On a great day for Irish Athletics, Fionnuala Britton won the womens senior race in the European Cross Country Championships in Hungary. Having won the 2011 race in Slovenia, this is the first time that anyone has retained the title. After leading for most of the race, Fionnuala finishing kick was enough to keep her ahead of Dulce Félix of Portugal who put in a strong late challenge.
Rank Athlete Nation Time
1 BRITTON, Fionnuala IRL 27:45
2 FÉLIX, Dulce POR 27:47
3 HERZOG, Adriënne NED 27:48
Not only did Fionnuala Britton take the individual title but she also helped the Irish team win the team prize!
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| Winning Irish Team...L to R...Lizzie Lee, Fionnuala Britton, Ava Hutchinson, Linda Byrne, Sara Treacy, Sarah McCormack |
With the first four finishers to score, the Irish and French teams tied on 52 points!
However as the fourth member of the scoring team, Lizzie Lee from Cork finished in 23rd place and ahead of the fourth French woman Magali Bernard in 28th place. The Irish team won in count back as a result!
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| Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC proudly displaying her new European Cross Country Gold medal |
The other two scoring members of the Irish team were Ava Hutchinson and Linda Byrne who both represented Ireland in the Marathon in the recent London Olympics.
Photos courtesy of James McCarthy of East Cork AC
Fantastic Stuff.Delighted for Lizzie Lee.What a christmas present.
ReplyDeleteA superb performance by Lizzie and the Irish team, it's fantastic to see one of our "local" runners excel on such an international stage. She did herself, her family, her club and Cork proud. Well done Lizzie, onwards and upwards!
ReplyDeleteDelighted also for Lizzie Lee, great to see our top local athlete do the job here. A great performance by her to ultimately secure the gold for her team.
ReplyDeleteA European gold now goes on the mantlepiece, her family will be very proud.