Third straight victory for Edwin Soi in Bolzano (© Lorenzo Sampaolo)
Olympic 5000m bronze medallist Edwin Soi and World 5000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot top strong fields for the 36th edition of the Boclassic in Bolzano, Italy, on New Year’s Eve (31).
Soi will be gunning for his fourth victory in a row over the 10Km course that winds through he picturesque streets of this southern Tyrol city in northern Italy. He’ll be facing stiff competition, taking on Ethiopian Imane Merga, the Samsung Diamond Race winner in the 5000m, European 5000 and 10,000m champion Mo Farah of Great Britain, and Sergey Lebid of Ukraine, a five-time winner here, who most recently won an unprecedented ninth European Cross Country title.
The women’s race features a field that is just as strong. Cheruiyot, who also took the African 5000m title this summer, will take on her Kenyan compatriot Priscah Jepleting over the 5Km course, along with Marathon standout Irina Mikitenko of Germany. The field also boasts Gedo Utura, the World junior champion, 2006 winner Aniko Kalovics of Hungary, and Sonja Roman of Slovenia and Christelle Daunay of France, who finished second and third last year. In all, 50 athletes from 14 countries will contest the elite men’s and women’s races.
The race, which begins in the city’s Walther Square at 3 p.m. local time, will be broadcast live by Rai Sport 1. The run may also be followed via live streaming at http://www.raibz.rai.it.
Organisers for the IAAF
