World marathon fourth-placer Callum Hawkins and recent trials winners Chris Thompson and Stephanie Davis are among the first seven members of the athletics squad selected to&nbsp;represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Hawkins, who just missed a medal at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha and the 2017 edition of the event in London, had gained pre-selection in December 2019. Ninth at the Rio Olympics in 2016, he demonstrated current form and fitness having acted as a pacemaker at the M&uuml;ller British Athletics Marathon and 20km Walk Trial at Kew Gardens last week.
There Thompson secured his selection as he won the men&rsquo;s marathon in a PB and Olympic qualifying time of 2:10:52, just a few days after becoming a father, while Davis had achieved the qualifying standard with 2:27:40 in Valencia in 2019 and improved that PB to 2:27:16 to win at Kew Gardens.
Ben Connor finished behind Thompson at the trials and gains his Olympic place having set the qualifying standard in 2020 with 2:11:20 in London.
"It&rsquo;s official. My selection for the Olympics has been announced," said Thompson. "Becoming a two-time Olympian and a dad in the space of a week took every ounce of who I am and I couldn&rsquo;t have rode a finer line."
Jess Piasecki and Steph Twell will join Davis in the women&rsquo;s marathon. They did not race at the trials but had impressed with their respective times of 2:25:28 in Florence and 2:26:40 in Frankfurt in 2019. Tokyo will be Twell&rsquo;s third Olympic Games after she made her debut over 1500m in 2008 just a few days after her 19th birthday.
"Dreams really do come true," said Piasecki, who became the third-fastest female in British marathon history with her run in Florence. "Absolutely over the moon to have made it here. Bring on Tokyo."
The&nbsp;2012 European under-23 cross-country champion had been well on target for a Rio Olympic qualifying time when racing in Florence on her debut in 2015 but was forced to drop out at 32km&nbsp;after tearing her plantar fascia.
Kew Gardens also played host to the British Athletics 20km race walk trials which saw 2016 Olympic sixth-placer Tom Bosworth finish second to secure his qualification for Tokyo, having already achieved the qualifying standard at the European Race Walking Cup in 2019 when he posted a time of 1:20:53.
&ldquo;It is a great privilege to be able to welcome the first seven members of the athletics squad for Tokyo into Team GB,&rdquo; said Mark England, Team GB&rsquo;s Chef de Mission for Tokyo 2020.
&ldquo;It was clear from watching the coverage of the qualifying event last week, and seeing the emotion felt by each athlete as they crossed the finish line, just how much this selection means to them. The hard work and dedication that goes into securing Olympic qualification is admirable, especially in a year that has come with so many challenges.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to congratulate everyone on their fantastic achievements, and we look forward to welcoming them to Tokyo this summer.&rdquo;
World Athletics
<h3>First selected British team members for Tokyo</h3>
WOMEN Marathon: Stephanie Davis, Jess Piasecki, Steph Twell
MEN Marathon: Ben Connor, Callum Hawkins, Chris Thompson 20km race walk: Tom Bosworth

World marathon fourth-placer Callum Hawkins and recent trials winners Chris Thompson and Stephanie Davis are among the first seven members of the athletics squad selected to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Britain names first seven team members for Tokyo

Britain&rsquo;s Jessica Piasecki recorded the second-fastest time in the history of the Asics Firenze Marathon, winning the World Athletics Bronze Label road race in 2:25:29 on her debut at the distance on Sunday (24).
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Nigussie Sahlesilassie Bekele took the honours in the men&rsquo;s race with 2:10:14, just four seconds shy of the PB he set earlier this year.
A leading group formed by Piasecki, Kenya&rsquo;s Salina Jebet, Viola Yator Jelagat, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Mekash Dinknesh Tefera, Amelework Bosho Fikadu, and Burundi&rsquo;s Elvanie Nimbona went through 15km in 52:34.
Tefera, the fastest runner in the field with a 2:23:12 PB from a few years ago, went to the front and reached the halfway mark in 1:14:31, closely followed by Piasecki, Yator and Jebet. Tefera and Piasecki then broke away, clocking 1:27:55 at 25km with a 14-second margin over Yator.
Piasecki launched her attack soon after, opening up an eight-second gap on Tefera by 35km, reached in 2:01:38.
