The 2020 meet was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Arter earned another win in the Welsh capital in a time of 20min 11sec on the 6.4-kilometre flat course.

Her teammate Jenny Nesbitt was four seconds further back in second and compatriot Jess Gibbon clocked 20:17 to finish third.

"It was a fantastic race," Arter said afterwards.

"Jenny made it such a tough race right from the start and it came down to an exciting sprint finish.

"I was really happy to get the win to kick start the cross-country season and I’m really excited now for the rest of the season."

A close finish in the men's race saw British athlete Hugo Milner come out on top, completing the 9.6km course in 27:18.

Milner's compatriot Omar Ahmed pushed him hard, but had to settle for second in 27:20, with Britain's Jake Smith, who won the Cardiff race in 2019, taking third in 27:29.

"Today was good," said Milner.

"I knew it was going to be a tough race with Jake and Omar in the race.

"It was surprisingly hot which I wasn’t expecting for the first cross-country race of the year.

"I thought I was going to get dropped on the last lap but I just had something left in the tank in the last 200-metres which was a bit of a surprise because I don’t usually win sprint finishes."

The next Gold event on the 14-leg World Athletics Cross Country Tour is set to take place in Amorebieta-Etxano in Spain next Sunday (October 24).