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Brussels to host 2008 Euro Cross Country Champs

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Brussels to host 2008 Euro Cross Country Champs

European Athletics is pleased to announce that the 2008 SPAR European Cross Country Championships will take place in the Belgian capital of Brussels on Sunday December 14.

European Athletics is pleased to announce that the 2008 SPAR European Cross Country Championships will take place in the Belgian capital of Brussels on Sunday December 14.

The event was originally due to be held in the Belgian city of Oostende, however, a record rain fall which caused the course to be no longer suitable for an competition of this magnitude, meant that the event was forced to seek an alternative venue.

Evaluation site visits, led by European Athletics Vice President Jose Luis de Carlos, along with the Technical Delegate and staff from the head office in Lausanne, took place in Brussels last week and it has been decided that the event will now take place there.

HansjÃ¶rg Wirz, the President of European Athletics said:

â€œWe were all very sorry to have to change venue so late in the day from Oostende to Brussels but the conditions for the athletes and spectators are paramount to us so the decision was made in the best interests of everyone concerned.

â€œHowever, Belgium is a country with a very proud and rich history in Cross Country running as well as in organising major athletics events and I am very happy that Brussels has shown such a strong desire to keep the event in Belgium and I am sure it will be a great Championship.â€

Willy Pennoit, the general director of the Belgian Athletics Federation and the Local Organising Committee said:

â€œOf course we were disappointed having to cancel the organisation in Oostende. We are sure, that in the coming years, the venue and the course in Oostende will be suitable of a great SPAR European Cross Country Championship.â€

â€œBut we are again very happy and proud that the 2008 SPAR European Cross Country Championships will take place in the Park de Laeken in Brussels. The park has a very rich cross-country tradition, thanks to the yearly IAAF Cross-Country Permit â€œBrussels CrossCupâ€. Now we are hoping on some good performances from our Belgian athletes on the 14th of December!â€

The course will be in the Park de Laeken, a beautiful park located next to the world famous tourist landmark, the Atomium. This is the same venue as was used for the successful IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2004.

Since the International Cross Country Championships became the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1973, Belgium has hosted the event on four occasions, the most recent of which was in Brussels in 2004.

Along with this, the Belgium city of Charleroi hosted the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in 1996.

Belgian cities to have hosted the IAAF World Cross Country Championships:

1973 Waregem (BEL), 1991 Antwerp (BEL), 2001 Oostende (BEL), 2004 Brussels (BEL),

Venues for the SPAR European Cross Country Championships

1994-95 Alnwick (GBR), 1996 Charleroi (BEL), 1997 Oeiras (POR), 1998 Ferrara (ITA), 1999 Velenje (SLO), 2000 MalmÃ¶ (SWE), 2001 Thun (SUI), 2002 Medulin (CRO), 2003 Edinburgh (GBR), 2004 Heringsdorf (GER), 2005 Tilburg (NED), 2006 San Giorgio su Legnano (ITA), 2007 Toro (ESP), 2008 Brussels (BEL), 2009 Dublin (IRL)

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