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Italian triumph at the 12. WMRA International Youth Cup 2017.

YIC2017locWonderful day and spectacular competitions at the 12. edition of the WMRA International Youth Cup 2017 in Gagliano del Capo, Italy, on Saturday, June 24.
Italian runners dominated both races – girls and boys – winning globally four medals and exactly 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal.
In the medal table, second position for Turkey that won a total of 4 medals too: 1 golf, 1 silver and 2 bronzes. Third was Czech Rep with 2 silver medals. 
Also England and Romania gained 1 bronze medal each.
So, five of the 16 nations present had their athletes’ medallist!

The girls ran approximately 4 kilometres on a course which included pavement, single track over steep and rocky terrain, accented with ascents and descents overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The total elevation gain was just over 250 meters.
YIC2017giindThe boys ran a course with over 340 meters of climbing for a total of 5.5 kilometres.
The sunny, cloudless race morning was void of even a slight sea breeze making for very hot and humid conditions for the competition.
First up was the girls’ race at 10:30 a.m., followed by the boys just after 11:00.
A quick downhill start on pavement for 250 meters quickly turned to the mountainous course on a short steep rocky ascent, followed by a short technical downhill section.
A slight bottleneck at the narrow access to the trail proved not to be a problem, as race strategy would develop over the next 20 minutes.
Patience was the key strategy as runners jockeyed for position using their specialties on the course, whether uphill, downhill, or on the paved faster sections.
Home nation Italy ran to victory in both the girls’ and boys’ individual positions and also captured gold on the girls’ side for the team with a score of 18 followed closely by Czech Republic with 19 points, and further back, Turkey with 42 points.
Girls’ winner, Nadia Battocletti, ran a time of 18:45, just ten seconds ahead of Barbora Havlickova, Czech Republic. Alesia Hecico, Romania, was third in 19:09.
YIC2017boindOn the boys’ side, Alain Cavagna crushed the course in 23:37, and bested Omer Yilmaz, Turkey, by 11 seconds at the finish. Just one second behind his countryman was Sirin Karabal who posted a time of 23:49.
Turkey Team B (Turkey fielded two boys’ teams which were declared in advance), went on to win team gold with 14 points, followed by Italy for silver with 18 points, and England capturing bronze with a score of 20.
All of the athletes and officials enjoyed the beautiful scenery and hospitality from the LOC led by Luca Scarcia, during their stay in the Puglia region of southern Italy.
Gagliano del Capo will again host a world event when they welcome the WMRA/WMA Masters Mountain Running Championships in September 2019.YIC2017giteam
On hand for the WMRA for the Youth Cup was president Bruno Gozzelino, Wolfgang Munzel (GER) -- delegate to the event, Tomo Sarf (SLO) and Nancy Hobbs (USA).
For FIDAL were present Senior Vice President, Vincenzo Parrinello, and Giacomo Leone, President FIDAL Regione Puglia.
For CONI were present Elio Sannicandro and Angelo Giliberto, President CONI Region Puglia.
YIC2017boteamAmong many important politician people, important was the presence of Vice President of Regione Puglia, Capone.


Result are available at the following link: http://www.fidal.it/risultati/2017/COD6072/Index.htm

 

 

Edited from Nancy Hobbs and Bruno Gozzelino (WMRA)


Source of the pictures LOC:
on front page:
- Luca Scarcia, chairman of LOC, between Bruno Gozzelino and Vincenzo Parrinello;
on second page:
- girls individual podium;
- boys individual podium;
- girls team podium;
- boys team podium.