The Ambivalence of an Innovation: The Creation and Development of the European Cross Country Championships

Abstract

Held for the first time on December 10, 1994, the European Cross Country Championships differ from most of the other international competitions. The context in which they were created, together with the discipline’s historiography, make them part of an innovation process. This new championship responded to the need to revitalize cross-country in Europe following European athletes’ demotivation for the sport’s reference competition, the world championships, largely dominated by East African athletes. Furthermore, the European Cross Country Championships brought to light different forms of ambivalence. On the one hand, they went against the wish of the International Athletic Federation to universalize cross-country by opening it to the rest of the world after being essentially confined to Europe for over half a century. On the other, their successful appropriation led them to become an objective in their own right for athletes and federations, going beyond the revival project initially intended. Dynamic by nature from the very beginning, the European Cross Country Championships made it ultimately possible to nuance the virtuous perspective often associated with innovation.