Britton's European Gold

Fionnuala Britton, coached by Chris Jones won gold at the 18th European Cross Country Championships in Velenje, Slovenia on Sunday.

The Kilcoole AC athlete ran a determined race from the front, shaking off the attention of all her challengers before pulling clear with a couple of laps to go.

Maintaining a good rhythm throughout, she raced to victory over Dulce Felix of Portugal, with Gemma Steel of Britain back in third.

The victory was Ireland’s second gold medal in the race after Catherina McKiernan’s success at the inaugural championships back in 1994.

In last year’s race, Britton faded out of the medals to finish in a frustrating fourth place.

Speaking after the race, she said,

“I can hardly believe it. That was the plan (to make the running) from that start and I knew I had to it. After last year, this is the only medal I wanted. In a ways, it’s been on my mind for the whole year.”