At the recent European Cross Country Championships held in Oostende, Belgium, it saw a strong contingent of British runners performing well.

The annual Cross Country international race is held every December and organised by the European Athletic Association.

The Championships has six races, from the junior ranks to the under-23 and lastly the senior categories. The country with the best finishing positions of the top scorers wins the Championships.

Britain won it after grabbing a total of 4 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronzes, finishing with 12 points. They were 6 points clear of the nearest rival, France who had only 6 points.

The Brits were helped by their excellent junior women team who did a complete rout of the Top 6 finish, all British.

Stephanie Twell who finished first in the women junior category is touted as the next ‘Paula Radcliffe’ and a potential medalist for 2012 London Olympics. The current World Junior 1500m winner recently finished 6th in the heats at the last Olympic Beijing Games. She did not proceed to the next round.

Medal Table

1 GBR 4gold 5silver 3bronze 12points
2 FRA 2gold 1silver 3bronze 6points
3 NED 2gold 0silver 0bronze 2points
4 POR 1gold 1silver 1bronze 3points
5 ITA 1gold 1silver 0bronze 2points
5 UKR 1gold 1silver 0bronze 2points
7 ESP 1gold 0silver 0bronze 1points
8 NOR 0gold 2silver 0bronze 2points
9 RUS 0gold 1silver 2bronze 3points
10 GER 0gold 0silver 1bronze 1points
10 SWE 0gold 0silver 1bronze 1points
10 TUR 0gold 0silver 1bronze 1points

Junior Women

1 TWELL, Stephanie GBR 13:28
2 PURDUE, Charlotte GBR 13:39
3 HOWARTH, Lauren GBR 13:55
4 PIDGEON, Emily GBR 14:00
5 PALLANT, Emma GBR 14:05
6 PARK, Laura GBR 14:08

Junior Men

1 CARVALHO, Florian FRA 18:42
2 MOEN, Sondre Nordstad NOR 18:47
3 CHAHDI, Hassan FRA 18:49
4 HAHN, Alexander GER 18:55
5 FORRESTER, David GBR 18:58
6 PAK, Hasan TUR 18:58

U23 Women

1 KUIJKEN, Susan NED 21:02
2 TUNSTALL, Sarah GBR 21:10
3 ZARUDNEVA, Yuliya RUS 21:24
4 MACLARTY, Morag GBR 21:24
5 BOBOCEL, Ancuta ROU 21:43
6 BIENSTEIN, Heike GER 21:43

U23 Men

1 LALLI, Andrea ITA 24:56
2 VERNON, Andy GBR 25:04
3 BAYRAK, Selim TUR 25:17
4 LINDSAY, Ben GBR 25:18
5 MALATY, Benjamin FRA 25:18
6 BEATTIE, John GBR 25:18

Senior Women

1 KIBET, Hilda NED 27:45
2 AUGUSTO, Jessica POR 27:54
3 MONTEIRO, Inês POR 28:02
4 CULLEN, Mary IRL 28:04
5 MORATÓ, Rosa María ESP 28:17
6 HERZOG, Adriënne NED 28:19

Senior Men

1 LEBID, Serhiy UKR 30:49
2 FARAH, Mo GBR 30:57
3 MOHAMED, Mustafa SWE 31:13
4 LAMDASSEM, Ayad ESP 31:17
5 DESMET, Pieter BEL 31:19
6 TAHRI, Bouabdellah FRA 31:21