Farah and Hawkins among 40 selected for Great Edinburgh International XCountry

14.12.16

British Athletics have today announced the 40-strong team to compete at the Great Edinburgh International XCountry on Saturday 7 January 2017 including the two-time double Olympic champion Mo Farah (handicap -7.8).

Farah, who finished second at last year’s edition of the popular cross country race, will line-up alongside the European cross country championships senior men’s bronze medallist Callum Hawkins (handicap -7.1) who will return to compete on home soil.

Farah, who is the only Briton to have won the senior men’s race in the Scottish capital, said: “I am looking forward to the Great Edinburgh Cross Country on January 7. Holyrood Park is always a great venue and I’m sure the course will offer the usual challenges. I have been back in full training for the past few weeks and this event will offer me a good opportunity to measure my fitness and see how training is going ahead of the 2017 track season.”

Hawkins added: “It will be a great way to kick-start 2017. It’s a good opportunity to compete back on home soil; it’s an event I always enjoy racing in. 2016 has been incredible for me and hopefully I will continue to head in the right direction in the New Year.”

Fellow senior men’s team gold medallists from Chia; Andy Vernon (handicap -6.5), Ben Connor (handicap -6.0), Dewi Griffiths (handicap -6.2) and Ross Millington (handicap -5.9) will also contend the race against athletes from Europe and USA. Notably, European U20 bronze medallist Mahamed Mahamed (-4.7), at the age of 19, earns his first senior call-up to the British team.

European 5000m bronze medallist Steph Twell (handicap -2.1) and Gemma Steel (handicap -1.8) add significant experience to the senior women’s team. They will be joined by European cross U23 team gold medallists Jessica Judd (handicap -0.8), Rebecca Murray (handicap -0.6) and Georgina Outten (handicap -0.4) who will add fire power to the Great Britain outfit.

Harriet Knowles-Jones (handicap -0.3), fresh from winning European U20 bronze in Chia, will return to the cross country set-up alongside fellow U20 team gold medallists Amelia Quirk (handicap 1.1) and Victoria Weir (Simon Anderson). In the men’s equivalent, 11^th placer in Sardinia Alex Yee (handicap -4.3) will lead the U20 men’s squad.

British record holder over 1500m Laura Muir (handicap -2.6) will race in the mixed 4x1km relay for the second successive year with three further athletes taking on athletes from Europe, USA, England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales.

The Great Edinburgh International XCountry is free to spectate and will be shown live on BBC One and BBC One HD from 13:15 on January 7th 2017.

The British Athletics team for the Great Edinburgh International XCountry in Edinburgh, Scotland:

Senior Men

Ben Connor (-6.0)

Ellis Cross (-4.5)

Mo Farah (-7.8)

Alex George (-5.3)

Dewi Griffiths (-6.2)

Callum Hawkins (-7.1)

Adam Hickey ( -5.5)

Charlie Hulson (-5.3)

Mahamed Mahamed (-4.7)