Athletics Weekly – July 03, 2019

O

NE of the most popular

events on the calendar

returns, hosting the

European 10,000m Cup

for the second successive year,

writes Paul Halford.

The special atmosphere,

boosted by free spectator entry,

will no doubt once again propel

the runners, whether elite or good

club level, to fast times.

Although last year’s winner,

Richard Ringer of Germany, has

pulled out to race in Lausanne

instead, Lonah Salpeter is back to

defend her women’s title.

The Israeli won last year with

31:33:03 but is clearly capable of

better than that national record,

given her recent half-marathon

and marathon times of 66:09 and

2:19:46.

Britain’s team is headed by Eilish

McColgan, who is in the form of her

life after setting PBs last month

over 1500m and 5000m and will be

looking to revise the 32:10.59 she

ran on her debut at the distance

two years ago.

Although not on the British team,

Steph Twell ought to figure highly

too. The 2016 European 5000m

bronze medallist has surprisingly

run the distance only once before

• when she clocked 32:16.23 as
  runner-up here two years ago.

Alice Wright will line up for

Britain, having missed the Doha

selection standard of 31:50 by

just six seconds in Palo Alto (see

athleticsweekly.com for a feature

on Wright), while Sarah Inglis finds

herself on the team after her 32:11

performance last month. Charlotte

Arter, Mhairi Maclennan and Verity

Ockenden complete the sextet for

the defending champions.

Spain’s Trihas Gebre will be

another contender, having run 31:55

this season. Portugal will have a

strong and experienced team, with

Ana Dulce Felix having run below 32

minutes this year.

Former European silver medallist

Jessica Augusto returns to the

distance for the first time since

2016, while compatriot Sara Moreira,

who ran 32:10 on the track last year,

is another aiming to prove her best

years are not behind her.

Others in contention could be

former European cross-country

champion Fionnuala McCormack

of Ireland, former European

under-23 champion Jip Vastenburg

of The Netherlands and European

steeplechase silver medallist

Fabienne Schlumpf of Switzerland.

On the men’s side, European

champion Morhad Amdouni of

France will be looking to step up

from silver last year. Also making

SATURDAY NIGHT SEES ANOTHER FESTIVAL OF 10,000m IN LONDON PICTURES: MARK SHEARMAN

PREVIEWS UPCOMING EVENTS

A Night to remember

NIGHT OF THE 10,000m PBs, PARLIAMENT HILL, NORTH LONDON, SATURDAY JULY 6

Lonah Salpeter: 2018 winner

Morhad

Amdouni:

runner-up

last year