Britton's silver rolls back the clouds

ATHLETICS/European Cross Country Championships:Twelve years is a long enough wait for an Irish woman to medal at the European Cross Country Championships, and we couldn't have waited for a more fitting athlete than Fionnuala Britton. Her second-place finish in the under-23 race in San Giorgio su Legnano in Italy yesterday was in many ways reminiscent of a certain Catherina McKiernan, who won the inaugural senior race back in 1994.

Ireland have had two fourth-place finishes in the past, and a team silver, but Britton's performance here - making her the first Irish women's individual medallist since McKiernan - was very much a run for the future. At 22, the Wicklow athlete is fast delivering on the potential displayed as a junior, and it was the way she powered her impossibly light frame over the twisting, undulating course than drew the obvious comparisons with McKiernan.

And like McKiernan in the past, Britton's superb run was the only real highlight on a day when the rest of the Irish medal hopes either faded in the cold Italian countryside or else failed to get going in the first place. Mark Christie's hopes of securing a medal in the men's under-23 race simply ran out of steam, while Martin Fagan - who carried the hopes in the senior men's event - didn't race at all after an overnight illness that struck several members of the Irish team.

There was no disappointment whatsoever with Britton's run. She was beaten by the Turkish athlete Binnaz Uslu, and there was certainly no shame in that. The junior champion from two years ago, Uslu was the pre-race favourite and once she got going it was clear to see why.

Built like a tank and with all the destructive force that comes with it, Uslu's bulk and power looked way out of place on a cross-country course, and yet proved brilliantly effective. She dominated from early on, and simply wore down a brave and determined Britton in the last mile, winning the 6km race in 18 minutes, 47 seconds.

Britton finished nine seconds back, always safe in the silver-medal position - with another Turkish runner Turkan Erismis coming through to take the bronze a further 13 seconds back.

Despite torrential rain in the days before, the course was surprisingly dry and fast in most places, and that clearly suited Uslu more than Britton, who is the true cross-country specialist.

When eventually the race filtered out to just the two of them the contrast couldn't have been any starker - the dark-skinned, muscular Uslu against the pale, fragile-looking Britton. But there wasn't a whole lot of difference in the end, and had the race gone on for another lap the places could well have been reversed.

Later, there was yet further comparison drawn with McKiernan in that Britton is equally shy in any moment of success - and, one suspects, would be happier heading straight home for a hot dinner before promptly going to bed.

"I am very happy," she said. "A medal was something I really hoped for. I did not expect to catch Uslu. She got away, and maybe the course was a little too dry for me. But it was my last race at under-23 level and I wanted to run as well as I could."

The under-23 races were introduced this year as a bridge between junior and senior level, and Britton's performance here made it clear she could impact on the senior race in the years ahead. In her final year of a sports science degree at Dublin City University she is also further evidence of the success of the home-based model, where athletes can perhaps develop more steadily than in the US.

Unfortunately the rest of the Irish in that race couldn't impact enough on the leading finishers to challenge for a team medal, with Orla Drumm (20th), Linda Byrne (35th) and Niamh Devlin (52nd) combining to leave Ireland in eighth place.

The early stages of the men's under-23 race over 8km promised much though when, as he predicted, Christie put himself in contention for a medal. However, this was a far more tactical race, and while Christie was nicely positioned in seventh place after the first lap, things only really got moving in the last 3km.

In the end Hungary's Barnabás Bene proved again why he's the best young prospect in Europe, following his two junior victories by finishing strongest in 23:14. Only after Bene and Russia's Rybakov twins of Anatoliy and Yevgeniy pressed the pace at the bell was the field fully stretched, and as Christie started to struggle, it was Joe Sweeney that surprised many with his strength to produce the top Irish placing in 13th, just 19 seconds behind the winner.

Christie faded back to 19th place and his disappointment was visible for all. But at 21, he's still young enough for the grade next year. There was further disappointment though when it was announced that Ireland had just missed a team medal, taking fourth behind Russia, Italy and Poland after Andrew Ledwith took 24th and Michael Clohisey 46th.

Both senior races proved largely forgettable from an Irish perspective, with Mark Kenneally best placed amongst the men in 31st after Fagan's unfortunate withdrawal. Britain's Mo Farah was a class apart there, biding his time before delivering a huge kick, with six-time former winner Sergiy Lebid of the Ukraine - who never looked good - fading to 12th on the last lap.

Ukraine did provide the senior women's winner in Tatyana Holovchenko, with Mary Cullen managing 14th place, while Rosemary Ryan was another withdrawal through illness.

Finally, there were two very encouraging Irish junior performances with Brendan O'Neill taking 19th on the men's side and Roseanne Galligan 12th in the junior women.