Day two of the 2024 Skyrunning World Championships was the turn of the SKYULTRA where Italy took both the men’s and the women’s gold medals. Japan and Spain each pocketed a silver and a bronze at the host venue in Soria, Spain, Saturday, September 7, 2024.
Today’s race, the Desafío Urbión SkyUltra covered a distance of 70 km with a punishing 4,350m vertical climb over technical terrain with a jaw dropping performance by the men’s winner, Italian Cristian Minoggio. Leaving a 28-minute gap before second man, Spain’s Jesus Gil, he closed in 6h53’44” – in other words, running at an average speed of more than 10 km per hour.
After his first SKYULTRA 2022 World Championship title on home ground in Val Formazza, Piedmont, and the 2023 European title, this time, it was a new course in a new country, but the result was the same – another gold medal. “When I started out, I was on full alert. The temperature was nice and fresh and there were good runnable parts, but also technical – you had to watch where you put your feet, use fixed ropes… and your hands. On the technical downhill I started to let go and, well, I’m very happy to bring this gold medal home to Val Formazza!”
After leading the race to the half-way point, Shoma Otagiri from Japan finished third to take the bronze medal.
The second gold also went to Italy in the women’s race, with a surprise win by Giulia Marchesoni in her first international championship. “It’s the first time I did a race longer than 50 kilometres, my first time on the National Team and the first time I did a World Championship. This experience and this victory are absolutely incredible. I’m more surprised than anybody!” exclaimed this talented new runner after her impressive debut on the international skyrunning stage. She closed in an excellent 8h38’10”.
The women’s silver went to Hanoka Akiyama from Japan in 8h43’03” and the bronze, to Spain’s Gemma Arenas, 2023 European SKYULTRA Champion, in a close 8h48’54”.
“This was my first time in Spain. It was a great experience with wonderful people cheering me. The race was quite difficult and technical, but I also managed to enjoy the beautiful scenery,” commented Akiyama.
Hailing from 28 countries, 97 runners participated in today’s SKYULTRA, created especially for the World Championships. The race touches on six peaks above 2,000m altitude, reaching the Pico Urbión at 2,228m altitude.
This eighth edition of the Skyrunning World Championships represent the biggest to date with a record 41 countries from five continents participating. Overall, World Titles and 27 medals are at stake for Individuals and Official Teams, together with a Combined title based on the best results of the VERTICAL and SKY races.
Next stop, the SKY – Sunday’s Desafío Urbión, 37 km long with 2,540m vertical climb celebrates ten years hosting the 2024 Skyrunning World Championships for the occasion.
FEDME, the Spanish Mountain Sports Federation and ISF Member for Spain, sanctions the events. Following ISF protocol, WADA antidoping tests were carried out.
SKYULTRA results
Men
Gold – Cristian Minoggio (ITA) 6h53’44”
Silver – Jesus Gil (ESP) 7h21’29”
Bronze – Shoma Otagiri (JPN) 7h28’01”
Women
Gold – Giulia Marchesoni (ITA) 8h38’10”
Silver – Hanoka Akiyama (JPN) 8h43’03”
Bronze – Gemma Arenas (ITA) 8h48’54”
