Ice queen Gorecka turns up the heat
WITH the heavens open and snow driving into her face, Emilia Gorecka admitted it took supreme willpower not to ignore the advice of her coach yesterday and bolt for the finish of the Great Edinburgh Cross Country event.
But the 20-year-old did not need to be asked twice when mentor Mick Woods finally gave her the go-ahead to put her foot down as she froze out her challengers in snow-bound Holyrood Park.
Victory over the 6km course was the perfect start to a 2015 which the Surrey-born prospect hopes will see her leap from junior hopeful to seasoned star.
And after disappointing herself at last month’s Euro Cross, Gorecka delivered the run of her life by bolting away from former winner Fionnuala Britton on the final lap to cross the line in 21 minutes and 26 seconds.
‘I never meant to hit the front,’ she revealed. ‘It was almost too dangerous to go out. But, with a lap to go, I found myself at the front — I wasn’t trying to go until a kilometre left, when my coach said it was time.
‘That’s when I pushed the pace. I would never have gone otherwise. I was under strict instructions to be sensible because I didn’t want to be the person who got caught. But when I was done waiting, I just tried to leg it as much as I could.’
You could hardly blame her for wanting to get out of the cold. But it was Team USA who turned up the heat in the three-team international by topping the overall points table, well clear of Team Europe with Great Britain & Northern Ireland last.
Chris Derrick led home an American one-two in the senior 8k, ahead of Jacob Riley, with Andy Butchart the top Scot in 16th and Callum Hawkins three spots behind. But while Europe’s Yema Crippa dominated the junior men’s race, Euan Gillham was tenth on his international debut, with the 17-year-old from Paisley showing no nerves after a pep talk from Hawkins, his club-mate at Kilbarchan AC.
‘I’ve been training with Callum for a while now and he’s given me an idea of what to expect,’ Gillham, the second Brit home, said.
Chris O’Hare admitted he cannot wait to get back to Boston — and some quality time under cover — after finishing 10th in the men’s 4k invitational.
The European 1,500m bronze medallist was 35 seconds behind runaway winner Garrett Heath of the USA.