JESSICA Judd revealed her delight after winning a silver and gold medal at the European Cross-Country Championships.

The 19-year-old from Canvey ran superbly in the junior women’s race to win individual silver and lead her Great Britain squad to team gold.

Southend’s Adam Hickey is also smiling after a stunning run of his own which saw him finish ninth in the senior men’s race, as the south Essex duo shone in the snow of Bulgaria.

Running conditions were treacherous on the championship course at Samokov, which is a Bulgarian ski resort.

Snow and frozen ice, plus the altitude factor of being 1,300m above sea level, made the course a real challenge for the athletes.

But both Judd and Hickey rose to that challenge and were immensely proud of their efforts afterwards.

Judd said: “I am so happy.

“The course wasn’t my type of course at all and I was really nervous before as it was very tight around the bends and there were hills and snow, mud and ice so I can’t believe I got a silver medal!”

Judd again ran a tactically smart race, staying off the pace of the two leaders before closing them both down and then escaping with the Turkish 3,000m specialist Emine Tuna who just had the greater endurance to hold the Chelmsford AC athlete off in the final stretch.

“I ran the race I wanted to,” Judd said. “I managed to come through in the later stages and tried to get the Turkish girl but my legs just died at the end.

“I gave it 110 per cent and maybe I made my move a bit early, but I went for the gold and there are no ‘what ifs’ at all, so I’m very happy.”

Judd’s team-mate Lydia Turner was third and with Amy Griffiths and Rebecca Straw both also in the top 10, the Great Britain team were convincing winners of the team prize.

Echo:

Adam Hickey was ninth in the senior men's race

Hickey, 26, also ran an incredibly smart race, picking his way through the field and the snow to finish as the second Brit home and ninth overall in what was the best result of his senior career.

“I’m really happy with my run,” said Hickey who finished 25th overall last year. “I’ve picked up a cold over the last few days and thought I would play it safe, set off steady and work my way through – and the plan worked!

“My target was top 20, maybe top 15, so to finish ninth feels great and I think if I was feeling 100 per cent, then I could have been even higher.”

Hickey’s Great Britain team were in a battle for the team bronze medal throughout with France and Italy, but just missed out, finishing fifth.