Sarah Lahti will be aiming to become the first athlete to win four successive titles in the senior women’s race at the Warandecross in Tilburg, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Silver event, on Sunday (30).
The Warandecross will be streamed live on the European Athletics YouTube channel without any restrictions from 11.30am local time (CET).
With her third victory last year, Lahti emulated Sifan Hassan who won three successive titles between 2013-15. If she wins for a fourth time this weekend, the Swede will become just the second four-time winner at the Warandecross after Dutch middle distance running great Elly Van Hulst who won four titles between 1983 and 1988.
Lahti’s main rival will be Maureen Koster who will be looking to become the first Dutch winner of the senior women’s race since Hassan in 2015. The pair raced a fortnight ago on the roads over 10km in Lille where Koster pipped Lahti for the runner-up spot with both athletes rewarded with lifetime bests of 30:57 and 30:58 respectively.
Koster might not have quite as much demonstrable cross country experience as Lahti but she was part of the Netherlands’ gold medal-winning team in the senior women’s race when Tilburg staged the 2018 SPAR European Cross Country Championships before winning a silver medal in the mixed relay in 2023.
The senior women’s line-up also includes Dutch 3000m steeplechase record-holder Veerle Bakker, who recently finished second in the Pforzheim Cross and 2023 European U23 5000m bronze medallist Amina Maatoug.
Who will succeed Laros in Tilburg?
With last year’s winner Niels Laros absent, home hopes in the senior men’s race will rest on the shoulders of Abi Mohamed and Nik Lemmink who finished second and third last year. Laros’ training partner Stefan Nillessen, who also made the Olympic 1500m final last year, is also due to start.
The senior men’s line-up also includes 2023 winner Senay Fissehatsion from Norway while other international contenders include double European U20 medallist Kevin Kamenschak, who recently won the Austrian cross country title, and Paris 2024 Olympian Mahamed Mahamed from Great Britain.
The programme also includes a short course race which has traditionally been used to determine the Dutch relay team for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships.
A record 5500 runners are due to take place at this year’s Warandecross, an event which dates back to 1955, which spans three days, including a full programme of veteran, kids and mass participation races.