Inês Monteiro
She started out as a cross country runner, winning a silver and a gold medal at the 1998 and 1999 European junior race.She finished seventh at the 2001 European Cross Country Championships but she won a gold medal as part of the best performing team.The next two years saw her career stall: after a poor 64th-place finish in the World Cross Country Championships she ran infrequently and only returned to competition in mid-2007.She ran her fastest ever time at the World Cross Country Championships (27:12) and took fifth place at the Rotterdam Marathon – her first competitive outing over the distance.She closed the year on a positive note, however, winning the Ovar Half Marathon for a fourth time, and taking individual bronze and team gold at the 2008 European Cross Country Championships.