Announcing the 2025 Youth Skyrunning World Championships, they will be held once more in L’Aquila, Gran Sasso, Italy, on 1-3 August, 2025, the birthplace of the event which will play host for the sixth time.
Launched in 2016 to introduce skyrunning to young athletes and pave the way for their future, the exponential growth over the last few years has seen the Youth Skyrunning World Championships become one of the most popular events on the ISF Calendar, opening the door to new talent from far-off countries.
No less than 75 medals are at stake as well as individual, combined and team titles. Spain, Japan, United Kingdom, Norway, and Germany led the medal count in the 2024 Championships held in Montenegro, which saw more than 200 athletes from five continents and 28 countries compete.
Two skyrunning disciplines will be disputed – the VERTICAL and SKY, with a shorter version of the SKY for the youngest category:
August 1 – VERTICAL – 3.8 km long with 1,033m vertical climb
August 3 – SKY – 23 km long with 2,226m vertical climb
August 3 – SKY YOUTH A & B – 13 km long with 1,300m vertical climb
The host venue is located in the Apennines, the second highest mountain chain after the Alps. Tailor made for the two distances and the vertical climb, the highest point of the Gran Sasso SkyRace® tops out at 2,533m altitude, in one of the wildest areas in Italy protected by National Parks where wolves and brown bears roam.
The Youth Skyrunning World Championships are open to 15 to 23 years-olds participating in ISF National Teams, split into four age categories:
- Youth A (15-16 years)
- Youth B (17-18 years)
- Youth C (19-20 years)
- U23 (21-22-23 years)
The youngest category, 15-16 years-old, was introduced in 2023 and immediately became a point of focus, and success, for the youngest competitors with a lot of new talent springing up. With their birthdays still to come this year, two 14-year-old Japanese twin sisters, Yuna and Rina Ogake, emerged as the stars of the show in the 2024 Championships, taking literally a handful of medals in their first international competition.
Gran Sasso race organiser, Cristiano Carpente, commented, “Hosting this ninth edition of these championships is a great pleasure and real source of pride.
“As inhabitants and lovers of the Gran Sasso, ‘our’ mountain, and not only, as the most iconic of the Apennine chain we are privileged to host young skyrunners from across the world. Our city, L’Aquila, has the pleasure to offer the best of our attractions: nature, history, culture and, last but not least, obviously our cuisine.
“We’re already working on the organisational front to be on top of such a prestigious event. The countdown for the 2025 edition has just begun…!”
FISky, the ISF member for Italy, will sanction the events and oversee them with their referees. WADA anti-doping tests will be carried out.
