Almensch Belete
Almensch Belete cruised to victory on home soil at the European Athletics Cross Country Permit race in the Belgian town of Roeselare on Sunday.
Belete, 23, pulled away midway through the 6.25km race to cross the line in 21:26 ahead of Kenya’s Cynthia Kosgei and the fellow country woman Veerle Dejaeghere.
Belete, who recently came back from Ethiopia after 3 weeks of training, is confident of a good showing at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Budapest on 9 December.
“I hope to be in the top 3 in Budapest,” she said after the race. “I’m feeling fine, tough the weather conditions during the training period were not so good. I have huge ambitions.”
Kenya’s Patrick Ereng won the men’s 9.41km race in 28.33 overcoming a stiff challenge from Belgian national champion Bashir Abdi who finished the race in 28.34.
Reigning European cross country champion Atelaw Bekele started off brilliantly building a good gap on the rest but gradually faded to fifth place in 28.59.
European 10,000m silver medallist Daniele Meucci of Italy finished sixth in 29.10.
Despite a good showing, Abdi remained modest about his chances in Budapest next month.
“Though I’m happy with the result, the European Cross Country Championships are always a lottery. No one can say who will win. I can only hope that I’ll be ready for the challenge,” said Abdi.
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