The 16^th USPE European Police Championships Cross Country took place in Aarhus Denmark on Sunday 7^th 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. 2^nd place went to Anais Bourgoin from France in 34:21. 3^rd 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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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 2^nd place was Patrick Karl of Germany in 43:06. 3^rd 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 2^nd and 3^rd place between France and Austria with only 1 pt separating the 2 countries. France were 2^nd on 41 pts and Austria were 3^rd 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

The current situation of the Covid 19 pandemic allowed the 2nd meeting of the USPE Technical Commission (TC) to be held in Prague from 7th October to 9th October 2021 and the 2nd meeting of the USPE Executive Committee (EC) from 8th October to 10th October 2021.

Based on the previous extraordinary video conferences, the agenda items were discussed. The EC made important decisions for the business continuity of the USPE and for the future.

The aim of the USPE is to promote sport within the European police forces and to coordinate the preparation and organisation of international competitions in the USPE sports, as well as to build social, cooperative and professional relationships.

The meeting and especially the personal interactions with the members of the Technical Commission and the Executive Committee from all over Europe was an important step for the re-launch of European Police Sport in 2021 - after the long period of numerous video meetings in the past two years.

The first EPC 2021 will take place from 5th to 8th November in Aarhus/Denmark.

Due to the persistent Covid-19 pandemic, the 1^st USPE EC Meeting 2021 took place on 24^th April 2021 via Video Conference with the participation of all ten members of the USPE Executive Committee.

Based on the results of the Meeting of the USPE Technical Commission on the previous day, decisions were made on the USPE Sports Calendar and the further steps in the USPE.

The aim of the USPE to encourage sport throughout the European police forces and coordinate the preparation, organisation and control of international competitions in all sports disciplines as well as to build up social, cooperative and professional relations is supported by the EC’s decisions and can hopefully be realised again soon by holding the first European Police Championship in 2021, depending on the developments of the current pandemic.

As the 1^st USPE TC Meeting 2021 could not take place in Prague/Czech Republic as planned due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the USPE Secretary General convened a Video Conference on 23^rd April 2021.

All eight Technical Delegates, the President, the Secretary General and the General Treasurer of the USPE participated.

During the meeting, the following important topics were discussed - especially with regard to the current pandemic situation in Europe: the organisation of the USPE European Police Championships planned for 2021 and 2022, the preparation of further USPE Meetings and the 40^th Congress, possibilities for the introduction of USPE Cups, the implementation of the new Anti-Doping Regulation and Data Protection, the update of the USPE Rules & Regulations and Forms, the work on the new EPLA Project as well as the Cooperation with International Sport Organisations and Projects.