Mayo-based athlete in action at European Cross-Country Championships
An exciting Irish team of 40 athletes will take to Turin this weekend for the 28th edition of the SPAR European Cross-Country Championships, which takes place at La Mandria Park on Sunday (December 11).
The Irish team includes Keelan Kilrehill, the Dromore West native who is a member of Ballina-based Moy Valley AC.
Keelan will run in the Under 23 men's race (8,000m), starting at 10.30 a.m. Irish time. The race is arguably Ireland’s best hope for medals this weekend, with last year’s European cross-country silver medallist (Under 23) Darragh McElhinney of UCD AC looking to spearhead the team once more.
McElhinney was an impressive winner of his national senior title last month and will line up alongside fellow European cross-country medallist Efrem Gidey (Under 20 bronze in 2019), as well as Kilrehill and Jamie Battle (Mullingar Harriers), who were both part of last year's Under 23 gold medal-winning team at Fingal, Dublin.
However, the race appears to have plenty of depth throughout, so it will have to be another career best from McElhinney to get his team back among the podium places.
Irish fans can expect to see Thomas McStay (Galway City Harriers) and Shay McEvoy (Kilkenny City Harriers) staying on at the finish as they look to eke out every position.
McElhinney made Charles Hicks (GB & NI) work hard for his victory in the race last year and the pair will renew rivalry once again come Sunday. Hicks leads out a strong looking GB & NI team and will be aiming to become only the second man to successfully defend the Under 23 title. Jimmy Gressier (France) claimed the title in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Last year’s bronze medalist, Ruben Querinjean (Luxembourg), also returns following his breakout performance in Fingal last year.
In all, eight of the top nine from the 2021 race return: medal winners Hicks, McElhinney and Querinjean, plus Magnus Tuv Myhre of Norway (fourth), Kilrehill (sixth), France’s Antoine Senard (seventh), Spain’s Aaron Las Heras (eighth) and Valentin Godouin of France (ninth).
The field also features Portugal’s European Under 23 3,000m steeplechase silver medallist Etson Barros and Spain’s European Under 20 3,000m steeplechase champion Pol Oriach, who was fourth in the Under 20 race last year.
The European Athletics Cross-Country Championships will be broadcast live on RTÉ 2 (senior races) and on the RTÉ Player. Action will also be streamed live on the European Athletics All TV Platform in partnership with RTÉ.