Balkan Cross Country Championships

The Balkan Cross Country Championships is an annual international competition in cross country running between athletes from the Balkans. Organised by the Association of the Balkan Athletics Federations, it traces its history back to 1940 and has been held every year since 1958 (with the exception of 2010).

The championships features two races: a ten-kilometre (6.2-mile) race for men and an eight-kilometre (5-mile) race for women. The distances of the races have varied over the lifetime of the event. Originally the men's race was a 10 km race, but this changed to a 12 km (7.5 miles) race during the period from 1977 to 2008. The women's race began with a 2 km distance, increasing to 4 km in 1977, then 6 km from 1998 to 2008. National team competitions are held within the individual races, with each nation's score being the total of the finishing positions of their best three athletes.[1]

The first edition in 1940 was a men's only competition (Josip Kotnik of Yugoslavia was the inaugural winner). A 15-year gap followed after the onset of World War II and the regional event was reborn in 1955. A two-year gap followed, but the 1958 edition, where Yugoslavia's Olympic medallist and International Cross Country champion Franjo Mihalić was victorious, marked the full establishment of the competition; the Balkan championship was contested annually thereafter. A women's race was held for the first time the following year and Akhad Dil Ciraj of Turkey became the first women's champion.[1]

It is one of three major Balkan regional championships for the sport of athletics, alongside the two annual track and field events – the Balkan Games and the Balkan Indoor Athletics Championships.[2][3]

