World U20 3000m champion Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen took his biggest victory to date as a senior at the Nordic Cross Country Championships in Kastrup on the outskirts of Copenhagen on Sunday (9).
The youngest athlete in the race at the age of 20, Halvorsen won the senior men's 7.5km title in 22:49 and led Norway to team gold despite the absence of 2018 European cross country champion Filip Ingebrigtsen who was a non-starter.
Halvorsen, who won bronze in last year’s U20 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, cut loose from a pack of eight athletes on the last lap, winning by three seconds ahead of Sweden's Oliver Löfqvist (22:52) and fellow Norwegian Mathias Flak (22:57).
But there was disappointment for home favourite and reigning champion Joel Ibler Lillesø from Denmark. The European U23 10,000m champion, who won gold on his debut at the distance by just 0.04, faded out of contention on the last lap, eventually finishing sixth in 23:03.
Halvorsen and Lillesø are expected to cross paths again in just over one month's time in the U23 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa on 14 December.
Halvorsen will be making his first appearance in the U23 division next month while Lillesø will be looking to graduate out of the age-group ranks by winning his first individual medal at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships since 2021 when he won bronze in the U20 race.
Sweden's Evelina Henriksson won the senior women's 7.5km title in 25:57 ahead of Norwegians Hanne Maridal (26:01) and Selma Løchen Engdahl (26:04) who also guided Norway to the team title.
Emerging talents Nygard Vie and Ottfalk split the U20 titles
The U20 races showcased some of the rising talents in Nordic distance running who will be featuring in the hunt for medals at next month’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa.
European U20 3000m steeplechase champion Andrea Nygård Vie won the women’s U20 4.5km in 15:40, leading a Norwegian 1-2 from Venus Abraham Teffera (15:43) with Sweden’s Hanna Strand winning bronze in 15:46. Norway also came away with the team title.
Double European U20 medallist Karl Ottfalk from Sweden won the senior men’s 4.5km title in 13:35 by a clear distance ahead of Norway’s Lukas Buncic (13:39) and fellow Swede Sebastian Stagh (13:40).
With three finishers inside the first four, Sweden also won the men’s U20 team title despite the absence of Sebastian Lörstad who was a non-starter.
Full results here.
Atamaniuk and Erol win senior Balkan cross country titles
Türkiye and Ukraine dominated proceedings at the Balkan Cross Country Championships in Baile Felix, Romania on Saturday (8).
Andrii Atamaniuk won the senior men’s race in 31:35, leading a Ukrainian 1-2 from Vadym Lonskyy in 31:59 while Türkiye’s Sumeyye Erol won the senior women’s 8km title in 28:21 from Bulgaria’s Devora Avramova in 28:30.
Ali Tunc, who was seventh in the U20 race at last year’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships, defeated European U18 3000m champion Aldin Catovic for the men’s U20 6km title - 18:19 to 18:25 while fellow Serbian Mejra Mehmedovic won the women’s U20 4km title in 14:15.
In other races, Utku Goler won the men’s U23 8km in 25:18 to provide the first part of a Turkish 1-2-3 while Ukraine’s Uliana Rachynska won the women’s U23 6km in 22:11 ahead of Madalina Elena Sirbu, Romania’s only individual medal of the day.