From Inside the Games
The Ingebrigtsen brothers’ ambition of successfully defending the men’s under-20 and senior titles at the European Athletics Cross Country Championships in Lisbon today were only half fulfilled.
The 19-year-old Jakob, the European 1500 and 5,000-metres champion, duly earned his fourth gold medal in succession as he finished in 18min 20sec, comfortably clear of his nearest opposition in the junior race.
But his 26-year-old brother Filip, winner of the European Championships 1500m title in 2016, could only finish 12th in a men’s senior race won for the first time since the Championships began in 1994 by a Swede – Eritrean-born Robel Fsiha, who clocked 29:59.
Turkey’s Yasemin Can – who has missed most of the season with injury – also won a fourth consecutive title, in the women’s senior race, where she finished in 26:52.
Turkey’s Aras Kaya, senior men’s race winner in 2016 and bronze medallist last year, took silver in 30:10, and bronze went Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa in 30.21.
Swiss road running specialist Julien Wanders missed the podium by one place, clocking 30:25, one place ahead of Britain’s Andrew Butchart, who finished three seconds later.
Last year’s silver medallist, Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli, was eighth in 30:46.
