Christian Belz earns sixth place finish in 10000 at European Championships...

BARCELONA, Spain--Former University of Washington standout Christian Belz (left/photo courtesy swiss-athletics.ch) of Switzerland finished sixth in the men's 10000 as day 1 of the European Championships concluded at the Stadi Olimpic.

Despite entering the meet with one of the highest seeds, and barely making the standard (he ran 28:56.05 at Stanford in May, just under the qualifying standard of 29:00), the two time Swiss Olympian and national record holder in this event took advantage of the moderate pace, and closed the gaps on the field at the critical moment to work his way to the sixth place finish, and a season best for

Four years ago in Goteborg, Sweden, Belz led the race entering the final lap before finishing fourth.

"Today I brought out the best of my abilities", Belz said in an interview posted on the Swiss Athletics Federation web site.

Here's a link to a video interview with Belz (interview in German).

Mo Farah led a British 1-2 in the 25-lap race, winning in a time of 28:24.99, followed by Chris Thompson in 28:27.33 in a photo over Daniele Meucci of Italy in the same time.

A pair of Spaniards, Ayad Lamdassem (28:34.89) and Carles Castillejo (28:49.69) finished ahead of the former Husky.

Complete results of the European Championships can be accessed through this central link.

The European Championships continue through Sunday in Barcelona.