It was therefore necessary to wait 29 editions of the European cross-country championships for a Frenchman to win the senior gold medal. Sunday December 9, Yann Schrub won in the Laeken park in Brussels, covering the 9,000 meters of the race in just over 30 minutes, finishing ahead of the Norwegian Magnus Tuv Myhre (2?) and the Belgian Robin Hendrix (3?).
For the 27-year-old native of Thionville, this is the first international trophy of his career. A specialist in the 10,000 meters, he won bronze at the European Championships in Munich in 2022. In the past, Schrub had already participated three times in the European Cross-Country Championships, with a best result of 6th place in 2021.
This time, on a very muddy course, the Frenchman took advantage of the absence of the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win. Schrub celebrated the moment by taking the time to take out a tricolor flag in front of the Belgian public. The latter was consoled by seeing the local athletes win the team classification, ahead of the French team, 2?.
In total, the French delegation won six medals this Sunday in Brussels. Like Schrub, the mixed relay, made up of Bérénice Cleyet-Merle, Sarah Madeleine, Alexis Miellet and Antoine Senard, was titled for the very first time. The seniors and the men’s hopefuls took silver, as did hopeful Valentin Bresc, while Jade Le Corre took silver among the juniors.
