Andrea Mayr on the Feuerkogel - WMRA (© Helmut Ploberger)
Samson Gashazghi of Eritrea and Andrea Mayr of Austria claimed top honors at the 26th edition of the WMRA World Mountain Running Championships in Kamnik, Slovenia, on Sunday (5).
Gashazghi covered the 12 kilometre course, with a net elevation gain of 1220 metres, in 56:25, 13 seconds ahead of Teklay Waldemariam. Runners from African nations dominated the race, taking the first six spots, four of those by Eritreans who cruised to the team title with 13 points.
In the women's race, Mayr covered the 8.5 kilometre course, with a net elevation gain of 960 metres, in 49:30, more than half a minute ahead of Italy's Valentina Belotti. With three finishers in the top nine, Italy beat Switzerland to the team title by four points, tallying 17.
The men's junior title also went to Eritrea. Yossief Andemichael dominated the 8.5 kilometre run, clocking 42:30. Turkey's Ridvan Bozkurt was a distant second in 46:00 while leading his nation to the team title. Turkey also took the women's title, thanks to a 1-2 finish over the 4.5 kilometre course by defending champion Yasemin Can and Burca Dag, who clocked 24:04 and 24:42 respectively.
Nearly 350 athletes from a record 39 countries were entered with 13 countries earning at least one medal. Kamnik, located in the foothills of Slovenia's Kamnik Alps, is located about 25 kilometres north of the capital Ljubljana.
Leading Results -
MEN (12 km) -
1. Samson Gashazghi, ERI 56:25
2. Teklay Weldemariam, ERI 56:38
3. Geoffrey Kusuro, UGA 56:57
4. Petro Manu Shaku, ERI 57:00
5. Stephan Kiprotich, UGA 57:16
6. Abraham Habtom, ERI 57:55
7. Ahmet Arslan, TUR 58:14
8. Jonathan Wyatt, NZL 58:23
9. Haben Mohamed, ERI 58:59
10. Joe Gray, USA 59:27
Teams:
1. Eritrea 13
2. United States 71
3. Italy 77
4. Uganda 79
5. Turkey 85
WOMEN (8.5 km) -
1. Andrea Mayr, AUT 49:30
2. Valentina Belotti, ITA 50:08
3. Martina Strähl, SUI 50:42
4. Svetlana Semova, RUS 51:02
5. Mateja Kosovelj, SLO 51:24
6. Antonella Confortola, ITA 52:19
7. Elena Rukhlyada, RUS 52:30
8. Claudia Helfenberger, SUI 52:35
9. Maria Grazia Roberti, ITA 52:42
10. Bernadette Meier-Brändle, SUI 52:57
Teams:
1. Italy 17
2. Switzerland 21
3. Russia 36
4. USA 44
5. Czech Republic 59
Juniors:
Junior MEN (8.5 km) -
1. Yossief Andemichael, 1992, ERI 42:30 [1992]
2. Ridvan Bozkurt, 1991, TUR 46:00 [1991]
3. Jente Joly, 1991, BEL 46:29 [1991]
4. Ergin Ulas, 1992, TUR 46:59 [1992]
5. Michael Gras, 1991, FRA 47:14 [1991]
Teams:
1. Turkey 20
2. Germany 33
3. Italy 41
Junior WOMEN (4.5 km) -
1. Yasemin Can, 1992, TUR 24:04 [1992]
2. Burca Dag, 1991, TUR 24:42 [1991]
3. Adelaide Pantheon, 1991, FRA 24:48 [1991]
4. Heidi Weng, 1991, NOR 25:25 [1991]
5. Cristina Negru, 1991, ROU 26:01 [1991]
Teams:
1. Turkey 3
2. Romania 13
3. Great Britain 19
