could be and that is | :04:13. | :04:19. | |
exciting. You have to see what you can do. You have something to race | :04:19. | :04:28. | |
for. I am the nine times European cross country champion. This is | :04:28. | :04:37. | |
important for me. The European team. I am speaking for my team, only | :04:37. | :04:46. | |
winning! The athletes are raring to winning! The athletes are raring to | :04:46. | :04:47. | |
go. Time to hand over to the commentary team, Brendan Foster and | :04:47. | :04:55. | |
first of all Steve Cram. A happy New Year to everybody. We | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
are in Edinburgh for the Annual cross country event, which kicks | :05:00. | :05:07. | |
the year off. This year has more relevance than most others. Sergey | :05:07. | :05:11. | |
Lebid is a familiar figure to European cross country fans. Nine | :05:11. | :05:17. | |
times champion. Was not able to defend his title two or three weeks | :05:17. | :05:27. | |
:05:27. | :05:31. | ||
ago. We have just heard from the American captain Ben Bruce. It is a | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
reasonably strong American team. It will be tough for the British team, | :05:36. | :05:46. | |
:05:46. | :05:48. | ||
led by Frank Tickner, to get ahead of the Europeans and Americans. | :05:48. | :05:54. | |
And away they go. This was held for the first time last year as a team | :05:54. | :06:04. | |
:06:04. | :06:07. | ||
race. We will see Bekele, Asbel Kiprop and others in the race | :06:07. | :06:15. | |
coming up. It is a little bit soft in some parts. The course has been | :06:15. | :06:22. | |
modified slightly to accommodate 82 kilometres at circuit. -- two | :06:22. | :06:28. | |
kilometres. I have a feeling Brendan Foster would have relished | :06:28. | :06:34. | |
in his heyday running on this course. Happy new year. Happy New | :06:34. | :06:43. | |
Year to you. That is a familiar name on the best. Bekele. Atelaw | :06:43. | :06:53. | |
:06:53. | :07:05. | ||
Bekele, now running for Belgium. for a few years. The field, if you | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
look at it, you have to say Bekele from Belgium is a favourite. It | :07:10. | :07:16. | |
will be a close race. Joe Sweeney, the Irish man representing the | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
European team today. This is a steady start. On the far side of | :07:20. | :07:28. | |
the course it is a little bit wet, but drier on the near side. Good | :07:28. | :07:30. | |
conditions for true cross country running. We should have a decent | :07:30. | :07:37. | |
race. The British team is led by Frank Tickner. We heard from Steve | :07:37. | :07:43. | |
Vernon at the beginning of the show. Also, Gerard, Hawkins. Tom | :07:43. | :07:48. | |
Humphries, Ryan Mcleod, who had a good European Championships. James | :07:48. | :07:54. | |
Walsh, Jonathan Taylor and James Wilkinson. Six athletes count | :07:54. | :08:01. | |
towards the team score. We have four races in the team challenge | :08:01. | :08:07. | |
between Great Britain, the USA and Europe. They are on the flat part | :08:07. | :08:15. | |
of the course. Very soft underfoot. There is a short lap that of the | :08:15. | :08:23. | |
senior men do not do, they head out on the along a lap of. But it is | :08:23. | :08:29. | |
still a real test over there. Not as flat underfoot. There are a | :08:29. | :08:38. | |
couple of streams to jump over. Just settling down. There is a | :08:38. | :08:43. | |
youngster trying to keep up! He is not doing badly, signed him up! | :08:43. | :08:50. | |
Keep going! As Brendan Foster said, this is the man everybody is | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
looking to dominate the race, Atelaw Bekele. A slightly different | :08:55. | :09:02. | |
test in terms of underfoot. Cross- country courses do vary. Some suit | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
others in ways, the track specialists, they do better on a | :09:07. | :09:14. | |
flat and faster course. Sometimes, Edinburgh can be. But this is more | :09:14. | :09:22. | |
of a test than people think. It was fall of snow last year and hard | :09:22. | :09:30. | |
underfoot. A very different race. former 5,000-metre champion ran | :09:30. | :09:37. | |
last year and the year before, and I saw him today and he said what is | :09:37. | :09:42. | |
wrong, there is no snow. He thought there was always know in Scotland. | :09:42. | :09:48. | |
In the middle of the pack, Sergey Lebid, in the white vest. The | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
Europeans are wearing white vests. The British team in familiar | :09:52. | :09:58. | |
colours and the USA in a navy blue strip. The leader, Bekele from | :09:58. | :10:04. | |
Belgium. The British athletes off to a steady start. On this side it | :10:04. | :10:14. | |
is drier, but more rough underfoot. They will not let Bekele have all | :10:14. | :10:24. | |
:10:24. | :10:25. | ||
his own way. Ryan Mcleod. In that group, Jesus Espana year. -- Jesus | :10:25. | :10:33. | |
Espana. It is a bright and sunny day in Edinburgh. But there is a | :10:33. | :10:42. | |
cold wind. You might want to get behind big Joe Sweeney. The British | :10:43. | :10:49. | |
men are settling. A silver medal in the European Championships. The | :10:49. | :10:59. | |
:10:59. | :11:00. | ||
senior men tend not to do as well as the other age groups. Many of | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
the athletes in Slovenia are competing here today. Ryan Mcleod, | :11:04. | :11:09. | |
Tom Humphries, Gerrard, working hard together as a group. James | :11:09. | :11:19. | |
:11:19. | :11:19. | ||
Wilkinson, going through the picture. I'm sorry, James Walsh. We | :11:19. | :11:26. | |
will see what happened in the junior race shortly. Bekele, | :11:26. | :11:34. | |
Brendan, it is a great story. You assume that people who are popping | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
up in other countries, not their place of origin, have a running | :11:39. | :11:45. | |
back ground. But he decided to join a local club in Belgium. He has not | :11:45. | :11:51. | |
had much pedigree on the track so far. The run in the European | :11:51. | :11:57. | |
Championships followed on from a good winter. He has pushed big | :11:57. | :12:04. | |
names on the cross country circuit. He went into the Europeans in good | :12:04. | :12:11. | |
form, perhaps the favourite. Now, everybody is looking towards him. | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
Now we know all about him and he is the man to beat. He it is a good | :12:16. | :12:23. | |
story. Our statistician does a good job and find the background, but it | :12:23. | :12:28. | |
is a great story. He went along to his local club with a note in his | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
hand because he could not speak Belgian and he said he wanted to | :12:31. | :12:37. | |
run. The club said with a name like Bekele, coming from Ethiopia, you | :12:37. | :12:43. | |
must be good and you are welcome to join. It is a good story. He has | :12:43. | :12:48. | |
become a very good athlete. And in the past few days he has become | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
professional. He has sponsorship and he has given up his jobs. He | :12:53. | :12:59. | |
had a couple. He is running like a professional runner. He has not | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
wasted time in getting to the front and pushing the pace. Joe Sweeney | :13:03. | :13:09. | |
going with him. Ryan Mcleod was just moving into third place. These | :13:09. | :13:19. | |
:13:19. | :13:23. | ||
are the standings. 6.27. That is reasonably quick. It takes a while | :13:23. | :13:31. | |
for the race to settle down. Europe would have started favoured. | :13:31. | :13:40. | |
Britain, doing well in second place. The USA team is reasonably strong. | :13:40. | :13:46. | |
The withdrawal of Bobby Curtis has we can and slightly. It could be a | :13:46. | :13:51. | |
scrap between Europe and Great Britain. Joe Sweeney is hanging on. | :13:51. | :13:57. | |
He is determined. Fifth place in the European cross-country | :13:57. | :14:02. | |
champions -- championships. He has renewed confidence. I am not sure | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
his stature will benefit over the late stages because this is a heavy | :14:06. | :14:11. | |
course. It is heavy over that part of the course and they are sinking | :14:11. | :14:17. | |
into the mud, as you would expect in cross country. They are coming | :14:17. | :14:22. | |
away from the rest of the field. Skipping over the little jump. You | :14:22. | :14:30. | |
can see the British team together, led by Steve Vernon. There is Ryan | :14:30. | :14:40. | |
:14:40. | :14:41. | ||
Mcleod and Frank Tickner in that about the individual race but when | :14:41. | :14:46. | |
you are running through a team and running a score then it is up to | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
you to keep going no matter where you are in the race. Negotiating | :14:50. | :14:55. | |
that hurdle well for the two leaders. Joe Sweeney looks good in | :14:55. | :15:03. | |
