With a team helmed by world 1500m champion Isaac Nader, can hosts Portugal challenge for the mixed relay title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa on 14 December?
The home team have selected a full-strength quartet and are expected to be in title contention along with last year’s winners Italy and past champions Spain.
The SPAR European Cross Country Championships will be streamed live on the European Athletics website from 9:00am local time (10:00am CET.)
Teams to watch
- Italy (ITA)
- Portugal (POR)
- Spain (ESP)
- Great Britain & NI (GBR)
- France (FRA)
Key storylines
- Portugal in contention for their first ever medal in the mixed relay
- Three of Italy’s team from last year return to defend their title
- Spain have also named a strong team including Mohamed Attaoui
Not since Jessica Augusto won the senior women’s title in 2010 has Portugal won a gold medal at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships but it is far from inconceivable that their country’s mixed relay team could end this title drought in Lagoa.
Portugal’s team is spearheaded by world 1500m champion Isaac Nader and his partner Salome Afonso, a medallist in both the 1500m and 3000m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn in early March.
Not only can the Portuguese team draw on home support on Sunday, prior knowledge of the course might also play to their advantage. Nader and Afonso were part of the victorious mixed relay team at the Portuguese Cross Country Championships last month which was held on the very same course.
While Nader and Afonso are the leading lights, the Portuguese team boasts talent and depth all the way through their ranks. They will be propped up by world indoor 800m bronze medallist Patricia Silva, the daughter of 2004 Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Rui, and 2019 European U20 1500m champion Nuno Pereira who improved to 3:32.16 this year.
Strong Italian team aiming for a third title
But the hosts will have to overcome a power-packed Italian team whose team includes three of the four members of their gold medal-winning team last year: Sebastiano Parolini, Marta Zenoni and anchor runner Pietro Arese who prevailed in a sprint finish last year.
And coming back into the fray this year is Gaia Sabbatini who anchored Italy to a memorable and dramatic victory ahead of Spain on home soil at the 2022 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Turin.
Surprisingly, Spain hasn’t won this title since the second instalment of the mixed relay in Tilburg in 2018 but their team blends a heady mix of speed, youth and experience which will make them highly competitive.
Their quartet is headlined by world and Olympic 800m finalist Mohamed Attaoui and veteran Esther Guerrero who was part of Spain’s gold medal-winning team seven years ago. They are joined by 2022 European 800m champion Mariano Garcia while the youngster in the team is the 18-year-old Marta Mitjans who clocked 1:59.88 for the 800m this summer.
France and Great Britain eyeing yet more records
France and Great Britain won silver and bronze respectively behind Italy last year and can never be discounted in this format. France have won medals at the last six editions of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships - including gold in Brussels 2023 - while Great Britain is the only nation to have won this title three times.
The French team is headed by Antoine Senard, who was part of France’s gold medal-winning team in 2023, while a fairly inexperienced British team includes Callum Elson and Ava Lloyd, the latter a training partner of Keely Hodgkinson.
And Ireland might be hopeful of snaring their first ever medal in the mixed relay at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, particularly if Cian McPhillips is able translate his blistering track pace to the cross country.
McPhillips, who won 1500m gold at the 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships, was one of the breakthrough athletes of the summer, finishing fourth in the 800m at the World Athletics Championships and taking his lifetime best down from 1:45.92 to an Irish record of 1:42.15.
The Irish quartet also includes fellow world finalist Andrew Coscoran along with European U23 1500m bronze medallist Eimear Maher and Irish 1500m champion Laura Nicholson.
Did you know?
The mixed relay was added to the SPAR European Cross Country Championships for the 2017 edition in Samorin? Great Britain won the inaugural edition ahead of Czechia and Spain.
