Jonathan Wyatt running in Telfes, Austria (© c)
The answer to the rhetorical question ‘Can anyone beat Wyatt?’ (as posed in our preview on 31 July) is NO or at least, not yet!
Jonathan Wyatt (NZL) won the fourth WMRA Grand Prix race on Sunday (3) against his constant shadow, Marco Gaiardo (ITA), by two minutes in a time of 58:14 for the 11km/1300m climb course. With three victories in the Grand Prix series and best four to count, Wyatt’s lead is virtually unbeatable.
The race for second place was a thrilling affair with the next four runners all finishing within 30 seconds of each other and in a desperate sprint finish Gaiardo just managed to breast the tape one second in front of Rickey Gates (USA). Gaiardo thus settles into second place in the WMRA GP ranking.
In the women’s race, the anticipated dual between Anna Pichrtova (CZE) and Martina Strahl (SUI) did not materialise when the latter did not make the start line. It was therefore left to Pichrtova to register another comfortable victory beating the young Mateja Kosovelj (SLO) by 3 minutes 40 seconds.
Grand Prix leader Anne Buckley had an indifferent run finishing only 21st and slipping to third place in the overall ranking. The Grand Prix leader is now Anna Frost (NZL) who ran strongly to finish fourth. European bronze medallist Sarah Tunstall (GBR) finished fifth and so moves up to fourth position in the ranking.
The fifth Grand Prix race takes place on 10 August in Ebensee, Austria.
Danny Hughes for the IAAF
Leading positions:
Men
1 Jonathan Wyatt NZL 58:14
2 Marco Gaiardo ITA 60:13
3 Rickey Gates USA 60:14
4 Markus Kroell AUT 60:35
5 David Schneider SUI 60:45
6 Mitja Kosovelj SLO 61:38
7 Antonio Molinari ITA 61:49
Women
1 Anna Pichrtova CZE 68:16
2 Mateja Kosovelj SLO 71:56
3 Daniela Grassmann SUI 73:23
4 Anna Frost NZL 74:01
5 Sarah Tunstall GBR 75:45
6 Pavla Matyasova CZE 76:05
7 Victoria Wilkinson GBR 76:54
For full results and latest Grand Prix ranking visit www.wmra.info