second place. Europe first, second and third. The Spaniard has moved | :15:03. | :15:09. | |
into third place. The form of that race has been carried through here. | :15:09. | :15:19. | |
:15:19. | :15:20. | ||
Jon Grey is the leader of the Americans in 4th place. Steve | :15:20. | :15:26. | |
Vergne and leading the rest of the Brits in 6th place. -- Steve Vernon. | :15:26. | :15:36. | |
:15:36. | :15:55. | ||
challenged Bekele in the closing stages of a previous race. He has | :15:55. | :16:02. | |
now moved up to third place. Bekele is already pushing away and we are | :16:02. | :16:09. | |
not yet at halfway point. He is in great form. It will be really | :16:09. | :16:13. | |
interesting to see how he does on the track this summer. The Belgians | :16:13. | :16:23. | |
:16:23. | :16:36. | ||
must be delighted to have him. They pleased to see this particular | :16:36. | :16:43. | |
Bekele running well in London. There is the British team coming | :16:43. | :16:49. | |
through, Gerrard, Taylor, Tickner. And then Sergey Lebid is struggling | :16:49. | :16:56. | |
today. He is not running so well at the moment. Later on we will see | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
the great Bekele but we are seeing a pretty good one now. Here is the | :17:01. | :17:06. | |
British team now. We are just approaching the halfway point macro | :17:06. | :17:10. | |
and the strength will tell of these athletes in the second part of this | :17:10. | :17:16. | |
race. Bekele is running comfortably but being closed down. That is an | :17:16. | :17:22. | |
interesting move. In second place behind Bekele is Ayad Lamdassem. He | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
finished second in the European Championships behind Bekele and | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
here today he is looking for the opportunity of trying to change | :17:30. | :17:33. | |
that one. It just shows you that a form from European cross-country | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
Championships is good form. You could look at them and think they | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
would be first and second again. There is no Mo Farah in the team | :17:44. | :17:50. | |
this year. He is getting ready to run indoors and building up to the | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
most exciting year of his career, the Olympic Games in London. We | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
will talk about that more later when we talk about Kenenisa Bekele | :17:57. | :18:03. | |
in the short dress. These two are locked in battle, the gold and | :18:03. | :18:13. | |
:18:13. | :18:17. | ||
silver medallists from the recent Championships, Bekele ran on home | :18:17. | :18:27. | |
:18:27. | :18:33. | ||
soil. It was in muddy conditions. He was beaten by Cech on that day. | :18:33. | :18:41. | |
Well beaten, to be honest. He had some Kenyans behind him. The | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
closest of those running behind him was Steve Vernon. He is a long way | :18:46. | :18:52. | |
behind Bekele at the moment. Jon Grey is taking advantage of a bit | :18:52. | :18:58. | |
of slowing because Quare and Ayad Lamdassem are closing up. -- Javier | :18:58. | :19:08. | |
:19:08. | :19:20. | ||
He had a brilliant run in the European Championships. There is a | :19:20. | :19:28. | |
long way to go, just halfway. look at the American Jon Grey. He | :19:28. | :19:32. | |
has moved towards the front. He noticed they were slowing down so | :19:33. | :19:36. | |
he decided he would not take any part in that and accelerate to the | :19:36. | :19:41. | |
front. You can see how much they are slowing down because Joe | :19:41. | :19:47. | |
Sweeney who was detached from that group has closed the gap. The two | :19:47. | :19:55. | |
European medallists in the leading group. The American Grey in there. | :19:55. | :20:02. | |
The British contingent are all running together. At the moment, | :20:02. | :20:12. | |
:20:12. | :20:24. | ||
The British team are in second place. John Graham won a fairly new | :20:24. | :20:30. | |
event, club running in the USA is not what it is here in the UK but | :20:30. | :20:35. | |
track and field introduced the US cross-country championships and Jon | :20:35. | :20:45. | |
:20:45. | :21:16. | ||
have talked before about the resurgence of the American distance | :21:16. | :21:22. | |
running scene. They do get used to a lot of team competitions. There | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
cross-country season is fairly early. They are into the indoor | :21:26. | :21:31. | |
season already. The big races are held around November time. They are | :21:31. | :21:37. | |
doing well to come over here and hold good form. In the States there | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
is a resurgence in distance running and the marathon has featured | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
largely in bad. Next weekend they have the USA Olympic trials for the | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
marathon and all of the distance runners will have a go about. I | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
think some of the better-known athletes from the stakes are going | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
to be running a marathon next week. If you run a marathon in January, | :21:57. | :22:01. | |
if you make the team you are in the Olympics and if you do not, you | :22:01. | :22:11. | |
still have a chance to come back and run the 5,000 or 10,000 metres. | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
The interesting thing was I told you our statisticians finds | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
interesting facts about these athletes and this one, Jon Grey of | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
the USA has an identical twin brother and is an avid fly | :22:24. | :22:34. | |
:22:34. | :22:34. | ||
fisherman. How about that, Steve? Never mind! There was a line about | :22:34. | :22:39. | |
fly-fishing which I will not mention. He is going very well. He | :22:39. | :22:44. | |
is looking relaxed. He is moving over the rough ground very easily | :22:44. | :22:49. | |
indeed. Steve Vernon has been overtaken by Frank Tickner, the | :22:49. | :22:56. | |
team captain trying to push through the field. Trying to get the | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
British team closer, certainly in terms of the team competition. Joe | :23:01. | :23:11. | |
:23:11. | :23:15. | ||
Sweeney is struggling a little bit. There is the British team. Frank | :23:15. | :23:24. | |
Tickner, Steve Vernon, Jonathan Taylor, Tom Humphries, Keith | :23:24. | :23:26. | |
Gerrard and Jones will consider further in the background. I think | :23:26. | :23:34. | |
this is a good race. -- James will concern in the background. Bekele | :23:34. | :23:43. | |
set off at a real spurt. He opened up the gap. This course will sap | :23:43. | :23:48. | |
your energy so he backed off. Wants everybody joins you think you're | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
not going as well as you thought. He is going through a bit of a bad | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
patch, Bekele. Jon Grey is taking advantage of that. I am really | :23:58. | :24:02. | |
impressed by the American. He is really running well and he is | :24:02. | :24:07. | |
trying to win it. He has three very good athletes around him. He has | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
athletes who are much more experienced internationally. Bekele, | :24:12. | :24:16. | |
the way we -- the way he went for the first lap, we thought he would | :24:16. | :24:26. | |
run away with the race but it will be competitive. Ayad Lamdassem was | :24:26. | :24:33. | |
very disappointed to lose the European cross-country title. There | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
are 200 metres to go. There is one lap remaining. You would not like | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
to pick a winner out of these four. Bekele does not look as confident | :24:42. | :24:47. | |
as he did when he was striding out at the beginning. They are getting | :24:47. | :24:51. | |
cheered on by the crowd. One American in the leading group and | :24:51. | :24:56. | |
three Europeans. Further down the field things are changing. The | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
British team are still running strongly. Frank Tickner is running | :25:00. | :25:05. | |
really well. He is about to pass Bobby Mack to move into 5th place. | :25:05. | :25:14. | |
He is making ground on the leaders. One lap to go. Undoubtedly, the | :25:14. | :25:20. | |
leading group will start to pick things up a little bit. Jon Brain | :25:20. | :25:29. | |
leads from the USA and then the three Europeans led by a Ayad | :25:29. | :25:39. | |
:25:39. | :25:39. | ||
Lamdassem, Bekele and Javier Guerra. Frank Tickner is chasing. The | :25:39. | :25:49. | |
:25:49. | :26:00. | ||
British team captain is running cross-country champion but leading | :26:00. | :26:04. | |
the British team today as their captain and also leading them in | :26:04. | :26:08. | |
