Butchart named skipper for European Cross Country Championships

The long-distance runner has recorded personal bests in as many as four disciplines in 2016, the highlight coming in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games 5000m final, finishing sixth behind four-time Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah in a time of 13:08.61.

And the 25-year-old is now set to cap it off with a trip to Italy as skipper for Sunday's meet in Chia, leading a strong squad which also includes fellow Olympians Callum Hawkins, Ross Millington and Andy Vernon.

It's a trip Great Britain's athletes can make with plenty of confidence, with Italy the location the last time they tasted success in the Championships, with Farah storming to victory a decade ago.

"This is an amazing honour and something I am very grateful to have received," said Butchart. "It has been a great year for me individually, so it will be a proud moment to captain the team at the European Cross Country Championships.

"I was surprised to receive the phone call asking me to be captain but it was an easy decision to accept it. We are sending arguably one of our strongest ever teams to the Championships and it is good to see five Olympians in the team.

"As I said at the Trials, it is great so many athletes stayed true to their roots and it shows just how important the cross country season is.

"We have a number of debutants in the team alongside some experienced athletes so it will be interesting to see how we perform as a team. It is a great opportunity for us all and we will be going to try and win as many medals as possible." Sportsbeat 2016