Italy’s Nadir Maguet and Christel Dewalle from France took the gold at the Vertical trial for the 2019 European Skyrunning Championships. Bognanco, in Piedmont, Italy, is famous for its mineral water and baths, but today, water poured from the sky drenching athletes and spectators – adding to the severe uphill challenge.
Champions comment
Maguet commented, “For me this race had a special meaning. I haven’t been racing for a month due to a knee injury. I didn’t know how it would go and today was the confirmation I’d hoped for, a gold. I also beat my own record from last year!”
The silver in the men’s race went to Switzerland’s Martin Anthamatten and the bronze to Jan Margarit from Spain.
Dewalle, also 2017 European Vertical Champion, commented, “I’m so happy about this race, it was important for me to come this year. I really liked the course. I didn’t expect it to be so tough and to have to race so hard. I’m satisfied with my results because the level of the competition was really high.”
The women’s podium was completed by Jessica Pardin from France who took the silver and Victoria Kreuzer from Switzerland, the bronze.
Country Rankings
Today was a big day for France and Switzerland with two podium spots each. After two races, the Ultra and Vertical disciplines, Spain leads the ranking with 572 points. Italy is in second with 468 and Czech Republic, third with 338 points.
The race – records broken
The Vertical Terme di Bognanco started at the thermal baths at 665m altitude with athletes individually timed, 30” apart, the elites leaving last. The course rises for 3.4 km with 1,100m vertical climb, topping out at 1,765m altitude, mostly through woodland making for a steep and slippery ascent. Each athlete has their own style of running uphill and the steeper it gets, the harder it is and the less they can run. It’s not just about style, it’s about suffering…Despite the conditions, both the men’s and women’s records were broken.
A total of 137 athletes from 20 countries lined up with 17 Official Teams participating in the Championships.
And the medals go to…
European Skyrunning Championships – Vertical
Men
Gold: Nadir Maguet (ITA) – 37’28”
Silver: Martin Anthamatten (SUI) – 38’41”
Bronze: Jan Margarit (ESP) – 3856”
Women
Gold: Christel Dewalle (FRA) – 43’16″
Silver: Jessica Pardin (FRA) – 44’54″
Bronze: Victoria Kreuzer (SUI) – 45’48”
Sky – the decider
After a day of rest and relaxation at the Bognanco spa, on Saturday, September 7 it’s the turn of the International Veia SkyRace®. With a 31 km course and 2,600m vertical climb along paths, ridges, moraine and fixed ropes, this true skyrunning course summits at 2,450m altitude where the surrounding 4,000m snow covered peaks in Switzerland design the skyline. The standing men’s and women’s records were set in 2018 in 3h00’09” and 3h23’27” respectively. The race for the Sky will also decide the Combined titles
Titles – how they’re assigned
Individual, national and combined titles are at stake awarding 27 medals across the Ultra, Vertical and Sky disciplines.
The Combined title is based on the best results of the top three men and women in the Vertical and Sky races.
The National titles are based on the best four results scored by Official National Team members in each race, counting at least one per gender.
WADA anti-doping tests will be carried out by the ISF at the Championships.
The Veia SkyRace® is an ISF Certified Course*
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