The 29-year-old continued to ramp up the pace and by 40km her lead had grown to more than a minute. She crossed the finish line in 2:25:29 to move to third on the British all-time list. Only Lonah Salpeter, who won here in 2:24:17 last year, has recorded a faster time on this course. Tefera finished second with 2:26:47 ahead of Salina Jebet (2:30:28).
&ldquo;The course was quite twisty, but it was an amazing race,&rdquo; said Piasecki, the 2012 European U23 cross-country champion. &ldquo;It was the first marathon race of my career and I achieved my goal of getting the Olympic qualifying standard for Tokyo. I can&rsquo;t believe it.&rdquo;
Her next goal is the 2020 London Marathon in April, which will double as the British trials for the Olympic Games.
A six-man group formed by Kenyans Kipkemoi Kiprono, Jackson Rutto Kemboi, Peter Kirui Cheruiyot, 2014 Florence winner Asbel Kipsang and Ethiopians Nigussie Sahlesilassie Bekele and Azmeraw Gereme Mengistu took the early lead, going through 10km in 30:15, 15km in 45:24, half way in 1:04:28 and 30km in 1:32:00.
Bekele stepped up the pace and broke away from Mengistu, going through the 35km mark in 1:47:18 with a lead of 24 seconds. Kipsang was further back in third place.
Bekele crossed the finish line in 2:10:14, missing his career best by just four seconds. It was his third consecutive 2:10 clocking of the year, having set PBs of 2:10:46 in Wuxi in March and 2:10:10 when winning in Stockholm in June.
&ldquo;After 30km I tried to step up the pace,&rdquo; said the winner. &ldquo;I saw that my rivals were not able to keep up with my pace. I held on until the end.&rdquo;
Diego Sampaolo for World Athletics

Britain’s Jessica Piasecki recorded the second-fastest time in the history of the Asics Firenze Marathon, winning the World Athletics Bronze Label road race in 2:25:29 on her debut at the distance on Sunday (24).

Marathon debutante Piasecki wins in Florence

<a href="#FR">Fran&ccedil;ais</a>The organisers of the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 were put through their paces at the Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday (4), which was run over the same course that will be used for the global championship on 26 March next year.The men&rsquo;s race was won by Uganda&rsquo;s Ben Siwa in 1:02:07, a personal best by almost two minutes. The big improvement will have boosted his chances of returning to the Welsh city in just over five months&rsquo; time, despite the stiff competition for places in his country&rsquo;s team.After a quick opening mile of 4:42, Siwa was never headed and came home just 16 seconds short of the course record set by Kenya&rsquo;s Lotarakwai Lengurisi in 2013.&ldquo;The weather was good, the course was great and there were plenty of supporters out lining the route," said Siwa. "I just felt good and decided to push on.&ldquo;This course is flat enough and fast enough for someone to run 59 minutes in March next year. I think I could have run faster had I had some extra runners around me to push me on.&ldquo;It was a personal best for me and now I will be going to the Ugandan trials in January hoping to make the team to come back to Cardiff for the World Half Marathon Championships; that is going to be a great race to be in.&rdquo;Behind Siwa, there was a close battle for second which ended with a thrilling sprint. Kenya&rsquo;s Gideon Kimosop came out on top of the three-way duel when he crossed the line in 1:03:09, with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Assefa Bekele third in 1:03:10 and another Kenyan, Dan Tanui, just two seconds further back in fourth.In the women&rsquo;s race, Kenya&rsquo;s Lenah Jerotich won in 1:11:29 and finished two seconds clear of her compatriot Demaris Kemunto Arebain.