# 1961 International Cross Country Championships

The 1961 International Cross Country Championships was held in Nantes, France, on March 26, 1961. This year, an official junior championship (for athletes under 21 on the day of the race) was introduced. A report on the men's event was given in the Glasgow Herald.
Complete results for men, junior men, medallists, and the results of British athletes were published.

## Medallists

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Individual |||||||
| Men 8.9 mi (14.3 km) | Basil Heatley England | 45:22.2 | Antonio Amorós Spain | 45:46 | Martin Hyman England | 45:56.4 |
| Junior Men 4.7 mi (7.5 km) | Colin Robinson England | 26:20.4 | Alan Simpson England | 26:24.4 | Mariano Haro Spain | 26:25.2 |
| Team |||||||
| Men | Belgium | 54 | England | 71 | France | 119 |
| Junior Men | England | 11 | Belgium | 18 | Spain | 39 |

## Individual Race Results
### Men's (8.9 mi / 14.3 km)

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
| | Basil Heatley | England | 45:22.2 |
| | Antonio Amorós | Spain | 45:46 |
| | Martin Hyman | England | 45:56.4 |
| 4 | Henri Clerckx | Belgium | 46:03.6 |
| 5 | Aurèle Vandendriessche | Belgium | 46:06.8 |
| 6 | Hedwig Leenaert | Belgium | 46:21 |
| 7 | Michel Bernard | France | 46:23 |
| 8 | Roy Fowler | England | 46:27 |
| 9 | Salah Beddiaf [fr] | France | 46:39 |
| 10 | Mohamed Saïd | Morocco | 46:46 |
| 11 | Gaston Roelants | Belgium | 46:54 |
| 12 | Jean Vaillant | France | 46:57 |
| 13 | Louis van Praet | Belgium | 46:58 |
| 14 | Bakir Benaissa | Morocco | 47:05 |
| 15 | Marcel Vandewattyne | Belgium | 47:07 |
| 16 | Ted Matley | England | 47:09 |
| 17 | Manuel Alonso | Spain | 47:14 |
| 18 | Graham Everett | Scotland | 47:24 |
| 19 | Denis Jouret | Belgium | 47:31 |
| 20 | Peter Wilkinson | England | 47:34 |
| 21 | Joe Connolly | Scotland | 47:41 |
| 22 | Pierre de Pauw | Belgium | 47:43 |
| 23 | Mike Turner | England | 47:44 |
| 24 | Alain Mimoun | France | 47:46 |
| 25 | Georg Steiner | Switzerland | 47:51 |
| 26 | Lahcen Ben Allal | Morocco | 47:56 |
| 27 | Fernando Aguilar | Spain | 48:08 |
| 28 | Andy Brown | Scotland | 48:12 |
| 29 | Alfonso Vidal | Spain | 48:16 |
| 30 | Pat Killeen | Ireland | 48:18 |
| 31 | Maurice Chiclet | France | 48:19 |
| 32 | Hammadi Ben Mohamed | Morocco | 48:20 |
| 33 | Alastair Wood | Scotland | 48:23 |
| 34 | Oskar Leupi | Switzerland | 48:24 |
| 35 | Frank Seal | England | 48:25 |
| 36 | Jean Fayolle | France | 48:28 |
| 37 | Hamid | Morocco | 48:28 |
| 38 | Hamida Addéche | France | 48:33 |
| 39 | Yves Jeannotat | Switzerland | 48:34 |
| 40 | Hans Rüdisühli | Switzerland | 48:39 |
| 41 | Hamoud Ameur | France | 48:42 |
| 42 | Gordon Eadie | Scotland | 48:44 |
| 43 | Moha Ouali | Morocco | 48:46 |
| 44 | David Richards Jun. | Wales | 48:47 |
| 45 | Bertie Messitt | Ireland | 48:49 |
| 46 | Bruce Tulloh | Scotland | 49:03 |
| 47 | Luis García | Spain | 49:06 |
| 48 | Frans van der Hoeven | Belgium | 49:10 |
| 49 | Mohamed Ben Hassan | Morocco | 49:10 |
| 50 | Norman Horrell | Wales | 49:15 |
| 51 | Adrian Jackson | Scotland | 49:18 |
| 52 | Gerald McIntyre | Ireland | 49:20 |
| 53 | Ron Franklin | Wales | 49:31 |
| 54 | José Molíns | Spain | 49:39 |
| 55 | Niklaus Näf | Switzerland | 49:42 |
| 56 | Mohamed Lahcen | Morocco | 49:45 |
| 57 | William Heiberg | England | 49:46 |
| 58 | Stan Taylor | Scotland | 49:48 |
| 59 | Alfons Sidler | Switzerland | 49:48 |
| 60 | Willie Dunne | Ireland | 50:06 |
| 61 | José María Alday | Spain | 50:11 |
| 62 | Benny O'Sullivan | Ireland | 50:17 |
| 63 | Harry Wilson | Wales | 50:22 |
| 64 | Francois Fatton | Switzerland | 50:30 |
| 65 | Mick Connolly | Ireland | 50:31 |
| 66 | Brian Jeffs | Wales | 50:31 |
| 67 | Aurelio Aguirre | Spain | 51:06 |
| 68 | Hugo Eisenring | Switzerland | 51:13 |
| 69 | Gerry North | England | 51:21 |
| 70 | Roger Harrison-Jones | Wales | 50:43 |
| 71 | Roy Profitt | Wales | 51:51 |
| 72 | Paul Knill | Switzerland | 52:08 |
| 73 | Tommy Dunne | Ireland | 52:43 |
| 74 | Colm Holohan | Ireland | 52:53 |
| 75 | Ian Harris | Scotland | 53:07 |
| — | Tomas Ballestin | Spain | DNF |
| — | Rhadi Ben Abdesselam | Morocco | DNF |
| — | Francis Duleau | France | DNF |
| — | Jim Douglas | Ireland | DNF |

