Giorgio Calcaterra takes the 100km victory in Winschoten (© Sean Wallace Jones)
Winschoten, the Netherlands - Giorgio Calcaterra (ITA) and Marina Bychkova (RUS) won the 25th IAU World Championships in Winschoten on Saturday 10 September. Both runners also took the European titles.
USA took home the men’s gold for the team event and Russia took the women’s gold. In the European Championship, France and Russia took the men’s and women’s team gold, respectively.
Winschoten is a town about three hours from Amsterdam. The event had a multitude of races organised on the weekend with the World Championships, the European Championships, the Masters’ event (with the World Masters Athletics) and the Dutch Championships.
There were 285 athletes from 34 countries who started the championships, a record numbers over its twenty six year history. The race was run on a 10 kilometre loop course in warm conditions with mid 20C temperatures and cloudy at the start with intermittent sunshine in the afternoon.
MEN
The men’s division was won by 2008 World champion Giorgio Calcaterra (ITA). He ran a time of 6:27:32 to take top honours. Last year’s bronze medallist and IAU Athlete of the Year 2010, Michael Wardian (USA) moved up the podium to take second place in 6:42:49. His teammate and rookie international runner, Andrew Henshaw took home the bronze in 6:44:35.
In the opening stages, Calcaterra ran stride for stride, with Fanie Matshipa (RSA) until the 40km mark, when he made a decisive move and took the lead alone. Calcaterra’s fast time is not new for him as he has had several sub-6:30 races during his career.
Wardian ran a more conservative race compared to his run last year. He made his move from behind, around the mid-way mark, and he ended with his signature fast and strong finish at the end. Henshaw made his move around the same time as Wardian and held on for a strong finish to maintain his third place finish. Last year’s champion, Shinji Nakadai (JPN) came strong in the second half of the race and finished fifth overall.
This race also doubled as the European Championship with Calcaterra taking top honours. Pieter Vermeesch (BEL) took 2nd place and two-time World and European Champion, Jonas Buud (SWE) took the bronze medal.
WOMEN
In the women’s race, Marina Bychkova (RUS) won the women’s World Championship with a time of 7:27:19. She was followed by the bronze medallist from the 50km World Trophy Final Joanna Zakrzewski (GBR) in 7:41:06. Lindsay Anne van Aswegen (RSA) took the bronze medal in her first international IAU event in 7:42:05.
Bychkova ran a steady pace for the first 50 kilometres. But as the race went on, she got stronger, going past last year’s World champion Ellie Greenwood (GBR) at the mid-way point. In the second half of the race she continued her strong smooth running style and won in an impressive field.
Zakrzewski ran a different race than she did in Assen at the 50km World Trophy Final three weeks back. In Winschoten, she took a more conservative controlled start and worked her way through the field as the race progressed to ultimately finish in second place. Van Aswegen did not feature in the top 5 until about the 80km mark. She made a decisive move at that point to move into the fifth place and then worked her way through the last loop to move into third place.
Bychkova and Zakrzewski won European gold and silver, respectively. Irina Vishnevskaya (RUS) won the bronze medal.
TEAMS
In the team competition, USA won the men’s competition followed by Japan and France who took silver and bronze, respectively. In the European championships, France took gold while Russia took silver and Germany the bronze medal.
Russia took home the gold in the women’s World Championship. USA took silver and Japan took home the bronze. In the European Championship, Russia took the gold with Great Britain and Austria taking silver and bronze, respectively.
This race also had a Masters’ component alongside the main event. The Masters’ section was organised in collaboration with the World Masters Athletics. Medals were awarded in 5-year age groups.
In addition to the 100km World Championships, the IAU has organized The Trail World Championships and the 50km World Trophy Final in 2011.
Nadeem Khan
IAU, Director of Communications
Results 100km World & European Championship 2011 Winschoten (Sept. 10, 2011)
Men:
Gold --- Giorgio Calcaterra ITA 6:27:32 (1st European Championship)
Silver --- Michael Wardian USA 6:42:49
Bronze --- Andrew Henshaw USA 6:44:35
4th Place --- Pieter Vermeesch BEL 6:47:01 (2nd European Championship)
5th Place --- Shinji Nakadai JPN 6:48:32
….
7th Place --- Jonas Buud SWE 6:52:19 (3rd European Championship)
Women:
Gold --- Marina Bychkova RUS 7:27:19 (1st European Championship)
Silver --- Joanna Zakrzewski GBR 7:41:06 (2nd European Championship)
Bronze --- Lindsay Anne van Aswegen RSA 7:42:05 (3rd European Championship)
4th Place --- Irina Vishnevskaya RUS 7:45:27
5th Place --- Meghan Arbogast USA 7:51:10
Team Competition Men:
Gold --- United States of America 20:17:47
Silver --- Japan 21:05:00
Bronze --- France 21:36:19 (1st European Championship)
4th Place --- Russia 21:57:55 (2nd European Championship)
5th Place --- Germany 22:31:59 (3rd European Championship)
Team Competition Women:
Gold --- Russia 23:19:40 (1st European Championship)
Silver --- USA 23:56:20
Bronze --- Japan 24:35:13
4th Place --- South Africa 24:40:15
5th Place --- Great Britain 24:42:56 (2nd European Championship)
6th Place --- Austria 25:55:19 (3rd European Championship)