<h3>McLeod and Coulson will return to Cardiff</h3>The race also doubled as the British Championships and the trial to represent home interests at the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016.Ryan McLeod successfully defended his British title in fifth place overall, crossing the line in 1:04:19. The son of the 1984 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Mick McLeod secured his place in the host nation&rsquo;s team next March.Britain&rsquo;s Jess Coulson, the 2012 European under-23 cross-country champion, finished third in 1:11:34 on her debut over the distance and she also qualified for the British team next March.Nigel Roberts, chairman of organisers Run 4 Wales, said the event was "fantastic" ahead of the World Half Marathon Championships."Today's route was lined with tens of thousands of supporters cheering on the athletes and we expect to double those numbers when the world's best come to Cardiff," he said, after an estimated 50,000 people lined the route on Sunday."This event has grown and grown and I'd like to thank all the organisers, sponsors and volunteers for the hours of devotion they put in to making it not only Wales' biggest mass participation event but also one of Britain's top road running races,&rdquo; he added.After a successful test event on Sunday, optimism runs high that the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 will be an event to remember and a major focal point on next year&rsquo;s global athletics calendar.Phil Minshull and organisers for the IAAF<hr /><a name="FR"></a><h3>Championnats du monde de Semi-marathon IAAF/Cardiff University Cardiff 2016 - r&eacute;p&eacute;tition g&eacute;n&eacute;rale pour les organisateurs
</h3>Les organisateurs des&nbsp;Championnats du monde de Semi-marathon IAAF/Cardiff
 University, ont pu effectuer une sorte de r&eacute;p&eacute;tition g&eacute;n&eacute;rale &agrave; 
l'occasion du Semi-marathon Lloyds de Cardiff ce dimanche (4). Celui-ci a
 en effet emprunt&eacute; exactement le m&ecirc;me parcours que suivront les 
comp&eacute;titeurs des championnats mondiaux, le 26 mars
 de l'ann&eacute;e prochaine.La
 course masculine a &eacute;t&eacute; remport&eacute;e par l'Ougandais Ben Siwa en 1h02'07, 
soit une am&eacute;lioration de pr&egrave;s de deux minutes de son record personnel. 
Cette
 progression notable favorisera nul doute les chances de le voir de 
retour dans la ville galloise dans un peu plus de cinq mois, malgr&eacute; la 
bataille rude qui se profile pour obtenir une s&eacute;lection pour son &eacute;quipe 
nationale.
Apr&egrave;s
 un premier mile rapide effectu&eacute; en 4'42, Siwa ne fut plus jamais 
d&eacute;pass&eacute;, et il boucla le parcours en tout juste seize secondes 
en-dessous du record
 du parcours, d&eacute;tenu par le Kenyan Lotarakwai Lengurisi depuis 2013."Nous
 avons eu beau temps, le trac&eacute; &eacute;tait superbe et le public se massait le 
long du parcours pour nous soutenir, a dit Siwa. Je me sentais bien, et 
j'ai
 donc simplement d&eacute;cid&eacute; de continuer sur ma lanc&eacute;e apr&egrave;s le premier 
kilom&egrave;tre et demi."Pour
 moi, ce parcours est assez plat et assez rapide pour qu'on puisse voir 
quelqu'un r&eacute;ussir 59 minutes en mars prochain. Je crois que j'aurais pu 
aller
 plus vite encore si j'avais &eacute;t&eacute; entour&eacute; de plus de coureurs qui 
auraient pu me pousser davantage.
"J'ai
 accompli un record personnel, et &agrave; pr&eacute;sent j'ai en perspective les 
qualifications ougandaises en janvier, esp&eacute;rant naturellement y 
d&eacute;crocher une
 s&eacute;lection qui me permettrait d'&ecirc;tre de retour ici pour les Championnats
 du monde de Semi-marathon IAAF/Cardiff University Cardiff 2016; il ne 
fait pas de doute que ce sera une course &eacute;pique pour tous les 
participants."
Derri&egrave;re
 Siwa, la bataille pour la seconde marche du podium a fait rage, et 
s'est termin&eacute;e en point d'orgue avec un sprint haletant. Le Kenyan 
Gideon
 Kimosop a finalement eu raison de ses deux adversaires les plus 
proches, terminant second en 1h03'09, devant l'Ethiopien Assefa Bekele, 
troisi&egrave;me en 1h03'10, et un autre Kenyan, Dan Tanui, quatri&egrave;me &agrave; tout 
juste deux secondes.
Chez
 les femmes, la course a &eacute;t&eacute; remport&eacute;e par la Kenyane Lenah Jerotich en 
1h11'29, deux secondes devant sa compatriote et dauphine du jour, 
Demaris
 Kemunto Arebain.<h3>McLeod et Coulson seront de retour &agrave; Cardiff</h3>Cette
 course faisait &eacute;galement office tant de Championnats nationaux de 
Grande Bretagne que d'&eacute;preuve de qualification pour les britanniques 
pour les
 Championnats du monde de Semi-marathon IAAF/Cardiff University Cardiff
 2016.Ryan
 McLeod a d&eacute;fendu avec succ&egrave;s son titre britannique, terminant cinqui&egrave;me
 au classement g&eacute;n&eacute;ral, avec un temps de 1h04'19. Le fils du 
vice-champion
 olympique du 10 000m de 1984, Mick McLeod, a ainsi garanti sa place 
dans la s&eacute;lection de la nation h&ocirc;te&nbsp; pour mars prochain.