the race. He is in 5th place, five seconds down on the leading group. | :26:08. | :26:14. | |
The leading group is splitting up now. There are three of them | :26:14. | :26:19. | |
together. Bekele, Jon Grey and Ayad Lamdassem. The American has been | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
pushed back into third place now. He has never experienced this level | :26:24. | :26:28. | |
of competition before. He has never had a chance to take on the best of | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
Britain and Europe before. He is doing it in style. He is not giving | :26:33. | :26:43. | |
:26:43. | :26:51. | ||
go. Atelaw Bekele was looking really confident at the beginning. | :26:51. | :26:57. | |
Now he is back in the pole position as he pulls away from Javier Quare | :26:57. | :27:07. | |
and now Bobby Mack has come past Frank Tickner into 6th place. | :27:07. | :27:13. | |
saw the team standings going through. Europe have 19 points | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
ahead of Great Britain but that could change on the last lap and | :27:16. | :27:25. | |
certainly at the front. This races far from run. The third lap was | :27:25. | :27:35. | |
:27:35. | :27:36. | ||
slowest of the three. Bekele has picked it up again. If you remember | :27:36. | :27:38. | |
the European Championships he worked hard to get away from Ayad | :27:38. | :27:48. | |
:27:48. | :27:50. | ||
Lamdassem. Over the loch. Bobby Mack is having a real resurgence. | :27:50. | :28:00. | |
:28:00. | :28:03. | ||
He has moved into 4th place. -- about 1,200 metres to go from this | :28:03. | :28:10. | |
point. In the lead, Bekele not looking so strong. Ayad Lamdassem | :28:10. | :28:15. | |
looking nice and relaxed. Grade doing his best to work hard with | :28:15. | :28:22. | |
these two. -- Jon Grey. Frank Tickner still working hard. Ayad | :28:22. | :28:26. | |
Lamdassem is the most accomplished track runner of these three. He was | :28:26. | :28:31. | |
4th in the epic 10,000 metres that Mo Farah won in the European | :28:31. | :28:39. | |
Championships. He is much quicker on the track than Jon Grey of the | :28:39. | :28:43. | |
Keighley. He has positioned himself well. He has never tried to run | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
away from the two of them. Bekele is trying to win it from a long way | :28:47. | :28:57. | |
out. Ayad Lamdassem is just waiting. He was very disappointed to lose | :28:57. | :29:01. | |
the European cross country championships in Slovenia. He has a | :29:01. | :29:06. | |
chance here in Edinburgh on a blustery day with a heavy course | :29:06. | :29:16. | |
:29:16. | :29:19. | ||
and if it. -- a heavy course under foot. They have now got around 600 | :29:19. | :29:25. | |
metres to go. You will see the 400 metres to go signed shortly. They | :29:25. | :29:30. | |
have a couple of switchbacks to dear. Every time Bekele gets to a | :29:30. | :29:35. | |
corner, he gets to a section where he can still half a yard, he does | :29:35. | :29:39. | |
so. He is very worried and so he should be. It looks as if it is | :29:39. | :29:48. | |
between these two now. They are having to work harder. Bekele knows | :29:48. | :29:51. | |
if he can keep Ayad Lamdassem under pressure he will have enough speed | :29:52. | :30:01. | |
:30:02. | :30:08. | ||
closer. They are playing cat and mouse. Now, the race within the | :30:08. | :30:15. | |
last 400 metres. Just over 400 metres. The two of them just | :30:15. | :30:20. | |
pushing on. They are giving Jon Grey it a chance to get back in. We | :30:20. | :30:27. | |
do not know how good he is at the finish. Ayad Lamdessem sticking | :30:27. | :30:32. | |
with him. It is a case of judging the course and staying close to the | :30:32. | :30:38. | |
edge and not lose anything underfoot. And now the long run | :30:38. | :30:45. | |
along the top. Bobby Mack is making an effort. He is just about pass | :30:45. | :30:51. | |
Jon Grey. There are 300 yards. And if you can get on the shoulder, you | :30:51. | :30:56. | |
never know. Bekele has a look behind and there goes Ayad | :30:56. | :31:01. | |
Lamdessem. Bekele was slow to react. Ayad Lamdessem attack on his left | :31:01. | :31:08. | |
shoulder. Knowing there is a tight corner. Now, it is downhill. Ayad | :31:08. | :31:13. | |
Lamdessem is kicking hard. This will be sweet revenge for the | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
Spaniard. Twice a silver-medallist at the European Championships. He | :31:17. | :31:23. | |
has come to Adam there. He has avenged his defeat to Bekele the | :31:23. | :31:28. | |
Belgian. Ayad Lamdessem waited and waited. He looked relaxed and | :31:28. | :31:34. | |
looked superb in the home straight. Victory to Europe. Very close on | :31:35. | :31:41. | |
the line. Just getting in there. Ahead of the long-time leader, | :31:41. | :31:51. | |
:31:51. | :31:52. | ||
Bekele. Steve Vernon had a battle with Javier Guerra. Britain might | :31:52. | :32:00. | |
not have done enough. Baker lost -- Bekele lost position. Gerard goes | :32:00. | :32:09. | |
through. Joe Sweeney. It will be close. We will sort out the team | :32:09. | :32:19. | |
:32:19. | :32:22. | ||
positions as we watch them cross the line. It was a great race at | :32:22. | :32:26. | |
the end. Ayad Lamdessem did so well. He looked relaxed all the way | :32:27. | :32:36. | |
:32:37. | :32:39. | ||
around. A man with a good track pedigree, as Brendan Foster said. | :32:40. | :32:45. | |
He used to speed to great effect. At this point, you think Bekele is | :32:46. | :32:52. | |
waiting. You could sense that Bekele was trying to win it from | :32:52. | :33:00. | |
the front. A fast downhill run. He has been waiting for this and for | :33:00. | :33:07. | |
the revenge. Look how quickly he opened up the gap. Bobby Mack | :33:07. | :33:12. | |
closing him down. Even more quickly to the finishing straight. Ayad | :33:12. | :33:16. | |
Lamdessem celebrates victory. Silver-medallist from the European. | :33:16. | :33:23. | |
He wins this ahead of the European champion. Bobby Mack out of | :33:23. | :33:30. | |
sprinting Bekele. He tried to hold him off. Ayad Lamdessem the winner, | :33:30. | :33:34. | |
Bobby Mack splitting the Europeans. Frantic now let the British team | :33:34. | :33:41. | |
through to a good place. mentioned we have had junior races. | :33:41. | :33:47. | |
It is time to look at the junior men's race. Some of the best young | :33:47. | :33:57. | |
:33:57. | :33:57. | ||
talent on show. They have done so well. It was a great run from Mark | :33:57. | :34:03. | |
Shaw, who might not have expected to be at the top of the British | :34:03. | :34:07. | |
athletes. He led from two kilometres. Until just one | :34:07. | :34:14. | |
kilometre from home. And then the American, formerly of Ethiopia, | :34:14. | :34:20. | |
came home with the better finish. Mark Shaw had to concede second | :34:20. | :34:27. | |
place to his team mate. Kieren Clements. It was a brave effort | :34:27. | :34:37. | |
:34:37. | :34:46. | ||
from Mark Shaw. USA winning. These points, they get added up across | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
the four races. That will decide who wins the trophy at the end of | :34:50. | :34:55. | |
the afternoon. The junior women's race will count towards that. This | :34:56. | :35:03. | |
was a race where we were going to have a chance to see Gorecka, who | :35:03. | :35:08. | |
has been in wonderful form this year. Dominating the European | :35:08. | :35:17. | |
Championships. She took her time. If Emilia Gorecka are on the right- | :35:17. | :35:25. | |
hand side of the pack, hanging around. Perhaps she was under | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
instructions from her coach to take it easy. And then she dominated the | :35:30. | :35:35. | |
field. When she started moving, nobody could stay with her. The | :35:35. | :35:40. | |
Americans tried to hang on to Gorecka. There was no chance. Once | :35:40. | :35:46. | |
she hit the front, she kept going away. In the end, the victory was a | :35:46. | :35:56. | |
:35:56. | :36:00. | ||
huge victory. 20 seconds. Well done to her. Really exciting prospect. | :36:00. | :36:05. | |
Adding the winter the European titles she won a few weeks ago. -- | :36:05. | :36:15. | |
:36:15. | :36:23. | ||
adding victory to the European. I adding victory to the European. I | :36:23. | :36:24. | |
adding victory to the European. I am delighted to say Gorecka is with | :36:24. | :36:25. | |
am delighted to say Gorecka is with am delighted to say Gorecka is with | :36:25. | :36:31. | |
Jonathan. It is never easy in cross country, | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
but you made it look comfortable. thank you. I enjoyed it. The | :36:35. | :36:41. | |
atmosphere was great. The crowd were amazing. It has been quite a | :36:41. | :36:48. | |
month. I have got a lot of confidence from the European. I | :36:48. | :36:54. | |
went out to have a solid round. What you have left for the season? | :36:54. | :36:59. | |
I have some cross country races. I will not do indoor races. I have | :36:59. | :37:06. | |
the nationals. Taking every race as it comes. Just turn 17. Probably | :37:06. | :37:11. | |