Past winners
Edition Year Men's winner Time (m:s) Women's winner Time (m:s)
1st 1940  Josip Kotnik (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) 24:40.4 Not held
2nd 1955  Drago Štritof (YUG) 31:21.6 Not held
3rd 1958  Franjo Mihalić (YUG) 31:33.8 Not held
4th 1959  Ioanis Glecos (GRE) 31:58.8  Gül Çıray Akbaş (TUR) 7:04.6
5th 1960  Constantin Grecescu (ROM) 31:11.0  Gül Çıray Akbaş (TUR) 6:33
6th 1961  Constantin Grecescu (ROM) 32:34.0  Florica Grecescu (ROM) 7:04.4
7th 1962  Constantin Grecescu (ROM) 31:02.4  Gül Çıray Akbaş (TUR) 6:31.8
8th 1963  Muharrem Dalkılıç (TUR) 29:54.4  Florica Grecescu (ROM) 5:19.6
9th 1964  Andrei Barabaș (ROM) 30:25.8  Florica Grecescu (ROM) 6:40.8
10th 1965  Muharem Dalkilic (TUR) 30:37.6  Kipra Danailova (BUL) 6:34.6
11th 1966  Nicolae Mustata (ROM) 30:02  Kipra Danailova (BUL) 6:19
12th 1967  Zoltan Vamoș (ROM) 29:58.6  Vera Nikolić (YUG) 6:23.8
13th 1968  Mikhail Zhelev (BUL) 28:52.6  Viorica Gabor (ROM) 7:28.2
14th 1969  Danijel Korica (YUG) 30:05.0  Djurdjica Rajher (YUG) 6:21.8
15th 1970  Danijel Korica (YUG) 30:13.6  Veselinka Milošević (YUG) 6:21.4
16th 1971  Danijel Korica (YUG) 29:51.0  Veselinka Milosević (YUG) 6:10.2
17th 1972  Danijel Korica (YUG) 29:43.6  Djurdjica Rajher (YUG) 6:15.2
18th 1973  Nicolae Mustata (ROM) 28:37.8  Totka Petrova (BUL) 6:11.2
19th 1974  Peter Svet (YUG) 31:55.4  Totka Petrova (BUL) 6:35.2
20th 1975  Stevan Vulović (YUG) 31:12.6  Natalia Andrei (ROM) 6:12.2
21st 1976  Mehmet Yurdadön (TUR) 31:27.0  Natalia Marasescu-Betini (ROM) 6:38.1
22nd 1977  Ilie Floroiu (ROM) 36:46.4  Natalia Marasescu-Betini (ROM) 13:10.0
23rd 1978  Mehmet Yurdadön (TUR) 35:03.8  Fița Lovin (ROM) 13:01.4
24th 1979  Ilie Floroiu (ROM) 36:48.4  Maricica Puică (ROM) 13:31.2
25th 1980  Ilie Floroiu (ROM) 37:35  Fița Lovin (ROM) 13:50
26th 1981  Marios Kalanidis (GRE) 35:03.4  Maricica Puică (ROM) 12:37.7
27th 1982  Mehmet Yurdadön (TUR) 35:47.8  Maricica Puică (ROM) 12:59.8
28th 1983  Mehmet Yurdadön (TUR) 38:45.6  Fița Lovin (ROM) 14:36.2
29th 1984  Gyorgy Marko (ROM) 37:09.4  Maricica Puică (ROM) 13:26.8
30th 1985  Gyorgy Marko (ROM) 36:55.6  Mariana Chirila (ROM) 13:20.7
31st 1986  Evgeni Ignatov (BUL) 38:46.3  Elena Fidatov (ROM) 13:42.4
32nd 1987  Evgeni Ignatov (BUL) 35:42.6  Paula Ilie-Ivan (ROM) 12:21.0
33rd 1988  Mladen Kršek (YUG) 36:04.0  Violeta Beclea-Szekely (ROM) 12:55.2
34th 1989  Evgeni Ignatov (BUL) 36:33.3  Iulia Besliu-Ionescu (ROM) 13:23.6
35th 1990  Goran Raičević (YUG) 32:32.6  Elena Fidatov (ROM) 13:05
36th 1991  Haydar Dogan (TUR) 36:37.1  Lenuta Alungulesei (ROM) 12:21.4
37th 1992  Goran Raičević (FR Yugoslavia) 34:08.0  Daniela Bran (ROM) 12:37.7
38th 1993  Zeki Öztürk (TUR) 36:08.1  Irini Theodoridou (GRE) 13:01.4
39th 1994  Goran Raičević (FR Yugoslavia) 35:30.0  Luminita Gogârlea (ROM) 12:43.5
40th 1995  Nicolae Negru (ROM) 36:09.2  Stela Olteanu (ROM) 13:11.0
41st 1996  Nicolae Negru (ROM) 38:06  Nuța Olaru (ROM) 14:11.6
42nd 1997  Nicolae Negru (ROM) 35:23.3  Olivera Jevtić (FR Yugoslavia) 12:54.8
43rd 1998  Dragoslav Prpa (FR Yugoslavia) 36:03.7  Olivera Jevtić (FR Yugoslavia) 19:18.8
44th 1999  Nicolae Negru (ROM) 34:50  Olivera Jevtić (FR Yugoslavia) 18:52
45th 2000  Dragoslav Prpa (FR Yugoslavia) 34:46  Olivera Jevtić (FR Yugoslavia) 19:42
46th 2001  Panagiotis Kharamis (GRE) 35:49.2  Maria Cristina Grosu-Mazilu (ROM) 19:03.7
47th 2002  Goran Stojilković (FR Yugoslavia) 34:20  Olivera Jevtić (FR Yugoslavia) 19:51
48th 2003  Labros Zaraggas (GRE) ?  Sonja Stolić (SCG) ?
49th 2004  Mirko Petrović (SRB) 36:24  Olivera Jevtić (SRB) 19:31
50th 2005  Abdülkadir Turk (TUR) 40:38  Cristina Casandra (ROM) 22:22
51st 2006  Abdil Ceylan (TUR) 38:51  Cristina Casandra (ROM) 21:11
52nd 2007  Marius Ionescu (ROM) 37:27  Sonja Stolić (SRB) 20:32
53rd 2008  Mirko Petrović (SRB) 36:15  Sonja Stolić (SRB) 18:30
54th 2009  Fatih Bilgic (TUR) 31:37.7  Konstantina Kefala (GRE) 28:28.9
— 2010 Not held
55th 2011  Mirko Petrović (SRB) 30:39  Olivera Jevtić (SRB) 27:45
56th 2012  Bekir Karayel (TUR) 28:59  Ancuța Bobocel (ROM) 26:47
57th 2013  Marius Ionescu (ROM) 31:09  Sonja Stolić (SRB) 28:00
58th 2014  Vedat Günen (TUR) 28:23  Özlem Kaya (TUR) 26:16
59th 2015  Hasan Pak (TUR) 31:17  Ancuța Bobocel (ROM) 27:42
60th 2016  Ramazan Özdemir (TUR) 30:11  Ancuța Bobocel (ROM) 27:05
61st 2017  Sedat Gönen (TUR) 33:41  Roxana Bârcă (ROM) 30:11
62nd 2018  Cihat Ulus (TUR) 29:25  Paula Todoran (ROM) 26:35
63rd 2019  Yitayew ABUHAY (ISR) 30:25  Nataliya LEHONKOVA  (UKR) 27:34

Participating countries

Present
  1.  Albania
  2.  Armenia
  3.  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  4.  Bulgaria
  5.  Croatia
  6.  Greece
  7.  North Macedonia
  8.  Moldova
  9.  Montenegro
  10.  Romania
  11.  Serbia
  12.  Turkey

Other Member
  1.  Azerbaijan
  2.  Georgia
  3.  Cyprus
  4.  Israel
  5.  Kosovo
  6.  San Marino
  7.  Slovenia
  8.  Ukraine

http://www.balkan-athletics.eu/members.php

Former
  1.  Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1940)
  2.  Yugoslavia (1943–1992)
  3.  FR Yugoslavia (1992–2003)
  4.  Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006)
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References
  1. Karamata, Ozren & Gasparovic, Juraj (2013-05-06). Balkan Crosscountry Championships. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2013-09-22.
  2. Balkan Games/Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2013-09-22.
  3. Balkan Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2013-09-22.
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