La
 Britannique Jess Coulson, championne d'Europe Espoirs 2012, a termin&eacute; 
troisi&egrave;me au classement g&eacute;n&eacute;ral, dans ce qui &eacute;tait sa premi&egrave;re sortie 
sur cette
 distance, en un temps de 1h11'34. Elle est donc &eacute;galement qualifi&eacute;e 
pour la s&eacute;lection britannique en mars.Nigel
 Roberts, le pr&eacute;sident des organisateurs, Run 4 Wales, a d&eacute;crit la 
manifestation comme &eacute;tant "fantastique", en amont des Championnats du 
monde de
 Semi-marathon IAAF/Cardiff University Cardiff 2016."Des
 dizaines de milliers de spectateurs se pressaient le long du parcours 
aujourd'hui pour encourager les coureurs, et nous nous attendons &agrave; ce 
qu'il
 y ait deux fois plus de monde lorsque Cardiff va accueillir les 
meilleurs coureurs au monde, a-t-il d&eacute;clar&eacute;, apr&egrave;s que l'&eacute;v&eacute;nement de ce
 dimanche ait attir&eacute; un total estim&eacute; &agrave; quelque 50 000 personnes."Cet
 &eacute;v&eacute;nement n'a pas cess&eacute; de cro&icirc;tre, et je voudrais remercier tous les 
organisateurs, sponsors et volontaires pour toutes ces heures qu'ils 
consacrent
 &agrave; s'assurer que ce rendez-vous ne soit pas seulement la plus importante
 manifestation de masse organis&eacute;e au Pays de Galles, mais &eacute;galement une 
des toutes premi&egrave;res des courses sur route britanniques.
Apr&egrave;s
 le succ&egrave;s de cette &eacute;preuve test dimanche, l'optimisme est de mise par 
rapport aux Championnats du monde de Semi-marathon IAAF/Cardiff 
University
 Cardiff 2016&nbsp;: on peut s&rsquo;attendre &agrave; un &eacute;v&eacute;nement qui restera grav&eacute; dans
 les m&eacute;moires et un point focal majeur du calendrier mondial de 
l'athl&eacute;tisme 2016.
Phil Minshull et les organisateurs pour l'IAAF

The organisers of the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 were put through their paces at the Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon on Sunday (4), which was run over the same course that will be used for the global championships on 26 March next year.

IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff 2016 organisers put through their paces

Ireland’s 2011 and 2012 SPAR European Cross Country Championships gold medallist Fionnuala Britton starts as firm favourite for the 36th running of the&nbsp;Antrim International Cross Country&nbsp;- an IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting&nbsp; - in Northern Ireland on Saturday (12).In 2012, Britton fought a close dual over 5.6km in appalling weather conditions with Great Britain’s Gemma Steel before opening a decisive gap midway through the third and final 1.8km main lap. This year, event organisers Athletics NI have attempting to make life a little bit easier for the runners by re-modelling the circuit in favour of some firmer terrain after some treacherous conditions underfoot 12 months ago but Britton's current form is&nbsp;such, following an emphatic win in at the IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting in Edinburgh last Saturday, that&nbsp;neither the course nor the opposition is expected to deny her a successful defence of her title.&nbsp; Antrim marks a vital stage in Britton’s bid to place highly at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on 24 March, and certainly&nbsp;finish much&nbsp;better than her 16th place at the last edition of the event two years ago.Britton's main threat at Greenmount is likely to come from Great Britain’s European under 23 cross country champion&nbsp;Jess Coulson, who has had several duels with the Irishwoman in the last two months.Also in contention for a place on the podium will be Ireland’s former Dublin Marathon winner Linda Byrne, whose eighth place at the European Cross Country Championships helped Ireland to a unexpected team victory in the Hungarian town of Szentendre on 9 December. Others who could do well in Greenmount include the British trio of Louise Damen, Olympic Games marathon runner Freya Murray-Ross, and former IAAF World Junior Championships1500m winner Steph Twell.Kenya is represented by Eunice Kales and Magdalene Masai.The men's 10.8 k event is likely to result in&nbsp;another Kenyan win, following on from three successive victories for Mike Kigen. &nbsp;Last year's&nbsp;third place finisher Bernard Rotich is in good form and the 2010 Commonwealth Games 10000m bronze medallist Joseph Birech, who finished sixth in Antrim last year, is also in the field along with their compatriots David Bett with Julius Maisei.The British men’s challenge includes Frank Tickner, who had an excellent run to finish fifth in Antrim last year. However, he will do well to defeat Andy Vernon who is clearly in form after finishing second in Edinburgh last Saturday.Phil Minshull and organisers for the IAAF

Ireland's Britton the favourite to retain her title in Antrim

On a bitterly cold day just outside the Hungarian capital, when the thermometer never went above zero, there, superb performances in the senior races at the 19th SPAR European Cross Country Championships saw Italy&rsquo;s Andrea Lalli and Ireland&rsquo;s Fionnuala Britton triumph.
