Ukranian Sergey Lebid acknowledges cheers from the crowd after winning his eighth European Cross Country title.

Dutch athlete Hilda Kibet after winning the senior women's title at the SPAR European Cross Country Championship in Brussels.

SPAR European Cross Country Champions’ Sergey Lebid from Ukraine and Hilda Kibet from the Netherlands have been voted the European Athletes of the Month for December for their outstanding performances winning their European titles in Brussels last month.

Lebid, who has competed in every SPAR European Cross Country Championships since their inception in 1994 won his eighth title in a real clash of the titans with Britain’s Mo Farah who was a previous winner in 2006.

By winning his eighth title in 15 championships Lebid has now surely won himself the mantle as the greatest European Cross Country runner of all time and has already said he is looking forward to winning a ninth title in Dublin next December.

Kibet on the other hand took her first European crown after her top notch 8th place finish in the World Cross Country Championships earlier in the year.

The 27-year-old, who was a bronze medal winner at the European Cup 10,000m in Istanbul last April, added her crown to that won by her cousin, Lornah Kiplagat, three years ago.

The former Kenyan international has been taken to the hearts of the Dutch nation and even had time to wrap the Dutch flag around herself for the last 50m of the race in Brussels.

The runners up in the men’s poll were Andrea Lalli and Pieter Desmet while Steph Twell of Great Britain and Susan Kuijken were the runners up on the women’s side.

The European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007 and is designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in Europe. 

European Athletics will name a male and female winner each month and feature the athlete on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes by the public, the media and a panel of European Athletics experts with each counting for 33.3% of the final vote.