### Junior Men's (4.7 mi / 7.5 km)

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
| | Colin Robinson | England | 26:20.4 |
| | Alan Simpson | England | 26:24.4 |
| | Mariano Haro | Spain | 26:25.2 |
| 4 | Abdeslem Bouchta | Morocco | 26:33.8 |
| 5 | Luc van der Smissen | Belgium | 26:43 |
| 6 | Raymond Crauwels | Belgium | 26:47 |
| 7 | Jean-Pierre Deraemaeker | Belgium | 27:01 |
| 8 | Thomas Pugh | England | 27:13 |
| 9 | Joseph Smolders | Belgium | 27:28 |
| 10 | Amara Gahlouzi | Tunisia | 27:32 |
| 11 | Amel Leborgne | France | 27:35 |
| 12 | André de Hertoghe | Belgium | 27:42 |
| 13 | Hadj Ben Sitel | Morocco | 27:44 |
| 14 | Abdelhamid Yazidi | Tunisia | 27:55 |
| 15 | Anthony Platt | England | 27:59 |
| 16 | José María Sarriegui | Spain | 28:14 |
| 17 | Mohamed Frigui | Tunisia | 28:20 |
| 18 | Armand Trichet | France | 28:21 |
| 19 | Ahmed Zammel | Tunisia | 28:24 |
| 20 | José María Alberdi | Spain | 28:25 |
| 21 | Noel Tijou | France | 28:40 |
| 22 | Paulino García | Spain | 28:45 |
| 23 | Ben Nouceur | Morocco | 28:47 |
| 24 | Ahmed Oukbouch | Morocco | 29:00 |
| 25 | Garnier | France | 29:20 |
| 26 | Geoffrey Wood | England | 29:26 |
| 27 | Lennen | France | 29:36 |
| 28 | A. Gerdane | Morocco | 30:17 |
| 29 | Francisco Vela | Spain | 30:28 |
| 30 | Mahmoud Ben Rabah | Tunisia | 30:29 |

## Team Results
### Men's

| Rank | Country | Team | Points |
| 1 | Belgium | Henri Clerckx Aurèle Vandendriessche Hedwig Leenaert Gaston Roelants Louis van Praet Marcel Vandewattyne | 54 |
| 2 | England | Basil Heatley Martin Hyman Roy Fowler Ted Matley Peter Wilkinson Mike Turner | 71 |
| 3 | France | Michel Bernard Salah Beddiaf [fr] Jean Vaillant Alain Mimoun Maurice Chiclet Jean Fayolle | 119 |
| 4 | Morocco | Mohamed Saïd Bakir Benaissa Lahcen Ben Allal Hammadi Ben Mohamed Hamid Moha Ouali | 162 |
| 5 | Spain | Antonio Amorós Manuel Alonso Fernando Aguilar Alfonso Vidal Luis García José Molíns | 176 |
| 6 | Scotland | Graham Everett Joe Connolly Andy Brown Alastair Wood Gordon Eadie Bruce Tulloh | 188 |
| 7 | Switzerland | Georg Steiner Oskar Leupi Yves Jeannotat Hans Rüdisühli Niklaus Näf Alfons Sidler | 252 |
| 8 | Ireland | Pat Killeen Bertie Messitt Gerald McIntyre Willie Dunne Benny O'Sullivan Mick Connolly | 314 |
| 9 | Wales | David Richards Jun. Norman Horrell Ron Franklin Harry Wilson Brian Jeffs Roger Harrison-Jones | 346 |

### Junior Men's

| Rank | Country | Team | Points |
| 1 | England | Colin Robinson Alan Simpson Thomas Pugh | 11 |
| 2 | Belgium | Luc van der Smissen Raymond Crauwels Jean-Pierre Deraemaeker | 18 |
| 3 | Spain | Mariano Haro José María Sarriegui José María Alberdi | 39 |
| 4 | Morocco | Abdeslem Bouchta Hadj Ben Sitel Ben Nouceur | 40 |
| 5 | Tunisia | Amara Gahlouzi Abdelhamid Yazidi Mohamed Frigui | 41 |
| 6 | France | Amel Leborgne Armand Trichet Noel Tijou | 50 |

## Participation

An unofficial count yields the participation of 109 athletes from 10 countries.
* Belgium (14)
* England (14)
* France (14)
* Ireland (9)
* Morocco (14)
* Scotland (9)
* Spain (14)
* Switzerland (9)
* Tunisia (5)
* Wales (7)