After claiming gold and silver medals over 5000m at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam, Ilias Fifa and Adel Mechaal will be aiming to crown their seasons with a repeat showing at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Chia on 11 December.
Fifa and Mechaal, who finished third in Hyeres last year, were both named as part of a 34-strong team which will arrive in Sardinia next month with high hopes of claiming individual and team titles in the men’s senior race.
Their team also includes European 10,000m bronze medallist Antonio Abadia, former two-time silver medallist Ayad Lamdassem, European marathon fourth-placer Javier Guerra and Jose Espana.
The Spaniards dominated the senior race twelve months ago by fielding five finishers in the top seven but the reigning team champions will face a Turkish squad spearheaded by reigning champion Ali Kaya and a British team which will include Olympic 5000m sixth placer Andrew Butchart and Callum Hawkins.
Another leading medal hope next month will be Carlos Mayo, who will be looking to break his chain of near-misses in the under-23 race. Mayo’s medal haul includes silver medals from the junior race in 2014 and a silver medal from the under-23 race last year, along with a bronze medal over 5000m at the European Athletics Under-23 Championships in Tallinn last summer.
The women’s senior team is led by Trihas Gebre and veteran Alessandra Aguilar, who first competed at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships back in 1999.