Britton excels in Budapest

Fionnuala Britton successfully retained her European Cross Country title with a brilliant display in Budapest on Sunday.

On a momentous day for Irish athletics Britton led the senior women who included Linda Byrne, Ava Hutchinson, Lizzie Lee, Sarah Louise Treacy and Sarah McCormack to team gold

Britton has been in excellent form this autumn and  won with a  two second victory over Dulce Felix of Portugal.

The diminutive Wicklow women was to the fore of the field from the outset and pushed the pace ferociously throughout. With two kilometres to go the race was between Britton and Belgium’s Almensch Belete.

However both Felix and Adrianne Herzog of the Netherlands were starting to make an impression on the leaders.

Britton lifted her game once again and propelled herself over the finishing line to take the title in a time of 27:45, ahead of second place Felix 27:47 with Herzog rounding out the top three in third.

Linda Byrne was having the race of her life as she stormed to an eight place finish and was followed home by Ava Hutchinson in 20th, Lizzie Lee in 23rd, Sarah McCormack in 36th and Sarah Louise Treacy in 42nd.

The team combined brilliantly to claim the team gold medals with a score of 52 points.