This result is fitting as both cross country runners have performed well ahead of the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Belgrade on 8 December.
Grønnevig, who last year finished ninth in the under-23 category, will have the chance to improve as he’s still only 22 years old. He will face his fellow compatriot and last year’s under-23 gold medallist Henrik Ingebrigsten, in what could end up being a Norwegian showdown in Belgrade.
Norway will pose a serious threat in the under-23 team competition, a title Grønnevig has already captured back in 2011 in Velenje, Slovenia.
He has shown tremendous early season form winning the Djupadilten road race in Haugesund, Norway, over 9.326km, crossing the line in 28:09 on 26 October.
This win is what earned him the European Athlete of the Month award where he edged out Danish cross country adversary Abdi Hakin-Ulad, who finished second in the voting and is also among the favorites in the under-23 race.
Former European junior girls cross country champion Bjerkeli-Grøvdal won the Hytteplanmila 10km in the Norwegian town of Royse in a time of 31:52 on 19 October, one of the quickest 10km on the road by a European this year.
The 2009 European Athletics Rising Star has sometimes struggled with injuries in recent years but is now in her best form making her way to the IAAF World Championships 5000m final this summer in Moscow.
She took the award with a large majority of voters choosing her over two-time European mountain running champion Martina Strahl of Switzerland.
Bjerkeli-Grøvdal could challenge in the women’s senior race and upset some of the more experienced runners in Belgrade.