ATHLETICS:THE 17-YEAR wait was worth every second of it after the thrilling manner in which Fionnuala Britton grabbed the gold medal for Ireland in the European women's cross-country championship in Velenje, Slovenia, yesterday.

But if Catherina McKiernan’s win in the inaugural championship in 1994 was by a very narrow margin of no more than a yard, Britton showed her dominance over her opponents yesterday by sprinting clear to register her long overdue success by a full seven seconds in a fast 25:55.

“This is the victory that I wanted and I suppose after the disappointment of last year this feels very sweet” said the 27-year-old the Wicklow star after getting the better of last year’s bronze medallist, Dulce Felix of Portugal and British hope, Gemma Steel.

“The gold medal is what everyone wants. I knew what my race plan was and it worked out like a dream for me. We thought it would be colder here, but it was the same as it has been in Ireland. I liked the short laps. They keep you mentally sharp and it’s nice for supporters too.”

Britton answered every call, more especially when Steel and Felix came after her, determined to spoil the Irish party, but this brave Irish runner refused to be intimidated or put off her stride, responding with a fresh motivation, knowing that she had the title within her grasp by giving that bit more and more with every stride to win on her own. The joy on her face was there for all to see as she crossed the line and into the waiting arms of Irish manager, Ann Keenan-Buckley.

This was the ninth medal won by Irish runners in these championships, but none were more deserving or celebrated with such a sense of total satisfaction in light of Britton’s experiences from the past. In successive years she was the second European finisher in the World Championships and yet could not win a European medal, that is until yesterday.

As a young girl she joined the local athletics club in Kilcoole, always prepared to do whatever work put in front of her by club coaches, including Pat Diskin, the man who shaped her career over a number of years and took her to a silver medal in the Under-23 event five years ago.

Then, when she felt she needed to move on, she linked up with Chris Jones, the Welsh man who is the director of high performance with Triathlon Ireland.

Jones watched yesterday’s race from a triathlon training camp in Spain and he had reason to feel very proud of what his pupil had just achieved.

“We had a plan and she executed it to the inch,” said Jones. “She just ran that first 600 metres in a relaxed mode and then eased into the lead, but what was most impressive about her performance was the way she maintained her concentration and never once during the whole race did she look behind her to see where the others might be.

“She eventually broke their hearts and this win will mean so much to her because she worked so hard and was so determined to make up for last year when she was devastated by missing a medal.”

There was also an excellent performance in the championships from Joe Sweeney in finishing fifth in the men’s event.

Sweeney moved into the silver medal position at halfway, before losing some ground, But he finished strongly and was only two seconds away from the bronze medallist, leading the Irish team to a creditable sixth place.