A mud splattered Sergiy Lebid wins his sixth European Cross Country title - Tilburg 2005 (© Hasse Sjögren)
There is one month to go to the 13th edition of the European Cross Country Championships which will take place 10 December 2006 in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy.
Thirty-two days before the championships a press conference was held yesterday (8) in Milan to launch the event. The continental championships will mark an important point in the history of the famous “Campaccio” cross country race, one of the most prestigious xc meets in the Italian athletics calendar. This year the “Campaccio” celebrates its 50th anniversary.
28 nations
A record number of 28 European countries will contest the individual and team titles in six categories: senior, junior, and for the first time in the championship’s history Under-23 for both men and women.
It will be the second time that Italy has hosted the European Cross Country Championships. In 1998 the northern Italian town of Ferrara held a successful edition at which the Italian men’s team claimed the title, the only gold won by the “azzurri” in the history of the championships.
Proud history
San Giorgio su Legnano has a long and proud tradition in hosting cross country events. The popular “Campaccio” cross country race has attracted a “who’s who” of world cross country and distance running over the decades:
Glorious men's names like Francesco Panetta (five times winner in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1993), Gelindo Bordin (1984 and 1988) and more recently Haile Gebrselassie (1994), Paul Tergat (1997), Kenenisa Bekele (2002 and 2004) and Sergiy Lebid (2003 and 2005) are just some of the most prominent names who have made the history of the Campaccio.
Some of the prominent women’s names to remember are Paola Pigni (winner of the inaugural women race in 1970), Gabriella Dorio (1976), Ingrid Kristiansen (1981), Grete Waitz (1982) and Paula Radcliffe (2002).
Lebid again?
This year Lebid is expected to defend the continental crown which he has already won six times (1998, and from 2001 to 2005). The Ukrainian star lives and trains for part of the year in Italy, and San Giorgio su Legnano is only about 20 km from where he is based.
Italian middle distance great Paola Pigni, Olympic bronze medal in the 1500 metres in Munich 1972 and three-time World Cross Country champion (1973, 1974 and 1975), summed up what cross country and the Campaccio meant in her career:
“Cross country not only prepared me for the track season but it has always played an important role in my career. Cross country racing gave me a sense of freedom. Running the Campacio was a unique experience which made me discover the relationship between us and nature”, said Pigni at yesterday’s press conference.
Special publication
To mark the special anniversary of the Campaccio, a fascinating book written by Italian athletics journalist Ennio Buongiovanni was presented during the press conference. The book looks into the history of the local organizing club Unione Sportiva Sangiorgese and the Campaccio itself. The book is a collection of stories, anecdotes and interviews with some of the most prominent names of Italian and international athletics who have contributed to the history of the Campaccio.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
