Can anyone prevent Innes FitzGerald from winning her third successive U20 title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa on 14 December?
Based on past and current form, it will take something very special and unexpected from one the other 96 athletes who have entered the U20 race in Lagoa, the first of seven races on the programme.
The SPAR European Cross Country Championships will be streamed live on the European Athletics website from 9.00am local time (10.00am CET.)
Five to watch
- Innes FitzGerald (GBR)
- Julia Ehrle (GER)
- Wilma Bekkemoen Torbiörnsson (NOR)
- Andrea Nygard Vie (NOR)
- Edibe Yagiz (TUR)
Key storylines
- Innes FitzGerald aiming for her third successive individual and team titles
- Strong Norwegian team including Wilma Bekkemoen Torbiörnsson and Andrea Nygard Vie due to feature individually and in the team race
- Last year’s fourth-placer Julia Ehrle also returns
FitzGerald swept the individual and team titles in 2022 and 2023 and a daunting thought for her rivals is that the 19-year-old, who graduates out of the U20 ranks at the end of 2025, has improved markedly since defending her title in Antalya last year.
Among many other highlights in 2025, FitzGerald swept the 3000m and 5000m titles at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere and she also shattered Zola Budd’s 40-year-old European U20 5000m record of 14:48.07 - a world record at the time - with a 14:39.56 clocking in London.
Since a breakthrough track season, FitzGerald has been front running to victory with ease on the British cross country circuit. In her last race prior to Lagoa, FitzGerald won the British Trial race in Liverpool by an incredible 59 seconds ahead of Lizzie Wellsted and Isabel Holt.
And with FitzGerald to the fore, the Brits will be looking to continue their remarkable run of success in the women’s U20 team race having won a staggering 15 of the last 20 team titles.
Norwegian U20 talents on the rise
The biggest challenge to FitzGerald in terms of both the individual and team titles could come from an improving Norwegian team whose team includes European U20 3000m steeplechase champion Andrea Nygard Vie and last year’s seventh-placer Wilma Bekkemoen Torbiörnsson, one of four top-eight returning finishers from last year.
Norway has enjoyed success in the women’s U20 race in years gone by with Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal winning the title in 2009 but the Nordic country has never won a women’s team medal in the 27 editions of the U20 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships.
However, with only three counters to score, this could play to the advantage of the Norwegians whose third counter is likely to be Venus Abraham Teffera. She recently finished second behind Nygard Vie in the U20 race at the Nordic Cross Country Championships in Kastrup, Denmark where the Norwegians won the team title.
Nygard Vie’s success is a remarkable story of overcoming adversity as she announced earlier this year that she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the start of the summer.
"Over time, I have found out more about what works for me, both in training and in everyday life, although there are still some ups and downs. I really want to show that nothing is impossible," she said.
Another medal on another terrain for Ehrle?
Many other recent medal winners from the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere will have aspirations of finishing their seasons with another major medal, including the multi-talented German Julia Ehrle who is looking to win her third medal on as many surfaces in four months.
After winning 5000m bronze in Tampere, Ehrle showed her strength by topping the podium in the U20 race at the World Mountain Running Championships in Canfranc, winning by over half-a-minute. Since then, Ehrle eased to her domestic U20 title in Darmstadt and helms a German team which will have aspirations of a team medal.
Ehrle looked on the cusp of winning the bronze medal individually last year but she was run down in the long finishing straight in Antalya by Denmark’s Sofia Thøgersen who caught an exhausted and disconsolate Ehrle on the finish-line for the bronze.
All three medallists from the 5000m in Tampere 2025 are due to compete. Türkiye’s Edibe Yagiz, who was a distant silver medallist behind FitzGerald, will be looking to challenge for her first individual cross country medal having been part of her country’s silver medal-winning team in 2022.
Meanwhile, other medal contenders include Sweden’s Carmen Cernjul, a medallist in both the 1500m and 3000m at the European Athletics U20 Championships, and Switzerland’s Shirin Kerber who finished eighth last year.
What they said
Innes FitzGerald: "I couldn’t imagine a winter without cross country. It feels like my reputation almost comes from cross country, so I’ve got to keep it up. I love the change from the track — there’s less pressure, times don’t matter, it’s just about racing hard in whatever conditions you face."
Did you know?
Great Britain has won a record 18 team titles from 27 editions of the U20 race at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships
