at last we come to the end of the series.
and we end with the seat of power in the world of backyard.
if the US is the favorite,
it is only because we are one huge country.
if there was only one team from western europe it would annihilate the competition!
the top seed from western europe is the powerful belgian contingent at number 3.
no other country features two triple digit runners.
belgium has merijn geerts and ivo steyart both with 101 yards.
if that isnt enough, the belch have frank gielen in the number 3 slot with 97!
nobody can match the firepower at the top of the belgian order.
the key for belgium is the 11-15 slots.
when belgium won the satellite championships in 2020,
it was on the exceptional finishes in the 8-13 slots.
again this year all eyes will be on those runners.
if the 11-15 runners come up big,
belgium will be hard to beat.
another WE team to wartch is france coming in with the 5th seed.
christophe baud (77) leads a french contingent that has depth only matched by the US team.
french runners have logged big totals in a large number of events over the past few years,
but never have they all been on the same field at the same time.
every member of team france has the potential to have an enormous day(s).
no one really knows what to expect from team france,
but their potential is unlimited.
sitting in the 13th spot is team italy, led by the incomparable antonio di manno (79)
what can we expect from the italians?
does anyone ever really know what to expect from the italians?
we know they have a lot of talent
and we know team italy has been awfully quiet.
and we know they have the benefit of a lot of experience and knowledge at the front.
and we know this is the backyard.
if they find the magic this next week
anything is possible.
tied with italy at 13th seed is spain,
led by oriol antoli sarrau (89)
spain has had an explosion of backyards scattered across the country,
and so their team is made of runners who dominated the home field
but are short on elite race experience.
all it would take is a few runners rising to the occasion,
and we could see spain right in the middle of the contest when the final stages begin.
but a single point behind spain and italy rests germany,
their number 1 runner is powerful hendrick boury (82).
behind him team germany has a lot of new faces.
michael ohler is still there,
but overall team germany is seeing a changing of the guard this year.
can these young lions live up to the proud traditions of the past?
this time next week we will know!
coming in with the 20th seed is switzerland.
seasoned backyard warriors matteo tenchio (62) and nima javaheri (55) lead an otherwise inexperienced team.
of course another word for “inexperienced” is “unknown”
the beauty of the backyard is that anyone can win.
like so many teams,
team switzerland is only limited by the size of the dreams of its members.
the same holds true for the other western european teams in the competition;
netherlands, portugal, and austria.
we may not know the names today,
but in a week we will find out who emerges with new stars of the sport.
it is just a matter of keeping on stepping to the starting line.
every athlete comes to championship competition with big dreams.
and over the course of the next few days
some of them will make those dreams come true.
