ATHLETICS:FIONNUALA BRITTON finally earned herself a place at the top table of distance running when she crushed her opponents to win the European Cross Country Championship title in commanding style over the twisting course in Velenje, Slovenia yesterday.
It was a victory achieved by courage, bravery and a determination that was nurtured ever since she experienced deep disappointment at finishing fourth last year. She has now finally earned herself the recognition which her undoubted talents have always promised since she first came on the scene as an emerging junior a decade ago.
Britton’s victory was one of the finest and bravest ever seen by an Irish runner as she won the title the hard way by putting herself on the line and cutting out the pace from the front. It was a tactic which reaped her the cherished gold medal that she had worked so hard to achieve with Spartan training sessions which broke every ounce of resistance her many opponents could muster under the guidance of her coach, Chris Jones.
It was quite a sight to see Britton come into the finishing straight with a lead that was big enough to virtually guarantee her the victory and then display the emotion and sheer delight of reaching her cherished goal.
“This is what I wanted ultimately,” said Britton after crossing the line, a broad grin right across her face. “The gold medal is what everyone wants,” she added as she was crowded out by well wishers, including members of her family.
“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.”
It was a thrilling race, especially during the second half of the 8,170 metres, with Britain’s Gemma Steel threatening to spoil the Irish party when she chased down the Wicklow star with some snappy and determined running over the surprisingly fast circuit.
Then came that moment of truth at 5,500 metres when the challengers began to come from the back, with Steel looking strong. However, it was at this decisive point that we again saw the determination that has made Britton the runner that we have grown to admire and respect over the last three or four years.
When one might have expected Britton to wilt in the face of a double challenge from Steel and Dulche Felix from Portugal, the Wicklow woman found new reserves of strength and inspiration to move away again to win by a margin of seven seconds in a time of 25 minutes 55 seconds.
Felix came through to take the silver medal with Steele fading to bronze and the much-hyped Italian Nadia Ejjafini dropping to fourth, a full 18 seconds behind the new Irish hero.
However, Britton admitted that while her positive tactics paid rich dividends she felt a sense of concern when the challenges started to come at her in the closing stages. “The plan was to go hard from the start and I knew that was what I had to do,” said the 27-year-old DCU sports science honours graduate, who then began to wonder if she had adopted the right tactics when her opponents began to make their moves from the back.
“They began to hang on for so long that I started to panic but when I got away from the Italian, I said to myself, ‘now I’m safe’. But I found that the British girl was coming at me but then going into the last lap I heard my sister Una (who had earlier run in the women’s under-23 event) shout at me ‘you want it more than anyone else’ and I said to myself, yes I do. And all the way round the last lap I just convinced myself that no one was going to take this gold medal from me.
“I was not going to lead the whole thing and then for someone else come up and take it from me like last year. After last year I was just so disappointed. On that occasion I would have been very happy to win a medal but this year the only medal I wanted was the gold. I knew if I came in second and got the silver I would still be disappointed.
“So this was the only place I had a chance of doing everything right and I’m so happy that my tactics were so right, and happy too that I executed them in the way that I had planned.
“This is a lovely feeling.
“I made up my mind that I was not going to have any regrets. I just wanted to run the race in a way that would suit and benefit me and give me the best chance of winning.
“I knew I was strong and I just hoped that no one else in there was stronger and that is how it all worked out.”
In truth this was a faultless performance from the quiet and unassuming runner who has made her name as a steeplechaser up to now, making the ’08 Olympics in Beijing and has already qualified for the event in London.
