Endurance key to Barcelona's long distance events
As the European Athletics Championships got underway on Tuesday in Barcelona, the long distance running events may feel the absence of the abundant non-European talents from around the world.
That said, there are several European prospects within the discipline.
Among them is Great Britain's Mohammed Farah, who claimed his first major title by winning the men's 10,000m final on Tuesday.
Farah finished first ahead of fellow Briton Chris Thompson, while Italy's Daniele Meucci came in third place.
On Wednesday, the women's 10,000m final will take place. Several Russian and Portuguese runners will contend for medals here.
Russian pair Lilya Shobukhova and Inga Abitova have been the dominant Europeans in the event this year.
Abitova is the reigning European champion, having won the event in 30:31.42 at the 2006 European championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Among the other contenders are Sara Moreira and Ines Monteiro in the Portugese squad. Moreira finished second in the 3000m race at the European Indoor Championships last year.
Recovery in Time for 5000m?
With one day of rest between the 10,000m final and the first round of the 5000m event for both men and women, several runners will be looking to recuperate well enough to compete in the shorter distance as well.
With a personal best of 14:23.75 from 2008, Shobukhova could pose a threat in the shorter event, but the Russian runner has decided to run the marathon instead of the 5000m.
Spanish runner Marta Dominguez, who won the 5000m event in the 2006 European Championships, will also miss the event this year, having chosen to compete in the 3000m steeplechase instead.
Left as favourite to clinch the 5000m gold medal, then, is Turkish runner Elvan Abeylegesse, who clocked 14:31.52 earlier this summer.
In the men's 5000m, reigning European champion Jesus Espana of Spain has been favoured to defend his title.
His season's best is 13:18.46, achieved at the Spanish championships where he outran countrymen Sergio Sanchez and Alemayehu Bezabeh.
Hoping to have recovered from his victorious 10,000m final race, Farah will be Espana's main competitor in the 5000m event. The British runner recently set his personal best in the shorter distance at 13:05.66.
Thompson, runner-up in the 10,000m final, will be looking to reach the podium in the 5000m event as well. He has a personal best just short of Farah's at 13:11.51.
The 5000m finals will be held on Saturday for men and on Sunday for women, four days after their respective 10,000m finals.
Marathons form grand finale
This year's marathons will take place on Saturday and Sunday for women and men respectively.
In the women's marathon, Russian runners look certain to dominate.
Shobukhova, winner of the London Marathon in April and the Chicago Marathon in September last year, has been the most successful in the lead-up to the tournament.
The Russian is world number one this year with a time of 2:22.00.
Shobukhova's teammates Irina Timofeeva, Tatyana Pushkareva and Silviya Skvortsova will also look to win medals in Saturday's marathon.
Their principal contenders will be Marisa Barros of Portugal, Tatya Filonyuk of the Ukraine and Sweden's Isabellah Andersson.
Starting off proceedings on the last day of the championships, the men's marathons is arguably the most difficult event to predict of the tournament.
Italy's Stefano Baldini, winner of the marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics, will be looking to defend his gold medal from the 2006 European championships in Gothenburg before retiring from athletics after the current season.
Spain's Chema Martinez, who finished eighth in the marathon of the 2009 World Championships, top among the European runners, is another notable contender in what will be a tightly contested race.
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