Britton targets medal in Toro

FIONNUALA BRITTON hopes for more medal success at the European cross-country championships in the Spanish city of Toro tomorrow.

Last year she finished second in the U-23 race after losing an exciting battle to the subsequently disgraced Turk, Binnaz Usulu, who was found guilty of taking a performance enhancing drug later in the year.

“I don’t feel cheated at all,” she said of last year’s result.

“She did not test positive that day so why should I feel cheated.”

This season Britton faces up to the senior women of European distance running with Tetyana Holovchenko bidding to retain the women’s crown after improving her personal best times on the track for 5,000m and 10,000m during the summer.

But Britton too has improved dramatically since her silver medal success in Northern Italy.

One of her best performances came in the world cross-country championships in Mumbasa when she finished 14th — and third European — ahead of the Great Britain pair, Hattie Dean and Hayley Yelling. A reproduction of that form would position her close to a place on the podium.

Hopes of team medals evaporated following the withdrawals of Mary Cullen, Maria McCambridge and then replacement Rosemary Ryan.

In the absence of last year’s winner, Mo Farrah through injury, the spotlight will once again fall on the evergreen Ukrainian Sergiy Lebid for the senior men’s title.

“I’m very determined to regain my title and have been training very hard since the start of October to get ready for these Championships,” said Lebid. “Last year in Italy, Farah ran extremely well and was a worthy winner but I suffered from stomach problems and was not able to give a good account of myself.”

Ireland’s Martin Fagan heads the Irish challenge in the senior men’s race and his form should be good if he is to realise his hopes of achieving the Olympic qualifying standard in next month’s Houston Marathon.

Ireland have hopes of a team medals in the U-23 men’s race. Last year they finished eight points behind third-placed Poland and have four scoring members of that side in action again tomorrow along with Danny Darcy, a junior silver medallist on the track, and the promising Limerick man, Cathal Dennehy.

John Coghlan emerges from the shadow of his famous father to make his debut in the junior race where he will be joined by West Waterford’s David McCarthy, who was 84th in the US collegiate championships.

There has been great rivalry between then and McCarthy finished ahead of Coghlan in the Irish schools 1,500m during the summer.

The ffrench-O’Carroll twins also debut in the junior women’s race. Notably all on the Irish team will be eligible in 2009 when Ireland will host those championships.