McCormack enjoys silver lining
EUROPEAN crosscountry champion Yasemin Can took the honours in the Great Edinburgh Cross Country yesterday but a last lap surge saw Fionnuala McCormack pass Meryem Akda and split the two athletes representing Turkey to finish second place.
‘It was tough, but good. I definitely enjoyed myself more than I enjoyed the Euros, partly because of the course and partly because I was feeling better,’ McCormack said.
‘I love it here – I have ran here so often and out on the course it’s like home support there were so many people cheering. It’s such a great atmosphere and a great race to be part of.’
Kenyan-born pair Can and Akda, both of whom have drawn fire from McCormack in the recent past, controversially run for Turkey despite spending little time in the country. She was run out of a medal at last year’s European Championships 10,000m, won by Can and she finished fifth in the Euros last month.
McCormack, 32, has a fine record in Edinburgh, this being her sixth successive top-two finish. She also won the race twice and finished, on this occasion, in a time of 20:57, 21 seconds behind the winner.
The men’s 8,000m race was won by the USA’s Leonard Korir, another Kenyan-born athlete, from Britain’s Callum Hawkins following a thrilling sprint finish in a time of 24:03.
Double-double Olympic 5,000-10,000m champion Mo Farah finished a disappointing seventh place, 46 seconds behind the winner.
Ireland finished fourth in the 4x1km mixed relay won by Britain. The team was made up of John Travers, Ciara Mageean, Kieran Kelly and Kerry O’Flaherty.