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Dominguez and Lebid win European Athlete of the Month for December

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Dominguez and Lebid win European Athlete of the Month for December

SPAR European Cross Country Championsï¿½, Spainï¿½s Marta Dominguez and Sergey Lebid from the Ukraine, have been voted the European Athletes of the Month for December after their impressive achievements in winning the senior titles in Toro, Spain.

SPAR European Cross Country Championsï¿½, Spainï¿½s Marta Dominguez and Sergey Lebid from the Ukraine, have been voted the European Athletes of the Month for December 2007 after their impressive achievements in winning the senior titles in Toro, Spain.

Competing in the SPAR European Cross Country Championships for the first time, Dominguez thrilled the thousands of Spanish spectators who lined the course in Toro, to give the host nation their first individual champion in any category in the history of the event.

The double European 5,000m Champion had the added satisfaction of leading the Spanish team to victory, an achievement worthy of making the front pages of most of the Spanish daily newspapers the following day.

The 32-year-old, who missed the 2007 track season through injury, now has her sights firmly set on the Beijing Olympics and with her devastating sprint finish, is sure to be close to the front when the medals are being decided.

Lebid, on the other hand has competed in every edition of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships since the inception of the event in 1994, and his win in Toro brought his record total of victories to an amazing seven titles.

The Ukrainian, who holds the National record for 3,000m and 5,000m on the track, as well as a host of distances on the road, has an obvious preference for events over the country and has already made provisional plans to defend his title and attempt an unprecedented eighth title when the event takes place in Oostende, Belgium in December 2008.

The 32-year-old has always spoken of a goal to do a marathon, although it remains to be seen when his debut attempt at this distance will occur.

The runners-up in the womenï¿½s competition were Britainï¿½s new distance running star Steph Twell, who successfully defended her junior title in Toro and Romaniaï¿½s Ancuta Bobocel, who won the U23 title at the same venue while on the menï¿½s side Portugalï¿½s Olympic 1,500m medallist Rui Silva took the runners up spot ahead of Turkish athlete Kemal Koyuncu, who won the U23 title in Toro.

The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007 and is designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in Europe. European Athletics will name a male and female winner each month and feature the athlete on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes by the public, the media and a panel of European Athletics experts with each counting for 33.3% of the final vote. The winners will automatically be short listed for the European Athlete of the Year Award. There was no award in August 2007 due to the European Athlete of the Year poll. source EA

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