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Lebid in confident mood ahead of SPAR European Cross Country Championships

2005-12-08

Sergiy Lebid has issued a warning to his rivals at the SPAR European Cross
Country Championships on Sunday that he will be arriving in Tilburg in top form. “My training in the last month has gone very well,” said Lebid, speaking from his home in Pridneprovsk prior to joining up with the rest of the Ukraine team traveling to the Netherlands.

“My training has been very much the same as in previous years. I am not going to say I am going to win – that could bring me bad luck – but everything has been good.

“For the last week I have been at home, finishing off my preparations, and
before that I was at Kislovodsk in Russia, which is at altitude in the Caucasus mountains.

“I was there for three weeks putting in a lot of miles. I was running on my own as I have found in the past that having training partners hinders me and can hold me back, especially when I am training well and feeling very strong.”

Lebid was not worried about the possibility of very cold conditions at the
Championships on Sunday. With regard to the likely conditions in Tilburg, Lebid says that “the colder, the better”. He added: “I’ve never had a problem with the cold. I have problems when it gets warm although that situation affects me more often in the summer than the winter.”

Lebid normally doesn’t race prior to the Championships. “I don’t like to run before the Championships. For me they are the start of the season not the middle,” he said.

Lebid will be seeking his sixth European cross country crown in Tilburg, and his fifth consecutive title. He will also be extending his unique feat amongst the men of having competed in every edition of the European Cross Country Championships.

Only Belgium’s Anja Smolders among the women runners can boast of a similar
accomplishment.

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