not the Olympics. What has the summer hold? Possibly the world | :37:11. | :37:16. | |
junior championships in the 3000 metres, or the 5000 metres. We will | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
see how it goes. You must be pleased with the way this young | :37:20. | :37:27. | |
lady is going. She is coming along nicely. She is following a good | :37:27. | :37:32. | |
tradition of Aldershot athletes. She is training alongside Steph | :37:32. | :37:39. | |
Twell regularly. We have some good training sessions. I guess it is a | :37:39. | :37:45. | |
case of pace in her development. Yes. She possibly has been on a | :37:45. | :37:52. | |
slower profile than Stephanie. Stephane moved forward rapidly. | :37:52. | :37:56. | |
We're not holding her back, but we are only just double running with | :37:56. | :38:02. | |
her in the past few months. It has been progressive. The mentioned | :38:02. | :38:08. | |
Steph Twell. She broke her ankle last year. How is she doing? And to | :38:08. | :38:13. | |
be honest, I am amazed by the recovery we have seen. We are | :38:13. | :38:18. | |
talking about an horrific injury. People do not realise the effect it | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
possibly had on her. It did have on her. She has grown up greatly over | :38:23. | :38:29. | |
this injury. She hat to come to terms with a lot of things. The | :38:29. | :38:33. | |
commitment to getting back has been huge. There have been times when we | :38:33. | :38:38. | |
thought it would be difficult. We are starting to see the fruits of | :38:38. | :38:46. | |
what she has put in now. what she has put in now. | :38:46. | :38:56. | |
Bracher nations. Back to Steve Cram. Thank you. The time was not bad in | :38:56. | :39:06. | |
these conditions. Bobby Mack might have wished he attacked earlier. | :39:06. | :39:15. | |
Jon Grey was up with the leaders for a long time. Frank Tickner was | :39:15. | :39:19. | |
the first of the British athletes to finish. A victory for the | :39:19. | :39:29. | |
:39:29. | :39:30. | ||
European team. The women's race coming up shortly. | :39:30. | :39:40. | |
:39:40. | :39:41. | ||
We can meet the leading contenders. The senior women's team captain. It | :39:41. | :39:49. | |
has been an eventful year, 2011. On February 13th, I was running in a | :39:49. | :39:54. | |
cross country race in Belgium and on a muddy course I break my ankle | :39:54. | :40:02. | |
in three places. We have a big year that has arrived now. I want to be | :40:02. | :40:07. | |
a part of it. Fionnuala Britton, European cross country champion. | :40:07. | :40:15. | |
This year, winning the gold, it is a good way to go into 2012. I have | :40:15. | :40:22. | |
not raced since the European. In a way it gives you confidence, in | :40:22. | :40:30. | |
another it makes you nervous. You are being chased by everybody else. | :40:30. | :40:38. | |
The captain of the team the USA. Being a part of the team is | :40:38. | :40:46. | |
meaningful. At the moment, heading my team is an important goal. Every | :40:46. | :40:51. | |
place counts. I guess that our races the deciding race, so it is | :40:51. | :40:57. | |
even more important. I think we know we are out there for the same | :40:57. | :41:06. | |
purpose, to run the very best we can. It is always a great start to | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
my year. How I started my international competition every | :41:09. | :41:17. | |
year for the past four years. It is the bread and butter off my cross | :41:17. | :41:22. | |
country. I love the support here. It is a beautiful setting. I | :41:22. | :41:27. | |
finished 2011 in the best place I could imagine. I am looking forward | :41:27. | :41:31. | |
to taking it forward and representing Great Britain. And the | :41:31. | :41:35. | |
competition we will have here against Europe and America, which | :41:35. | :41:41. | |
will be exciting. I am looking forward to getting out there. | :41:41. | :41:48. | |
I'm sure she is. Steph Twell is Scottish. I am sure the crowd would | :41:48. | :41:57. | |
like to see her, it has been a struggle to get back to the level | :41:57. | :42:07. | |
:42:07. | :42:09. | ||
she has got to after that injury. Our introductions for the main | :42:09. | :42:13. | |
contenders. The new European cross country champion, Fionnuala Britton, | :42:13. | :42:22. | |
she had a great runner. Finally getting on to the rostrum. And we | :42:22. | :42:32. | |
:42:32. | :42:34. | ||
heard from the former US junior champion. Leading a very strong | :42:34. | :42:40. | |
women's team, Steph Twell. Her training partner with victory in | :42:40. | :42:45. | |
the junior race. I am not sure that Stephanie will be able to take the | :42:45. | :42:53. | |
victory here. She is getting better with every race. I can give you a | :42:54. | :43:03. | |
:43:04. | :43:08. | ||
run down of the British team. Hannah Walker. Cash macro -- Naomi | :43:09. | :43:14. | |
Taschimowitz. Gemma Steel, who won bronze at the Europeans. Amy | :43:14. | :43:24. | |
:43:24. | :43:30. | ||
Campbell, a very strong at line-up. Fionnuala Britton will be looking | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
to repeat the victory she had. It might not be so comfortable for her | :43:35. | :43:40. | |
today. I get the feeling it might not be the same here, she dominated | :43:40. | :43:48. | |
that day. Athletes were inspired by her performance when she won so | :43:48. | :43:53. | |
convincingly. I spoke to Gemma Steel, she said her tactics are to | :43:53. | :43:57. | |
follow Fionnuala Britton all the way. She is on her shoulder. She | :43:57. | :44:04. | |
said she would hang on to her for as long as she could. Gemma Steel | :44:04. | :44:07. | |
on the right hand shoulder of Fionnuala Britton. Freya Murray, of | :44:07. | :44:13. | |
Great Britain, she is out there. We have had three races. The team | :44:13. | :44:20. | |
score, the aggregate score, USA, 107, Great Britain, 100 p 11. If | :44:20. | :44:26. | |
the women's team beat the Americans, it looks like they could win the | :44:26. | :44:36. | |
overall team trophy. -- 111. They are taking on the whole of Europe | :44:36. | :44:42. | |
and the USA and it looks like they have a great chance to win that. It | :44:42. | :44:52. | |
:44:52. | :45:01. | ||
would be a significant performance around Steph Twell. Emma Pallant | :45:01. | :45:07. | |
won the under 23 championships. We hoped she would be running here in | :45:07. | :45:11. | |
Edinburgh. The Aldershot and District club which they belong to, | :45:12. | :45:18. | |
if they had entered the European Championships as a nation, they | :45:18. | :45:22. | |
would have been right up there on the medals table as a nation. | :45:23. | :45:29. | |
nation of Aldershot! They have done so well. A new team has been added | :45:29. | :45:34. | |
to the athletics family, the nation of Aldershot. I wonder when they | :45:34. | :45:40. | |
will compete in the Olympics? Wasn't Aldershot where the British | :45:40. | :45:43. | |
Olympic Association was going to have their holding camp at one | :45:43. | :45:52. | |
point? Look at the British team here. You can hear the crowd from | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
here. We are in a commentary box at the far end of the course and you | :45:56. | :46:03. | |
can hear the crowd cheering loudly. Finola Bruton of Ireland, being the | :46:03. | :46:07. | |
captain of the European team is literally surrounded by the British | :46:07. | :46:15. | |
contingent -- Fionnuala Britton. The British women's team, they are | :46:15. | :46:20. | |
running with confidence. Gemma Steel, she is running ahead of | :46:20. | :46:25. | |
similar Britain. It looks as if they are going very steadily. Steph | :46:25. | :46:34. | |
Twell is going comfortably. There are some athletes which have run | :46:34. | :46:39. | |
well over the course of the last few months. Hannah Walker is there | :46:39. | :46:47. | |
as well. This is impressive. It is great to see you. Some of them want | :46:47. | :46:53. | |
to translate that on to the track and into good performances at the | :46:53. | :47:00. | |
world cross which is now being held every two years. It has been a | :47:00. | :47:04. | |
slightly circumspect start. They looked as if nobody really wanted | :47:04. | :47:09. | |
to push on. It was as if they were waiting for Fionnuala Britton to | :47:09. | :47:15. | |
move to the front. Gemma Steel would have been expecting her to | :47:15. | :47:19. | |
try and dominate. A really fit Steph Twell would have got on with | :47:19. | :47:24. | |
this right from the beginning. She cannot resist it. Her mind, no | :47:24. | :47:31. | |
matter how fit her body is, how mind is always racing. Steph will | :47:31. | :47:34. | |
get fitter and fitter and fitter and she will hang in there more | :47:34. | :47:41. | |
than she has been able to so far. A week after the European cross, she | :47:41. | :47:46. | |
was a second also behind Hartley Dean in Brussels and every race she | :47:46. | :47:50. | |
will improved -- Hatti Dean. injury she had was a terrible | :47:50. | :47:55. | |
injury. I have never heard of an athlete breaking their ankle in | :47:55. | :48:00. | |
