Steph Twell provided a passport to the future as she completed a hat-trick of titles and helped Great Britain to the top of the medals table at the European Cross-Country Championships in Brussels.

The prospect from Aldershot won the junior women's race for the third successive time to underline her status as the young endurance athlete to watch in 2009. Five Britons filled the next places in the race, the first time any country has been so dominant at either a world or European cross-country championship.

Paula Radcliffe had praised Twell's racing intuition in the build-up to Brussels and her judgment was borne out over four kilometres. The dominant Twell bided her time but was running in splendid isolation with about 1,200 metres left. Her time of 13min 28sec was too much for her compatriots, but Charlotte Purdue, her club-mate, and Lauren Howarth, of Leigh Harriers, made it a clean sweep of rich promise. Emily Pidgeon, Emma Pallant and Laura Park ensured that the top six had a uniform look.

“I'm just so elated,” Twell, who turned 19 during the Olympic Games last summer, said. “It is a testament to my coach Mick Woods and my training partners. This medal is not just for me, it is for all them. I wasn't expecting it [the race] to go off as hard as it did. Mud was flying everywhere at the start. But I don't really feel pressure, it's more the expectation I place on myself. I always want more from myself. Winning never makes it easier.”

Twell was the pick of a record-breaking tally of 12 British medal-winners. It left Ian Stewart, UK Athletics' new national endurance director, licking his lips. “There are not many sports where we can claim to be the best in Europe but we can in cross-country,” he said. “Steph Twell's run was unbelievable. She had all the pressure, all the expectation, but produced a great run. It is the sign of a real champion.”

There were positive signs all around as Britain won medals in every age group, including team golds in the men's and women's under-23 races and the women's under-20 event. Mo Farah also bounced back from his disappointing Olympics to suggest his training jaunt in Ethiopia has paid off. He could not quite manage a gold in the men's senior race but fought long and hard against Sergiy Lebid, of Ukraine, before coming off second best in a last-lap duel.

After clocking 30min 57sec on the ten-kilometre course, Farah admitted that his rival was simply too good. “I was very surprised with how strong he was at the finish,” he said of a Lebid, who was celebrating his eighth title. “It's been a disappointing year for me, not making the [5,000 metres] final in Beijing, but I've just got to build towards the World Championships in Berlin next summer. That is what it is all about.”

Lebid was equally gracious in victory. “Mo Farah made it very difficult for me and I had to work harder than I did in any of my previous wins,” he said.

Another Aldershot runner, Andy Vernon, won silver in the men's under-23 race, while Sarah Tunstall, from Kendal, did the same in the women's event. The senior women won silver in the team event, although Hattie Dean was the best finisher in eighth, while the men took both senior and junior team bronzes.