In the case of Lalli, he became the first runner to win the hat-trick of striking gold at junior, under-23 and then senior level, while Britton achieved the unique accolade of becoming the first woman to successfully defend her title.
Held at the Hungarian Open Air Museum in the quaint town of Szentendre 20km north of Budapest, a blanket of snow made the setting even more picturesque on an often-tricky course that also saw athletes run past a windmill and through an old barn.
Lalli loves the cold
France&rsquo;s Hassan Chahdi, the 2010 under-23 winner and fourth as a senior, was the first to show his cards in the senior men&rsquo;s 9880m race, and built up a notable lead 2km into the race with Lalli just a couple of strides behind.
Approaching the half-way mark, Chahdi was swallowed up by the chasing pack as Lalli, the winner of the junior title in 2006 and under-23 title two years later, went into the final lap with a 20-second lead over the men behind him, which contained seven runners all in contention for the minor medals.
On the last lap Lalli looked behind on several occasions, almost in shock that he was leading by such a huge margin. Easing down in the final 250m while waving to the crowd, and picking up an Italian flag around 120m before the line, the Italian was determined to enjoy his moment of glory before he stopped the clock in 30:01.
&ldquo;I was sure that today was going to be be my day," said Lalli. "I felt being very strong. It&rsquo;s strange but I&rsquo;m not tired.&rdquo;
After looking as though he was struggling at the bell, Chahdi found a second wind in the closing stages to take silver while Lalli&rsquo;s teammate Daniele Meucci finished well for the bronze medal.
Ukraine&rsquo;s nine-time champion Sergey Lebid, now 37, finished a solid 15th and continued his streak of competing in every edition of the Championships while Belgium&rsquo;s 2011 winner Atewlaw Bekele is still not back at his best after a spring and summer plagued by injury and illness, trailing home 57th.
With three athletes in the top 10, Spain took the team title ahead of Britain with Italy securing the bronze.
Britton the best again
A modest pace during the early kilometres meant that by the halfway point in the women's 8050m race, a large group was still bunched together. Defending champion Britton found herself a reluctant leader with Portugal&rsquo;s Ana Dulce Felix right on her shoulder. Italy&rsquo;s Nadia Ejjafini, who narrowly missed out on a medal last year, was also right behind Britton, along with France&rsquo;s Sophie Duarte and The Netherlands&rsquo; Adrienne Herzog.
Not long after completing the fourth lap, Britton started to push the pace and helped a group of seven athletes break away before the Irish runner surged again.
Felix, the 2012 European 10,000m champion, suddenly dropped back and instead it was Belgium&rsquo;s Almensh Belete who doggedly tracked the leader.
Less than a kilometre before the finish, Britton dug in deep and Belete began to fall back as Felix recovered her composure and got back into contention, but Britton kept her focus and maintained her lead to the line, winning in 27:45.
&ldquo;I can hardly believe that I have managed to defend my title," reflected the delighted Britton. "It was really tough at the end, I can&rsquo;t put into words how it feels to hear all the Irish supporters screaming: &lsquo;she&rsquo;s coming, she&rsquo;s coming!&rsquo;&rdquo;
Two seconds adrift, Felix also repeated her position from last year, while Herzog held on for the bronze medal ahead of Belete.
