Kilian and Emelie reign, once again!
High fives all round!
While Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg rack up the wins taking both the Vertical and Sky titles in the European Skyrunning Championships, Italy leads the national ranking with 622 points, followed by Spain and France.
Full ISF release
Spain leads the medal count however, with two gold and a bronze, followed by Italy and Sweden.
The men’s race today was another battle of giants, with Kilian Jornet and Marco De Gasperi duelling for the title. The pair raced closely together on the ascent – only seconds apart, alternating the lead. As they summited the Piz Boè massif, Kilian had no more than a 10 second advantage.
Kilian takes control in the Dolomites
The couple descended the steep rocky gorge, every so often exchanging words as they both raced under course record time. As they reached the town centre and the last red-carpeted stretch leading up to the finish line, Kilian lengthened his stride and opened a 3” gap between them to close in 2h00’11”.
Marco was visibly disappointed, stating, “I gave it everything I had.”
Marco
An excellent Tadei Pivk rolled in just four minutes later to give Italy both the silver and bronze medals. Romanian Ionut Zinca was fourth and Alexis Sevennec representing France, fifth.
Emelie Forsberg was out on her own for the entire race – in fact, without other competition up front, she had difficulty pacing herself. She clocked in with a time of 2h26’52” – just 52” over her winning time last year and took the gold for Sweden.
Italy’s Silvia Serafini ran an excellent race, closing second in 2h36’55” taking the silver. Nuria Dominquez and Maite Maiora for Spain were 3rd and 4th respectively, with 5th place going to Dominika Wisniewska of Poland.
Silvia Serafini
The Dolomites SkyRace® has for many years represented an ideal playground for the world’s top athletes. The steep technical course and spectacular panorama has runners coming back for more time and again.
Today, 540 runners finished the race – the top 60 men within half an hour of the new course record.
A total of 23 European nations were ranked to date. Look out for the final race on July 27, when the Ultra distance will be disputed for the European title at the Trans D’Havet, Vicenza.
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European Skyrunning Championship
Medal count
Spain – 2 gold / 1 bronze
Italy – 1 gold / 3 silver / 2 bronze
Sweden – 1 gold / 1 silver
Czech Republic – 1 bronze
National ranking
1. Italy – 622 points
2. Spain – 558 points
3. France – 480 points
4. Sweden – 380 points
5. Czech Republic – 216 points
Race results
Men
1. JORNET KILIAN (ESP) SALOMON SANTIVERI – 2h00’11”
2. DE GASPERI MARCO (ITA) GS FORESTALE – 2h00’14”
3. PIVK TADEI (ITA) CRAZY IDEA – 2h04’10”
4. ZINCA IONUT (ROU) VALETUDO SKYRUNNING – 2h07’26”
5. SEVENNEC ALEXIS (FRA) CRAZY IDEA – 2h07’58”
Women
1. FORSBERG EMELIE (SWE) SALOMON 2h26’52”
2. SERAFINI SILVIA (ITA) SALOMON AGISKO – 2h36’55”
3. DOMINGUEZ NURIA (ESP) TEAM ESPANA – 2h37’41
4. MAIORA MAITE (ESP) TEAM ESPANA – 2h37’58
5. WISNIEWSKA DOMINIKA (POL) – TEAM POLAND – 2h40’30”
Full race results are here
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Reactions so far
Tony Mollica Jul 23, 03:50 AM
Congratulations to Emilee and Killian! Nice running Marco! There is no disgrace in giving your all and finishing second to Killian.