British triathlon star Hugo Milner went into Sunday’s European Cross Country Championships in Turkey dreaming of a famous victory over Norwegian great Jakob Ingebrigtsen, but it was not to be.
Milner, who has struck fear into his swim/bike/run rivals with his incredible prowess on the final leg, had no answer to the mighty Scandinavian track superstar as Jakob registered a comfortable victory over a big field in Antalya.
Hugo, fourth in this event in Brussels last year, gave it his best shot as he cut out the pace for well over half of the 7.8km course – but all the time Ingebrigtsen was sitting comfortably behind him. And as Milner fell away in the latter stages Jakob poured on the power to coast to a highly impressive success.
Milner sets off in front
Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa and Milner set off in front from the gun with Ingebrigtsen just sitting behind them, and as the field started to settle down Jakob moved past Crippa to sit comfortably just off the pace set by the British star.
Milner tried to put in little surges at different points on the course, testing his rivals, but Ingebrigtsen was more than equal to all of them and was looking extremely comfortable. Worryingly so for Hugo.
Ingebrigtsen took over at the front on the penultimate lap of five, followed by Isaac Kimeli of Belgium and Yann Schrub of France, Crippa of Italy and Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Spain.
Crippa took over at the front at the start of the final lap, but Ingebrigtsen covered the move easily and regained the advantage before quickly sprinting into what looked like a winning lead. Milner and British team-mate Rory Leonard meanwhile were now falling back and out of podium contention.
Ingebrigtsen produces decisive kick
Ingebrigtsen quickly put daylight between himself and the rest of the field, and sauntered home for the most comfortable of victories. He had never looked in any trouble at any stage as he came home in a time of 22:16 – eight seconds ahead of Italy’s Crippa. Spain’s Ndikumwenayo would claim bronze, just pipping Belgium’s Kimeli.
Ingebrigtsen’s latest win just adds to an astonishing CV – as well as his Olympic titles from Tokyo (1,500m) and Paris (5,000m) he’s also a multiple world and European champion and holds multiple world records.
As for the British stars, Leonard was the best of them as he finished 9th in a time of 22:45, while Milner just missed out on the top 10 as he came home 11th in a time of 22:48.
European Cross Country Championships Results
Sunday December 8, 2024 – Antalya, Turkey
Senior Men – 7834m
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) – 22:16
- Yemaneberhan Crippa (ITA) – 22:24
- Thierry Ndikumwenayo (ESP) – 22:31
- Isaac Kimeli (BEL) – 22:33
- Andreas Almgren (SWE) – 22:34
- Yann Schrub (FRA) – 22:35
- Nassim Hassaous (ESP) – 22:44
- Abdessamad Oukhelfen (ESP) – 22:45
- Rory Leonard (GBR) – 22:45
- Adel Mechaal (ESP) – 22:47
