The 16th USPE European Police Championships Cross Country took place in Aarhus Denmark on Sunday 7th November 2021. It was a great event and a welcome return to USPE action after a long delay on the sports calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After an early morning which threatened to rain and add further to the challenging course, the weather looked fondly on the event and pardoned the race from the rain. Although the athletes received a reprieve from the rain they did not receive a reprieve from the difficulty of the course which had been designed by the well regarded course designer Thomas Glud. Thomas was the designer of the renowned course for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships also in Aarhus in 2019.
The women's race started at 10:30am to great anticipation. Such was the silence as spectators, fellow athletes, coaches, attendants, and delegates stood there waiting for the starting pistol to be fired by DPIF President Knud Stadsgaard; you could sense the tension in the air. The women's race of 8 km consisted of four laps and it was a hotly contested affair between France and Germany. In the end it was Dominica Mayer of Germany who was the victor in a time of 33:51. 2nd place went to Anais Bourgoin from France in 34:21. 3rd place was a very interesting finish because the two athletes from Germany could not be separated in a photo finish. Isabel Appelt and Kerstin Hirscher, both of Germany were declared joint 3rd place. In the team results it was the German team who were the victors with the top 3 German women scoring [Dominica Mayer -1, Isabel Appelt - 3, Kerstin Hirscher – 3]. Spain were 2nd on 30 pts and the UK were 3rd on 43 pts.
The men’s 12 km race consisted of 5 laps, and it was dominated in the individual race from start to finish by France’s Florian Cavalho. He finished in a winning time of 42:49. In 2nd place was Patrick Karl of Germany in 43:06. 3rd was Mario Bauemfeind of Austria in 43:25. Germany were the team winners on 29 pts [Patrick Karl - 2, Tom Gröschel - 6, Tim Stegemann - 9, Marcel Lehmberg - 12]. 4 men were required to score. It was a tight battle in the team results for 2nd and 3rd place between France and Austria with only 1 pt separating the 2 countries. France were 2nd on 41 pts and Austria were 3rd on 42 pts.
Overall it was a super cross country race and a great event for all the participating countries and athletes, and it marked a great return to EPC action for USPE. Well done and thank you to every one of the Danish organisers, helpers and volunteers.
Ian Redican
Technical Commission
Cross Country
USPE