With three athletes in the top 20, Ireland found themselves the surprise winners of the team title for the first time, one point ahead of France as 2011 winners Great Britain took the bronze medals.
Gold at last for Terzic
The first contest of the day, the junior women&rsquo;s 4000m race, began to unfold at the half-way stage, when Great Britain&rsquo;s defending champion Emelia Gorecka moved into the lead and began to push the pace.
Gorecka was tracked closely by Serbia&rsquo;s world junior 1500m silver medallist Amela Terzic, who had taken silver and bronze respectively in 2010 and 2011, but with 800m remaining Terzic suddenly seemed left for dead
However, just before the last bend 200m before the line, Terzic found an extra burst of energy and kicked hard passing Gorecka before winning comfortably in 13:29, eight seconds ahead of flagging Gorecka, who is still young enough to bid to regain her title in 2013.
For the eighth time in the past nine years, Great Britain took the junior women&rsquo;s team title.
Two-thirds of the way into the junior men&rsquo;s 6025m race, Poland&rsquo;s Szymon Kulka pressed ahead with only Bulgaria&rsquo;s Mitko Tsenov for company before the latter couldn&rsquo;t stay with the pace in the final kilometre.
Kulka&rsquo;s lead grew and grew and he crossed the line victorious in 18:43, four seconds ahead of Tsenov who gained Bulgaria&rsquo;s first ever medal at the European Cross Country Championships.
The team contest was a close one as Russia took gold with 50 points, one point ahead of France with 2011 winners Great Britain finishing third this time with 54 points.
Ingebrigtsen and Coulson run away with under-23 titles
In the men&rsquo;s under 23 8025m race it initially looked as though Spain&rsquo;s Abdelaziz Merzoughi was on for a gun-to-tape victory after opening up a huge lead of around 60 metres just a few minutes into the race, but the 2010 junior winner began to struggle just before half way.
US-based Belgian Soufiane Bouchikhi then took up the running, gradually pulling away from the rest of the field.
At the bell before the final 1470m lap, Bouchikhi had a nine-second lead but then Norway&rsquo;s European 1500m champion Henrik Ingebrigtsen set out in pursuit of the audacious Eastern Kentucky University student and moved ahead of him just before they passed through the barn 700m from the line.
Ingebrigtsen then showed impressive and unexpected endurance as he powered his way to the finish, eventually crossing the line 10 seconds ahead of Bouchikhi. Britain&rsquo;s James Wilkinson, second 12 months ago, came through to take bronze.
Although they did not have any individual medallists on this occasion, France took the team honours ahead of Spain while Britain finished one point ahead of Norway for the remaining two places on the podium.
In the women&rsquo;s under-23 race over 6025m, Britain&rsquo;s Jess Coulson ran away with the title and fulfilled her role as pre-championships favourite after a couple of outstanding performances in November.
Coulson moved into the lead just after the halfway point, initially tracked closely by Russia&rsquo;s 2010 junior silver medallist Gulshat Fazlitdinova and France&rsquo;s Clemence Calvin before she started to forge ahead and leave the rest trailing in her wake.
With 2km to go, Coulson&rsquo;s lead had grown to nine seconds, which she extended to 15 seconds as she passed through the barn for the last time.
An outstanding last lap by Russia&rsquo;s Lyudmila Lebedeva saw her move through to second but she had to settle for crossing the line nine seconds adrift of Coulson, who was a clear winner in 20:40. In a photo-finish Clavin got the verdict for the bronze medal but was given the same time of 20:52 as Fazlitdinova.
With the best score of the day, tallying just 27 points after getting all four of their scorers in the top 13, team honours went to Russia ahead of Great Britain, who were defeated for the first time in this contest since the category was inaugurated in 2006, while Germany were third.
