Britton bidding to join the greats

While Fionnuala Britton heads to tomorrow’s 20th European-Cross Country Championships in Belgrade in search of a hat-trick of titles with customary quiet steely resolve, her bigger ambition is to ultimately join the likes of Sonia O’Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan as Ireland’s greatest distance runners.

Britton created history last year by becoming the first woman to successfully defend the European Cross Country title, but knows she has some rungs to climb before she can be counted in that exalted company.

In the 90s and early 2000s, O’Sullivan and McKiernan were to the fore of world class female distance running. Their CVs combined include double gold at the world cross country, multiple world and European track titles, an Olympic silver medal (O’Sullivan), four world cross country silvers, an inaugural European cross country title and a world’s fastest debut marathon (McKiernan).