three places. It was more like a rugby injury than a running injury. | :48:00. | :48:04. | |
That she has come back, had fantastic support, loads of | :48:04. | :48:09. | |
physiotherapy and lots of work done. I was talking to the | :48:09. | :48:12. | |
physiotherapist and the doctor before this race and they said | :48:12. | :48:16. | |
before she will run today they will have her in the tent and put a hot | :48:16. | :48:19. | |
water bottle on her foot. She will be sitting there before the start | :48:19. | :48:25. | |
of the race. It sounds good to me. That is what she needs to do to get | :48:25. | :48:29. | |
the flexibility back in her ankle. The she has bits of steel in have | :48:30. | :48:39. | |
:48:40. | :48:40. | ||
ankle. They will stay in all the way through until after the | :48:40. | :48:46. | |
Olympics. Hopefully she will make the Olympic team. Hopefully her | :48:46. | :48:53. | |
ankle will have healed the point where she can have that taken out. | :48:53. | :48:59. | |
It has been a big, big comeback. I don't mean that just in terms of | :48:59. | :49:02. | |
fitness. Psychologically, a lot of people would have struggled with | :49:02. | :49:09. | |
all of the rehab. She has always been a student of what is available. | :49:09. | :49:14. | |
She is happy to try anything. It does not matter what the technology | :49:14. | :49:22. | |
is she said anything that will help me, I will have a go. The crowds | :49:22. | :49:27. | |
will see the British team all getting ready there. Steph Twell | :49:27. | :49:32. | |
goes alongside Gemma Steel. Gemma Steel has had a fantastic year. A | :49:32. | :49:35. | |
bronze-medal in the European cross country championships and the | :49:35. | :49:39. | |
confidence she gained from that to the extent that she has come from | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
being a club runner to an international in a few years. She | :49:42. | :49:48. | |
said she will follow Fionnuala Britton for as long as she can. She | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
said she let her go in the European Championship but now she's getting | :49:52. | :49:56. | |
better. She is pleased with way her running is going and she wants to | :49:56. | :50:03. | |
be in contention. We should not discount Hatti Dean. And also Freya | :50:03. | :50:06. | |
Murray on the inside. As they come down the finishing straight, one | :50:06. | :50:12. | |
lap completed, two more remaining. The race is getting serious. | :50:12. | :50:18. | |
Fionnuala Britton looks like she is coasting in that position. Two, it | :50:18. | :50:27. | |
is completed, four more to go. -- two kilometres completed. Britain | :50:27. | :50:33. | |
looks very comfortable. May be starting to put the foot down a | :50:33. | :50:40. | |
little bit. Freya Murray will be having a go at the London Marathon | :50:40. | :50:47. | |
in April. For those of you who are into your big events, one of two | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
others you might be interested in. We have had a lot of people taking | :50:50. | :50:57. | |
part earlier on today. On a day like this, keeping warm. Entries | :50:57. | :51:02. | |
are open for the Great Manchester Run which should be warmer in May. | :51:02. | :51:07. | |
You can see that on BBC2 on 20th May. And the ballot is also open | :51:07. | :51:12. | |
for the Great North Run on 16th September. That is when our summer | :51:13. | :51:20. | |
festivities will be almost done. I cannot wait. It is 2012, everybody. | :51:20. | :51:28. | |
Really exciting. Fionnuala Britton running very smoothly. We have | :51:28. | :51:38. | |
watched her for many, many years. That title she won they have waited | :51:38. | :51:43. | |
a long time since 1994 for someone to come along. Sonia O'Sullivan was | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
the big star of Irish athletics for so long. Now Fionnuala Britton is | :51:47. | :51:52. | |
doing her best to fly the flag for Britain. I'm sure she will be | :51:52. | :51:57. | |
making sure she is in the team in the summer. Although the | :51:57. | :52:01. | |
steeplechase has been her event, she has had a good winter so she | :52:01. | :52:06. | |
might want to consider the five and 10 as an option. Vanilla Britain | :52:06. | :52:10. | |
was so impressive in the European cross-country championships -- | :52:10. | :52:20. | |
:52:20. | :52:31. | ||
similar Britain. Gemma Steel is in Ireland. The local athletic club | :52:31. | :52:40. | |
there is a fantastic club. She then went on to Dublin City University | :52:40. | :52:45. | |
where she has done a good job. I think she is an athlete who will | :52:45. | :52:48. | |
lead Irish distance running back to their former position. They love | :52:49. | :52:52. | |
cross-country running in Ireland. They have had great runners on the | :52:52. | :52:56. | |
track and in cross-country over the years. She will join that | :52:56. | :53:02. | |
illustrious group of Sonia O'Sullivan, John Treacy. They have | :53:02. | :53:06. | |
had a lot of fantastic runners from Ireland and this one will be | :53:06. | :53:12. | |
another one. I think she has got to move up from the steeplechase to | :53:12. | :53:19. | |
the 50101000 metres. I'm pretty sure her coach has got that in mind. | :53:19. | :53:24. | |
-- the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres. Look at the gap which has | :53:24. | :53:29. | |
opened up behind Gemma Steel to the rest of the British team. Gemma | :53:29. | :53:33. | |
Steel is running the way she told me she would last night. She is | :53:33. | :53:37. | |
getting good support and is very appreciative of that. She has come | :53:37. | :53:45. | |
of age and the last few weeks. For New Britain was the champion in the | :53:45. | :53:55. | |
:53:55. | :54:00. | ||
European cross-country yet. A big gap to Steph Twell who | :54:00. | :54:04. | |
is trying to find some better ground on the left-hand side. It is | :54:04. | :54:09. | |
getting very muddy and soft. You can see a lot of athletes switching | :54:09. | :54:16. | |
across. I thinks death will be wanting to obviously finish as high | :54:16. | :54:21. | |
as she can that she is almost marking of the athlete's she is | :54:21. | :54:24. | |
getting ahead of. In the last race she was not too far behind Hatti | :54:25. | :54:33. | |
Dean. She will be trying to make sure she finishes ahead of the | :54:33. | :54:40. | |
other British athletes. There is a big gap between the two leaders and | :54:40. | :54:45. | |
the chasing group. It is surprising that gap. There are some good | :54:45. | :54:52. | |
athletes in the chasing group. Steph Twell, Freya Murray, Spence | :54:52. | :55:00. | |
of the USA. Similar Britain began to fly down the back part of the | :55:00. | :55:10. | |
:55:10. | :55:30. | ||
when you are running like this, it is best to get alongside soap they | :55:30. | :55:37. | |
know you are there and they know they have not run the race yet. | :55:37. | :55:43. | |
Gemma Steel is doing a terrific job here. She has got stamina. She ran | :55:43. | :55:47. | |
the Birmingham half-marathon last autumn and she was impressive in | :55:47. | :55:55. | |
that. The sign will say 400 metres to go with one lap. We might see a | :55:55. | :56:05. | |
sprint finish. Gemma is staying with the task. She is but I think | :56:05. | :56:09. | |
it is particularly on this section where similar Britain has got that | :56:09. | :56:15. | |
lovely cross country action. Not too much money left there. She gets | :56:15. | :56:23. | |
up the hill quickly, little steps, driving with the arms. None of the | :56:23. | :56:30. | |
obstacles last learning head-down. -- none of the obstacles are | :56:30. | :56:40. | |
slowing her down. There is a little stream there with bales of hay to | :56:40. | :56:46. | |
protect them from some rocks. There is a little waterfall. On a nice | :56:46. | :56:50. | |
today you might sit and enjoy a picnic with a view of Arthur's Seat. | :56:50. | :56:57. | |
Not today. Not for the faint- hearted, cross country in January. | :56:57. | :57:07. | |
Coming to the end of the second lap. It is not a big lead. Gemma Steel | :57:07. | :57:10. | |
is trying to stay in contact with the Irish European cross-country | :57:10. | :57:16. | |
champion. The team race at the moment is going great Britain's way. | :57:16. | :57:20. | |
That means over all they will finish ahead of the USA because the | :57:20. | :57:27. | |
USA are struggling in the senior women's the event. There were four | :57:27. | :57:32. | |
points between GB and the USA heading into this race. Who will | :57:32. | :57:38. | |
come out on top here? The Mela Britain is working hard. She looks | :57:38. | :57:48. | |
:57:48. | :58:02. | ||
the American team captain is contesting. -- Spence. Steph Twell | :58:02. | :58:12. | |
:58:12. | :58:14. | ||
is looking a little tired at the moment. Look at the concentration. | :58:14. | :58:19. | |
On this last lap, she has started to stretch away. She is pulling | :58:19. | :58:24. | |
yards ahead of Gemma Steel. The European cross-country champion | :58:24. | :58:28. | |
running with the confident that that title gave have. She has run | :58:28. | :58:33. | |
