Alexis Miellet once again was the French hero of their mixed relay team as he overcame a huge deficit on the final leg to get Les Bleus their first gold medal at this event at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Brussels on Sunday (10).
With teams allowed this year to run their two men and two women in any order thy chose – in contrast to previous years when they ran in a predetermined order – Miellet took over 58 seconds down on Great Britain in third place.
However, the British had opted to put Khahisa Mhlanga on their last 1500m leg and the Frenchman gradually reeled in the former European U18 800m champion about 100 metres from the line after first going past the Netherlands’ Bram Anderiessen midway through his stint.
Miellet’s 4:39 leg was four seconds quicker than the next best, who was Anderiessen, and brought France home in 19:46, two seconds clear of the Netherlands.
Mhlanga, one of only three women on the last leg, gamely hung on for third place another two seconds further back.
"It was wierd because I didn't know who I was going to race. Gaps were formed as the race progressed but given that there was a mix of guys and girls it was difficult to estimate the real position. I started third behind the British girl and the Dutch guy but I was better than him on the hill and I know that I am a good finisher, so I also used my kick in the last metres,” reflected Miellet.
On two previous occasions, Miellet had also risen to the occasion when placed on the anchor leg, the big difference being that this time the result was a gold medal.
He was fastest man when running the last leg in 2021 when he took France from fourth at the final changeover to second at the line in Dublin and he also helped get France into the medals in 2019 when he took his team from fourth to third in Lisbon, once again being the fastest man on his leg.
🎼 La Marseillaise pour le relais mixte tricolore, qui est monté sur la plus haute marche du podium à #Brussels2023 !
— FFAthlétisme (@FFAthletisme) December 10, 2023
🇫🇷 Une grande première dans cette épreuve pour l'équipe de France !
💻 Revivez la compétition sur @allathleticstv. pic.twitter.com/t2ZiGBGtiQ
France had plenty of support in the crowd alongside the couse but they were drowned out for briefly early in the race by the enthusiastic local fans as Belgium’s Ziad Audiah led at the first changeover while Great Britain’s Joshua Lay was a close second after a flying last 100 metres.
France through Bernice Cleyet-Merle were back in ninth at this stage although she was equal fastest of the female runners on this leg with 5:12.
Bethan Morley quickly moved Great Britain into the lead on the second leg and had a superb run of 5:07, the quickest leg of any woman by five seconds - with Antoine Senard bringing France into second place at the second changeover seven seconds behind Britain - and Adam Fogg then had a solid outing and kept Britain well in front, as France slipped back to third at the final changeover in front of the finish area despite a good run by Sarah Madelaine.
However, although many people in the Laeken Park thought that Great Britain might be on their way to regaining the mixed relay titles they had won on three previous occasions, most recently in Dublin two years ago, Miellet had other ideas and Mhlanga's lead of almost a minute ultimately proved to be not quite enough.
The big surprise was that defending champions Italy, a quartet which included two of its 2022 gold medallists Gaia Sabbatini and Pietro Arese as well as a pair of other strong middle-distance runners with good international reputations, could do no better than fourth.
“None of us were not born cross country skiers, we are all athletes who are used to running on the track. A course like today's meant the mud slowed you down, and the more you tried to push the more it slowed you down! it didn't bring out our best characteristics and when I took over there was a big gap on the medallists and I wasn’t able to close it,” said Italy's last leg runner Arese ruefully, who set his 1500m best of 3:33.11 at the World Athletics Championships this summer.
Phil Minshull for European Athletics