The 2012 European Cross Country Championships take place this Sunday, the 9th of December in Budapest, Hungary. The 19th running of these championships will see a 30 strong Irish team compete.
The team is made up of a mixture of experienced senior athletes and the new generation of Irish junior and U23 athletes. A record number of athletes from all across Europe are set to compete at the 2012 championships, comprising of 539 athletes from 35 member federations.
Shane Quinn (Ferrybank AC) originally named as part of the U23 men’s team has had to withdraw from the championships due to illness.
Defending champion Fionnuala Britton (Kilcoole AC) produced a scintillating performance on route to claiming the title last year and on the basis of her current form she will be in the mix again for individual honours. The Wicklow athlete also spearheads a strong senior women’s team, who will be in the hunt for team honours.
Teresa McDaid Team Manager said “We have teams competing across the board and there is an opportunity in the women’s team event, if all our girls run to form, we won’t be that far away from a medal. The event also offers many of our junior athletes the opportunity to make their mark and gain invaluable experience at this level.”
The event will be covered live on RTE from 12-2pm on Sunday, 9th of December. There will also be live updates via the Athletics Ireland twitter page.