well on the contrary before and in the European cross-country. The | :58:33. | :58:36. | |
attention she has received in Ireland since she won that one, she | :58:36. | :58:41. | |
has been staggered and delighted. They all know she is running today. | :58:41. | :58:45. | |
She is taking on the best of Europe again, taking on the rest of | :58:45. | :58:50. | |
Britain again and for the first time, taking on the rest of the USA | :58:50. | :58:55. | |
-- the best of the USA. She is really beginning to run well. Gemma | :58:55. | :59:05. | |
:59:05. | :59:08. | ||
Steel is going through a bit of a bad patch. Climbing up the little | :59:08. | :59:12. | |
incline, and relaxing on the top. Running with the confidence you | :59:12. | :59:16. | |
gain from your first major title. If this young lady will be a force | :59:16. | :59:26. | |
:59:26. | :59:42. | ||
powerfully and strongly. She not be bothered by the conditions here. | :59:42. | :59:46. | |
Catherina McKiernan was the European cross country champion, | :59:46. | :59:50. | |
Fionnuala Britton has joined her. If you mention her in the same | :59:50. | :59:55. | |
sentence, she gets pleased and excited. She is getting better all | :59:55. | :00:03. | |
the time. Confirmation of the standings. Great Britain have a big | :00:03. | :00:13. | |
:00:13. | :00:14. | ||
lead over Europe and the USA. It will mean the Great Britain | :00:14. | :00:19. | |
contingent will finish on top. At the moment, this is a real | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
demonstration, an excellent demonstration of cross country | :00:23. | :00:28. | |
running by Fionnuala Britton. There is no let up. The second lap and | :00:28. | :00:37. | |
was almost 19 seconds quicker than the first lap. She is going away | :00:37. | :00:42. | |
from Gemma Steel and the rest of the field. They are a long way | :00:42. | :00:49. | |
behind in the battle for third. This is really impressive. One | :00:49. | :00:54. | |
kilometre her remains for Fionnuala Britton. You almost sense she is in | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
a place where she can enjoy that. Gemma Steel in second place for | :00:58. | :01:04. | |
Great Britain. Sticking to her task. Another solid performance by Gemma | :01:04. | :01:13. | |
Steel. She will try to run the 5000 metres, possibly the 10,000 metres, | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
on the track. With the intention possibly of moving up to the | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
marathon. She will be aiming for the Olympic Games in the 5000 | :01:22. | :01:29. | |
metres, the 10,000 metres. As his Fionnuala Britton. You say she is | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
enjoying this purple patch in her career. We are seeing her run | :01:33. | :01:39. | |
better than we have before. She is competitive at a world level. This | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
is a fantastic place to be in. If you look at the records, and you | :01:44. | :01:49. | |
see that athletes who run well in cross country, they often do well | :01:49. | :01:55. | |
in the Olympic Games in that same year. Can she make the move to 5000 | :01:55. | :02:01. | |
metres, 10,000 metres? Can she feature in London in the summer? | :02:01. | :02:06. | |
Gemma Steel is running strongly in second place. This is an impressive | :02:06. | :02:14. | |
performance by Fionnuala Britton. No question about the winner. 600 | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
metres to go. Gemma Steel, no question about her second place | :02:19. | :02:25. | |
because there is a long way to third. Elle Baker is contesting | :02:25. | :02:32. | |
third place with Neely Spence, the American team captain. Baker, a | :02:32. | :02:42. | |
:02:42. | :02:42. | ||
good run from have. -- from her. There is a good chance of her | :02:42. | :02:49. | |
getting into the top three. She will have to hold off the American. | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
As we watch Fionnuala Britton. When you see some athletes running up | :02:54. | :03:00. | |
this hill, there is no change in her action. It is an effort, of | :03:00. | :03:06. | |
course it is, but the pace does not change. Pushing on. It does not | :03:06. | :03:11. | |
matter whether it is mud, whether it is a hill, really good cross- | :03:11. | :03:16. | |
country running. She works and trained hard. She has applied | :03:16. | :03:22. | |
herself over the years. This is a very good performance. Second place | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
for Gemma Steel. Fionnuala Britton relaxing down a hill. Suggesting | :03:27. | :03:37. | |
:03:37. | :03:37. | ||
she will move from the steeplechase to the 5000 metres or 10,000 metres. | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
That would set her up nicely for the Olympic Games. We are looking | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
at a very good athlete. We are looking forward to seeing her on | :03:47. | :03:55. | |
the BBC at the European track championships. Maybe she will be | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
prompted to look at these performances she has put in in the | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
winter and really attack the long distances on the track. For now, | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
she will revel in another superb demonstration of cross country | :04:09. | :04:19. | |
running. Fionnuala Britton, completely dominant in Edinburgh. | :04:19. | :04:26. | |
Superb running from the European champion. She wins almost at a | :04:26. | :04:31. | |
canter. She looks around. She sees the damage she has done. Gemma | :04:31. | :04:37. | |
Steel did her best to stay with her, and she said she would, but she had | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
to give it into the superior strength of Fionnuala Britton. | :04:41. | :04:50. | |
Second place for Gemma Steel. Almost to say, I did my best. She | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
certainly did. It was a good run from have. A long way ahead of Elle | :04:55. | :04:59. | |
Baker, who has done well to get ahead of the American team captain, | :04:59. | :05:06. | |
Spence. Friar Murray is next to cross the line, in 5th for Great | :05:06. | :05:12. | |
Britain. They will undoubtedly win the team race. Hatti Dean was the | :05:12. | :05:22. | |
next in. Finished strongly. Hannah Walker of them coming in. Stephanie | :05:22. | :05:26. | |
Twell faded, but she will get better with more training and more | :05:26. | :05:33. | |
competition. She is talking about maybe running indoors, as well. She | :05:33. | :05:41. | |
will only improve as the yet advances. -- as the Year advances. | :05:41. | :05:48. | |
It was a it really dominant victory. The man who won the European title | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
could not come here and give the same performance, but for Fionnuala | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
Britton, it is a case of as you were. If anything, she was running | :05:58. | :06:03. | |
even better today. I think she was running so impressively, on the far | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
side of the course, where she could relax and stretch out. | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
Concentration all the time. Wearing out Gemma Steel in second place. | :06:13. | :06:19. | |
That is the best performance from Gemma Steel we have seen, but the | :06:19. | :06:27. | |
European champion wins it well. She is talking to Jonathan Edwards. | :06:27. | :06:28. | |
is talking to Jonathan Edwards. is talking to Jonathan Edwards. | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
is talking to Jonathan Edwards. is talking to Jonathan Edwards. | :06:32. | :06:37. | |
Gemma Steel, as well. That was stunning. You looked | :06:37. | :06:43. | |
brilliant. Over the last day and a half I felt the pressure. You have | :06:43. | :06:47. | |
the Europeans, Christmas, and then you have to race again. You come | :06:47. | :06:52. | |
over here and it is a big event. I knew everybody would chase and I | :06:52. | :07:00. | |
had to have a strong race. From the Europeans, you came here and win | :07:00. | :07:05. | |
impressively. How good a shape are you in? It is hard to tell. You do | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
the training. You do it between everything else. With the weather | :07:09. | :07:14. | |
being the way it is, so windy, you cannot measure anything. It is nice | :07:14. | :07:20. | |
to come out and feel strong and run like that. The success in Edinburgh, | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
the likes of Mo Farah, they have gone on to have good seasons. What | :07:24. | :07:31. | |
about you? I would be very happy. I have to look to the track and the | :07:31. | :07:37. | |
Olympics. Maybe in the 5000, and the 10,000. Knew how qualification | :07:37. | :07:44. | |
for the steeplechase. I have been told that I need to be a bar of my | :07:44. | :07:50. | |
distance. I have accepted the fact I have to. -- above my distance. | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
