SENIOR MEN'S FINAL: Bezabeh becomes Spain's first champion, Lebid third

Spain's Alemayehu Bezabeh, who was seventh in last year's SPAR European Cross Country Championships, advertised he was in great form with several outstanding outings in November and he fulfilled his promise by become the first man from his country to win a senior title.

For much of the race, he had to fight with Great Britain's Mo Farah but the Spaniard pulled away from the 2006 champion, and last year's runner up, around two kilometres from the end of the 9997m race.

He crossed the line in 30:45, the time a testament to the increasingly chilly and muddy conditions as the afternoon progressed, and finished 17 seconds in front of the exhausted Farah.

The pair provided a contrast in images at the end of the race. 

The winner, deservedly thrilled from being victorious and notching up his first major international championship win, had enough time and energy to raise his arm skywards in the last metres of the race. 

However, Farah, the most committed of competitors who has never shirked a challenge, ran himself into the ground and left the course on a stretcher. 

Fortunately, despite missing the medal ceremony, he was soon able to leave the on-site medical centre and was quickly back on his feet after being administered aid and some fluid replacement.