Two-time champion Fionnuala McCormack a doubt for Cross Country Championships

Fionnuala McCormack of Ireland after competing in the 2017 Senior Women's event during the European Cross Country Championships in Slovakia. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Fionnuala McCormack’s participation at this year’s European Cross Country Championships is in doubt after the two-time former champion was announced for the Valencia Marathon on December 5, just seven days before the event in Dublin.

The 37-year-old struck gold in the senior women’s race in 2011 and 2012 and the Euro Cross has long been a mainstay of her winter programme. Dublin last hosted the championships in 2009 and in the last edition two years ago in Lisbon, McCormack finished fourth, just two seconds outside the medals, helping the Irish women to team silver.