Gemma Steel, you try to stay with Fionnuala Britton, but a great | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
performance. It was tough out there in the wind. I stuck to my task. | :07:58. | :08:05. | |
Fionnuala Britton was good today. And a great performance at the | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
European cross-country, bronze medal. I tried different tactics | :08:09. | :08:15. | |
today to stick with Fionnuala Britton for as long as I could. I | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
did as well as I could have done. She is in phenomenal shape. | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
Congratulations to both of you. Congratulations to both of you. | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
Back to Steve Cram. No doubt about our winner. A good, | :08:32. | :08:38. | |
strong performance from Fionnuala Britton, she won by 20 seconds from | :08:38. | :08:45. | |
Gemma Steel. And she was a long way ahead of Elle Baker. Neely Spence, | :08:45. | :08:53. | |
the American team captain, taking 4th. With those British names on | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
that list, undoubtedly, Great Britain winning the team race. They | :08:57. | :09:03. | |
will win the trophy over all with 33 points. | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
One race today. It is the feature race. We have three reigning | :09:08. | :09:18. | |
:09:18. | :09:18. | ||
Olympic champions in the men's race. We can hear from them. | :09:18. | :09:26. | |
I am Asbel Kiprop, I come from Kenya. It excites me a lot. We came | :09:26. | :09:33. | |
here last year and around with my colleagues. I finish second and | :09:33. | :09:35. | |
went on to win the World Championships. It is great | :09:36. | :09:45. | |
preparation. They are great athletes. Every athlete would want | :09:45. | :09:55. | |
:09:55. | :10:00. | ||
the Olympics. I will be racing in a high-class field. I am a gold- | :10:00. | :10:10. | |
:10:10. | :10:13. | ||
medallist from Kenya. It will be great to see with the Olympic | :10:13. | :10:23. | |
:10:23. | :10:25. | ||
champions, tomorrow. The Olympic champion. From Ethiopia. It is | :10:25. | :10:35. | |
:10:35. | :10:36. | ||
special to me, because I won in cross country in 2008 at Edinburgh. | :10:36. | :10:46. | |
:10:46. | :10:57. | ||
I like to run here. It is a great place. He can run at 3000, and | :10:57. | :11:05. | |
steeplechase, maybe he will have the advantage. This is my fastest | :11:05. | :11:15. | |
:11:15. | :11:17. | ||
race this season. I will do my best. For me, I will do my best. | :11:17. | :11:23. | |
Three great champions. And a mouth- watering race in prospect. All of | :11:23. | :11:29. | |
them out of their comfort zone slightly. Taking on some of the | :11:29. | :11:34. | |
best British talent. Some for million names. Anthony Whiteman | :11:34. | :11:41. | |
jumping up and down in the middle. Ricky Stevenson did well before. | :11:41. | :11:48. | |
Lining up against the is almost legends. Eliud Kipchoge, the world | :11:48. | :11:53. | |
champion, 2003, when he was just a youngster. He has been a great | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
friend of this event in Edinburgh. He likes to compete here and it is | :11:58. | :12:05. | |
good to see him back. What a season it was for Brimin Kipruto. He just | :12:05. | :12:13. | |
missed the world record in Monaco. Looking for a good start to 2012. | :12:13. | :12:20. | |
Asbel Kiprop, undoubtedly the best 1500 metres runner in the world. | :12:20. | :12:30. | |
:12:30. | :12:31. | ||
His gold medal was finally given to him in December. And a huge cheers | :12:31. | :12:37. | |
for Kenenisa Bekele. It is great to see him back. The race in Brussels | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
I mention this afternoon, that showed that anyone who thought that | :12:41. | :12:47. | |
he was not going to be a factor in 2012 has to think again. Three | :12:47. | :12:53. | |
kilometres. One short lap and then one big lap. Will they go hard from | :12:53. | :12:58. | |
the start? Will there be some cat and mouse? This is a chance for | :12:59. | :13:05. | |
British runners to rub shoulders with these great names. Some of the | :13:05. | :13:15. | |
:13:15. | :13:17. | ||
best European athletes are here. Arturo Casado is in this race, as | :13:17. | :13:27. | |
well. Eliud Kipchoge in the black vest alongside him. Arturo Casado | :13:27. | :13:36. | |
1500 metres champion. Asbel Kiprop, the world and 1500 metre champion. | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
They have gone flying off. The talent has emerged immediately at | :13:41. | :13:49. | |
the front. Bekele just behind the group, working his way through in | :13:49. | :13:54. | |
fifth or sixth place. Ricky Stevenson, who won two years ago | :13:54. | :14:00. | |
here has put himself in a good place. Whenever Eliud Kipchoge is | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
in good shape, he goes to the front as soon as he can and there he goes. | :14:05. | :14:11. | |
Stretching it out already. mentioned Anthony Whiteman. He | :14:11. | :14:19. | |
started off fairly slowly. 39 years of age. I saw him a month ago in a | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
cross country relay. He outsprinted, he was in the first leg, and he had | :14:24. | :14:30. | |
a kick like he was 21 years of age. The crowd cheered as he got his | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
long legs moving. He said, I cannot believe I have just done that, I | :14:35. | :14:43. | |
was out celebrating Kelly Holmes' birthday last night! He has | :14:43. | :14:53. | |
:14:53. | :14:58. | ||
ambitions for the record for over Kipchoge stretching well. Ricky | :14:58. | :15:05. | |
Stevenson running well behind him. Kipchoge, whenever he runs, the | :15:05. | :15:12. | |
inevitable result is that he comes first. When he does not win, the | :15:12. | :15:19. | |
inquiry starts, is the past his best? He shocked us all last year. | :15:19. | :15:25. | |
He dropped out of the 10,000 metres and then he lined up in Brussels. | :15:25. | :15:30. | |
He ran the fastest 10,000 metres in the world last year and he is back | :15:30. | :15:37. | |
in action. Young Ross Millington is ignoring those facts and figures | :15:37. | :15:41. | |
and everything else and the bigger names around him. He is based at | :15:42. | :15:51. | |
the University of New Mexico, the European silver medallist. He is | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
from Stockport Harriers. He is not frightened of nicknames behind him. | :15:56. | :16:02. | |
They complete the first kilometre. Kiprop is tall, a lovely looking | :16:02. | :16:08. | |
runner. Kenenisa Bekele, a good 15 metres adrift of these leaders. | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
There is only two kilometres to go. You might want to see him a bit | :16:14. | :16:20. | |
closer than that. It is a bit further back than you might have | :16:20. | :16:25. | |
expected if he is going to win this. It is not where he would want to be. | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
Be said he has been training well. He said he has not got the speed | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
that expects to have later in the year that he fully expects to run | :16:32. | :16:38. | |
well. Kenenisa Bekele is behind Kipruto. He will certainly have to | :16:38. | :16:45. | |
get a move on now. Ross Millington is stretching them out. The tall | :16:45. | :16:49. | |
figure of Asbel Kiprop, who recently received his gold medal, | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
finished second in the Olympic Games when the winner was | :16:54. | :16:57. | |
disqualified for drug-taking. That was a real shame for him that he | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
could not collect his gold medal in Beijing. He waited four years to | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
collect his gold medal in December. He was a world junior cross-country | :17:07. | :17:11. | |
champion as was Eliud Kipchoge. If you look at the pedigree of these | :17:11. | :17:16. | |
athletes, apart from them being recent stars on the track, they can | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
run in the country as well. Kenenisa Bekele is in trouble now. | :17:20. | :17:25. | |
He has given them far too much of a start. His fitness levels are not | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
what he told us they were. He will not win this race from there now. | :17:30. | :17:35. | |
Somebody has got to do something about Ross Millington. Kiprop is | :17:35. | :17:43. | |
trying to go with him. Juan Carlos Higuero is running well. Mark | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
Mitchell must be thinking, what is going on here, I have just run past | :17:48. | :17:53. | |
Kenenisa Bekele in a cross-country race? He is either struggling with | :17:53. | :17:58. | |
the conditions of fitness, I am not sure which. Millington has got a | :17:58. | :18:03. | |
good five-metre lead ahead of Kiprop, Ben Juan Carlos Higuero. | :18:03. | :18:09. | |
