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December 2009
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Portugal's Augusto dreaming of gold at SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Dublin |
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12.11.2009 |
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Jessica Augusto of Portugal hopes to improve on her
Brussels 2008 silver medal at the SPAR European Cross
Country Championships in Dublin on 13 December. |
With just a month to go before the 2009 SPAR European Cross Country Championships, to be held in Dublin on 13 December, Portugal's Jessica Augusto is hopeful of going one better than her silver medal finish in 2008.
"I'll be going to Dublin to defend my silver medal, that's for sure. I can't also deny that I'm dreaming about winning as well, I have never won an individual senior European title so that would be something special," said Augusto, although she has on three occasions been part of triumphant Portuguese women's teams, including the squad that won last year in Brussels.
"I think we will have a strong enough team to have a good chance of defending our title, that's very important to me as well," she added.
Augusto, who turned 28 last week, is expected to have her first Cross Country race of the winter on home soil at the Oeiras IAAF Cross Country Permit Race, an event which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and which has quickly become one of the classic events on the Portuguese calendar.
However, she has already shown she is in great shape by slicing exactly two-and-half minutes off her Half Marathon best time when winning the Great North Run in 69:08 back in September.
"I'm very happy with that run because, after a short rest following the World Championships when I finished my track season, I'd done three weeks of hard training with only a few days of sharpening up for that race. I'm feeling good about this winter," reflected Augusto.
In the last few years, Augusto has become best known as a 3000m steeplechaser. She holds the Portuguese record with 9:22.50 and finished 11th at the World Championships this summer, but she is now thinking about leaving the barriers behind and looking further into the distance as her best chance of future glory.
"I think my best bet of a medal at the European Athletics Championships next summer (in Barcelona, Spain) might be over 5000m but I haven't discounted even trying 10000m." It is worth remembering that Augusto also won the 2007 World University Games title over 5000m.
"One day, I'll become a Marathon runner, I've always been keen on that idea. There is something magical about that distance, but I don't think that will be until after the 2012 Olympics," said Augusto.
Dublin will be Augusto's 10th appearance at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, and she has only missed two events since making her debut as a 17-year-old junior in 1998. Two years later, she was victorious in Malmo, Sweden, coming out on top of a thrilling four-woman sprint for the line over the final 100m.
If Augusto can stand on top of the podium again it would also be the perfect promotional boost to the 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships, which will be held in Portugal on the Algarve in Albufeira.
The SPAR European Cross Country Championships, which is being hosted by Athletics Ireland, is supported by the Irish Sports Council, Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, RTÉ, Clonliffe Harriers and Failte Ireland. For more information go to http://www.dublin2009.ie/
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