YOUNG athletics star Charlotte Dale makes her first appearance as new European Junior Cross Country Champion on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Invicta East Kent runner competes in the Reebok Cardiff Cross Challenge, which incorporates the Welsh 4km Championships at Bute Park.

And, true to character, the 18-year-old has entered both the under-20 women's 5km, which opens the day's action at 11am, and the senior Women's 6km at 2.30pm.

Dale is just back from a month's warm weather training in South Africa with her fellow juniors from the UK Athletics High Performance Centre for Endurance at St Mary’s College, Twickenham.

The Whitstable girl will decide nearer race day on whether to run either or both races against some of the best UK athletes.

She aims to be in top shape to lead the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland team in the Junior Women's race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 29-30.

After Cardiff, she will race at the IAAF Permit meeting at Tourcoing, Northern France, on Sunday, January 26.