Johnny Heikki is also going well with Callum Hawkins behind him -- | :18:09. | :18:19. | |
:18:19. | :18:28. | ||
wearing his best. He is based in the US now. Kiprop, the 1,500 metre | :18:28. | :18:33. | |
world champion. He is not bad in longer events. I have seen him run | :18:34. | :18:37. | |
a couple of cross-country and road races. It is good to see him doing | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
best. Good 1,500 metre runners should be prepared to come out in | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
January and do this sort of event. I'm sure you would have relished | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
this sort of event in your time as well as Steve Ovett and Sebastian | :18:50. | :18:56. | |
Coe. The double Olympic champion is not in form and is not running well | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
through the mud. He is behind the steeplechase champion Kipruto. | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
There are surprises although the this race. It is surprising to see | :19:05. | :19:13. | |
him back there. Kiprop, the 1,500 metre Olympic champion. He is | :19:13. | :19:18. | |
striding out. He was world junior cross-country champion in the past | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
and he now looks to be very comfortable on the course. I bet he | :19:22. | :19:27. | |
is surprised at how far ahead of this field he has already. The tall, | :19:27. | :19:34. | |
rangy figure of Asbel Kiprop, an athlete who we will certainly see | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
feature in London. Whatever happens, you can guess he will be there. | :19:39. | :19:47. | |
Ricky Stevens -- Ricky Stevenson is also running well. The two Olympic | :19:47. | :19:53. | |
champions Kipruto and Bekele are struggling. He looks leisurely but | :19:53. | :19:58. | |
his legs are so long and his pace is so powerful that he is edging | :19:58. | :20:04. | |
away all the time. He has this languid style which is sometimes | :20:04. | :20:08. | |
deceptive to people. He can really turn on the pace. The only thing | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
all of us get frustrated with Kiprop on the track is sometimes he | :20:12. | :20:19. | |
does not concentrate. Today he has done that pretty well. He could not | :20:19. | :20:24. | |
be blamed for losing concentration in a cold cross country event in | :20:24. | :20:29. | |
January. I'm not sure what is wrong with Kipruto or Bekele but I would | :20:29. | :20:32. | |
have thought they would be much more competitive than those. There | :20:32. | :20:37. | |
are some young British athletes between them who will be absolutely | :20:37. | :20:43. | |
thrilled with how they are going. Journey Hague is in the black fest | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
alongside Ed Millington who is struggling a little bit. Ricky | :20:47. | :20:53. | |
Stevenson ran well last year. They will be able to say that they | :20:53. | :20:58. | |
finished ahead of the Keighley. No doubt about the winner, he looks so | :20:58. | :21:04. | |
comfortable. Asbel Kiprop, the 1,500 metre champion climbing this | :21:04. | :21:09. | |
hill as if it does not exist. If he looks over his shoulder he will see | :21:09. | :21:19. | |
:21:19. | :21:19. | ||
his team mate, Eliud chip -- ended Kipchoge. -- Eliud Kipchoge. He is | :21:19. | :21:28. | |
moving so well. You will be seeing him, the star of the show in London | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
at the 1,500 metres. We look forward to seeing him there and | :21:32. | :21:38. | |
seeing him finish this race. 200 metres to go. He can just relax. He | :21:38. | :21:43. | |
has won this race by a mile! And he has not looked like he has been | :21:43. | :21:51. | |
stretched too much at all. The long legs stretching away and the World | :21:52. | :21:58. | |
1,500 metre champion winning in fine style here in Edinburgh. A | :21:58. | :22:03. | |
great start to the year for Asbel Kiprop. We look forward to watching | :22:03. | :22:11. | |
him in London in August. He wins. Johnny Hay coming through to take | :22:11. | :22:17. | |
second place. Ricky Stevenson next to cross the line. Ross Millington, | :22:17. | :22:23. | |
a brave effort from him. Callum Hawkins, a local lad. His brother, | :22:23. | :22:29. | |
Derek, ran early on. Then they start streaming across the line. | :22:29. | :22:35. | |
Bekele just out kicks Kipruto. The two Olympic champions not running | :22:35. | :22:43. | |
too well. But this one certainly did. This is our winner. What about | :22:43. | :22:51. | |
Johnny hates? A great second place for him. He had a great -- he had a | :22:51. | :22:53. | |
disappointing European Championships. He made up for it | :22:53. | :22:59. | |
today. I'm not sure what to think. You would have thought Bekele, he | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
is back, he is fit, theoretically it. He has been in Edinburgh before. | :23:04. | :23:11. | |
He has run on the mat and the snow. He has won this race many times | :23:11. | :23:17. | |
before. He said 3,000 metres was short but if it had been 10,000 | :23:17. | :23:22. | |
metres he would never have caught them. Kiprop, the massive stride of | :23:22. | :23:27. | |
the world and Olympic champion. An athlete who will get better over | :23:27. | :23:32. | |
time. An athlete who will be a major force when it comes to London | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
in the 1,500 metres in the Olympic Games in a few months' time. He is | :23:37. | :23:44. | |
starting 2012 in great shape, finishing like a champion. That is | :23:44. | :23:51. | |
a breakthrough race for Jenny Hey. A fantastic performance. We are | :23:51. | :23:57. | |
waiting a little while for the double Olympic champion, there he | :23:57. | :24:05. | |
comes, Kenenisa Bekele. He has got some work to do, that is for sure. | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
It may have been a day for some to take a nice stroll out and feed the | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
swans but all of the cross country winners -- runners, it was tough | :24:14. | :24:23. | |
out there. In the end, it was a fairly comfortable victory once we | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
had it all the four races together. Team USA were struggling in the | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
last race. They had let up until that point. Team Europe struggled | :24:33. | :24:43. | |
:24:43. | :24:45. | ||
in the juniors which is why they How pleased where you with that | :24:45. | :24:52. | |
run? IAA was excited. I'm excited having won here today. I was second | :24:52. | :24:58. | |
last year. I came here wanting to prove a point. You had Kenenisa | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
Bekele in the race and Brimin Kipruto, were you expecting a | :25:01. | :25:06. | |
greater challenge from them? expected a tougher challenge from | :25:06. | :25:13. | |
them. I was surprised. The other guys were also very tough. What is | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
next for you now? I am preparing for the Olympic Games in London. | :25:18. | :25:22. | |
look forward to seeing you defend your Olympic title. Many | :25:22. | :25:27. | |
congratulations. Thank you very much. That rounds up the live | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
action for this afternoon. But there is plenty more coming up on | :25:30. | :25:40. | |
:25:40. | :25:40. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 41 seconds | :25:40. | :26:22. | |
So we are back on the air with more athletics on Saturday 28th of | :26:22. | :26:30. | |
January. We will see Mo Farah and Hannah England. | :26:30. | :26:40. | |
:26:40. | :26:52. | ||
the commentary box. A big shock? big shock but a great performance | :26:52. | :26:55. | |
by Asbel Kiprop. He was the world junior champion and he has | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
obviously got better on the track. 1,500 metre world champion and | :26:59. | :27:05. | |
Olympic champion. He was surprised that Kenenisa Bekele did not | :27:05. | :27:07. | |
challenge are more. We were surprised that Kenenisa Bekele did | :27:07. | :27:11. | |
not challenge him off. He wanted to come, he wanted to compete, he was | :27:11. | :27:16. | |
happy when he saw the line-up. An athlete who is not here today, Mo | :27:16. | :27:20. | |
Farah, who is watching the racing Kenya will be delighted. Kenenisa | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
Bekele is in a position where you do not want to be. At the start of | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
the Olympic year you do not want to be thinking, my goodness, will it | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
all come back? We have not seen him run for two years competitively, | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
apart from one good race. I would rather be where Asbel Kiprop is | :27:37. | :27:42. | |
then Kenenisa Bekele. Absolutely. Thank you. The 2012 athletics | :27:42. | :27:47. | |
season is up and running and it started with a big shock in the | :27:47. | :27:50. |