Iliass Aouani leads from the gun to win the European 10,000 m Cup in 27:50.05
The Italian won by 2.61 seconds in heat above 25 degrees; Poland's Elżbieta Glinka took the women's race in 31:45.36 and Italy's women won the team title.
Photograph: Koen Naert, Iliass Aouani, Futsum Zeinasellassie and Maru Teferi at mile 18 of the 2023 New York City Marathon, by Deans Charbal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe European 10,000 m Cup came to the Montagna sports centre in La Spezia on Saturday 23 May, the fourth time Italy has hosted it, and the home team went away with two golds and four medals. Iliass Aouani broke clear of the men's field in the first metres, sat behind the pacemaker Celestin Ndikumana until eight laps out and then had the track to himself. He won in 27:50.05, 2.61 seconds ahead of France's Simon Bédard, 27:52.66, with Valentin Gondouin third in 27:53.09. The time was five hundredths outside the qualifying standard for the European Championships, but a top-three finish here earns a place in the Birmingham 10,000 m in August anyway. Aouani said he wants Birmingham and he wants the medal. France took the men's team title, with Italy second and Spain third.
In the women's race Alessia Zarbo of France set the pace behind the pacemaker Francine Niyomukunzi and built a lead of about 60 metres. With five laps left Elżbieta Glinka of Poland caught her and pulled away to win in 31:45.36. Zarbo held second in 31:56.18 and Elisa Palmero gave Italy a bronze in 31:59.49, her best of the season, in heat she said was above 25 degrees. Italy's women won the team competition from Ireland and Spain.
A 10,000 m championship held on a warm Saturday on the Ligurian coast, with the whole continent's distance runners scoring for their countries. The Cup is the quietest title in European running and one of the best.
Sources: FIDAL.
