Jakob Ingebrigtsen storms to third title as Britain top medal table at 2024 European Cross Country Championships

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Jakob Ingebrigtsen reclaimed his senior European Cross Country title, the third of his career, with an uncatchable kick in the penultimate lap of the men's race in Antalya. Great Britain and Northern Ireland once again stood on top of the medal table, as they have done for five successive competitions. Innes FitzGerald, Phoebe Anderson and Will Barnicoat all claimed wins in the age-group races.

Watch as Ingebrigtsen finds redemption with 5000m gold after 1500m woe

Video credit: TNT Sports

Jakob Ingebrigtsen stormed to his third European Cross Country senior title, as the two-time Olympic champion finished eight seconds ahead of the nearest challenger in Antalya on Sunday.

The 24-year-old returned in some style to the competition after missing the 2023 edition through injury, with Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa and Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Spain trailing in his wake.

There was success for Great Britain and Northern Ireland too, as the United Kingdom topped the medal table for the fifth successive competition.

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But the Olympic 5000m champion stole the show by reclaiming his title with a perfectly-timed kick on the penultimate lap over the 7832m course to cross the line in 22:16.

"Cross country is something that I really enjoy," Ingebrigtsen told European Athletics. "It's very different from my other competitions, there's something special and exciting about around 100 people being at the starting line, going for the first turn.

"There's a lot of fighting and pushing and shoving, there's a lot of things that could happen. The course was so challenging and tactical, as well as technical.

"It's all about using the energy wisely and trying to manoeuvre."

Crippa, a two-time age-group champion, was the only runner to keep in touch with the Norwegian in his fourth-lap push, while debutant Ndikumwenayo held off Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli by two seconds to take bronze.

Rory Leonard was Britain’s highest finisher. The 23-year-old came home in ninth, 29 seconds off the winning pace.

But the Under-23 European champion did place on the podium with Great Britain and Northern Ireland scooping bronze in the senior men’s team category.

And while no individual runner from the UK could breach the top three in either the senior men’s or women’s race, a total of 12 medals were awarded to British racers.

This included Under-23 gold for both the women’s and men’s teams, plus an Under-20 title for the combined women’s classification.

All three were largely thanks to superb individual victories from defending Under-20 champion Innes FitzGerald, 22-year-old Phoebe Anderson, and six-time youth champion Will Barnicoat.

Jess Bailey, George Couttie and David Stone also picked up individual podium places, while Britain’s mixed relay team of Joshua Lay, Maddie Deadman, Elise Thorner and Tyler Bilyard came third behind Italy and France.

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