Phil Minshull and Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

Lalli and Britton victorious at European Cross

7 December 2012 – Budapest, Hungary – Hungary stages the SPAR European Cross Country Championships for the first time with the venue being the town of Szentendre, which is on the banks of the Danube just north of the Hungarian capital. Belgium’s Atelaw Bekele and Ireland’s Fionnuala Britton will both return to defend the titles they won in 2011 on Sunday (9).In addition, Great Britain’s 2011 junior girl’s winner Emelia Gorecka does not turn 19 until next month and the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships 3000m bronze medallist is eligible to try for a second gold medal.Senior menBekele is still striving to recover his best shape after suffering illness and injury earlier in the year - an Achilles problem and then a virus caught while training in his native Ethiopia - which caused him to miss the entire summer. He showed a glimmer of the form he showed 12 months ago when he finished fifth on home soil at the recent top-quality European Athletics Cross Country Permit Meeting in Roeselaere but the mantle of pre-race favourite over 10km this time around falls on the shoulders of Ayad Lamdessem, the silver medallist in 2010 and 2011.Lamdassem showed he is coming good at the right time when he finished second, and was the leading European, at the Cross de Alcobendas in Spain on 25 November.Another man bidding to get on the podium again will be Portugal’s Jose Rocha, last year’s bronze medallist, who battled through tough conditions to win the Portuguese selection race at the Cross de Torres Vedras last month.Two other names to mention are Turkey’s 2012 European 10,000m champion Polat Kemboi Arikan, although he has little Cross Country form, and Ukraine’s evergreen nine-time champion Serhiy Lebid, who has competed in every edition of the Championships since they started in 1994.Senior womenBritton ran away with the 8km race from the halfway point last year but it will be a surprise if she wins with the same ease this time year, despite her recent performance when finishing third, and the leading European, at the European Athletics Cross Country Permit Meeting in Leffrinckoucke, France on 25 November.Massed against her will be several good Portuguese runners including last year’s silver medallist Ana Dulce Felix, the 10,000m winner at the European Athletics Championships last summer.Felix has won two high quality Cross Country races in recent weeks, including a win in the Dutch city of Tilburg by five seconds from The Netherlands’ hope, Adrienne Herzog, who was fifth in 2011.Spain’s Diana Martin has also been in splendid form in races at home and the steeplechaser looks set to improve significantly on her previous best position of 14th from two years ago. Under 23 menThere’s no doubting the track pedigree of Azerbaijan's Hayle Ibrahimov as he has won European senior medals both indoors and out, and clocked 13:11.34 over 5000m in the summer but he has never ran in an international Cross Country race and so there must be a big question mark over how he will fare. If Ibrahimov falters in the mud, then Great Britain’s 2011 silver medallist James Wilkinson could step up a place on the podium.Spain’s Abdelaziz Merzoughi has tasted victory in this event in the past, having won the 2010 junior title, and shows all the signs in his Spanish outings over the last month of being to the fore again.Belarus's Siarhei Platonau could also be a factor, having finished fifth last year and improved significantly on the track this summer and it would also be unwise to discount Denmark’s Abdi Ulad after his impressive effort to take the Nordic senior title last month.Another interesting Scandinavian runner on the start line of this race will be the 2012 European 1500m champion Henrik Ingebrigtsen who was 15th in Velenje.Under 23 womenThis has all the signs of being a very high quality race but the marginal favourite seems to be Great Britain’s Jess Coulson.Still only 22, Coulson finishing a fine third at the IAAF Cross Country Permit Meeting, Cross Internacional de Atapuerca, in Spain on 11 November, when she came home a place in front of the European senior champion Fionnuala Britton. She followed this up with a win over other experienced runners at the UK trials in Liverpool two weeks later.Germany’s Corinna Harrer took the bronze medal in this category 12 months ago and clearly could make the top three again. Although she is primarily a 1500m runner, she reduced her personal bests over a variety of distances by big margins during the summer.However, on a heavy course in Darmstadt last month, she was beaten into second place by Switzerland’s Fabienne Schlumpf, who could bid for her country’s first medal since 2000.Junior men and womenThis 6km junior men’s race could be wide open race as only one man from last year’s top 10, Great Britain’s Kieran Clements (who was ninth), will be on the start line this time around.Norway’s Filip Ingebrigtsen, younger brother of Henrik, and Croatia’s Dino Bosnjak were the leading European finishers in the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships 1500m and 5000m respectively and could transform their track talent to a different surface.It is difficult to look beyond Gorecka for the gold medal in the junior women’s 4km race but if anyone if to beat her then it is likely to be Serbia’s Amela Terzic, second and third in 2010 and 2011 respectively.Great Britain have also named Jessica Judd, the 2012 World Junior Championships 800m silver medallist in their squad.A record 539 athletes and 35 countries have entered this year’s Championships.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Bekele, Britton and Gorecka back to defend European titles