Folgaria was assigned the Continental, Overall and Age Group titles over distances of 3km, 15km, 100m and Team. 2 thousand obstacle runners from around 30 countries are expected at the start. Information and subscription at ocreuropeanchampionships.org
Italy and especially Trentino continue to play a leading role in the international panorama of obstacle racing. Once again, they will host, in Folgaria on the Alpe Cimbra, with the support of the local administrations, the seventh edition of the OCR European Championships, the highest continental obstacle course competition organized by the ASD FIOCR - Italian OCR Federation on assignment of the World Obstacle (Fédération Internationale de Sports d'Obstacles) and the EOSF (European Obstacle Sports Federation).
After the success achieved in 2022 in Val di Fiemme, the challenges will move to Fondo Grande, a wonderful ski resort located 4 km away from Folgaria, which is part of the Alpe Cimbra, a region renowned for its deep love for sport, dotted with delightful alpine villages, breathtaking natural settings but also a centuries-old history alive in traditions and places of great interest.
“Since its origins - states Mauro Leoni, FIOCR President - Italy has been a protagonist in the development of the discipline. After being in 2015 the first country in the world to organize a national championship and in 2018 co-founders of the EOSF, which represents the movement in Europe, in parallel with what is happening in the world with the World Obstacle, we have been working to train organizers, judges and instructors. Merit that was recognized with the awarding of the second European Championship, for which we boast a young but expert organizational staff of 40 resources from all over Italy, who, together with other European representatives, will coordinate the work of over 100 judges and as many volunteers".
“We are proud to host such an important event on the Alpe Cimbra - declares Gianluca Gatti, President of the Tourist Board - which will bring many athletes from all over Europe to discover our territory for the first time. We are working with all our operators to welcome them warmly and make them feel at home. This year too it will be a start to the season in which sport is the protagonist: from the National Absolute Championships and Rhythmic Gymnastics Ensemble Championship to the Transalp, from the 100 km dei Forti to the football retreats, from the Cross & Sprint Triathlon to the Trophy of Regions of Orienteering. This great attention to sport and sporting events will see the Alpe Cimbra as the European Sport Community in 2025".
“The Alpe Cimbra - states Daniela Vecchiato, Director of the Tourist Board - is now by definition the Mountain of Champions by virtue of the major sporting events it has hosted for many years. We are ready with the entire organization to host the OCREC European Championships, this discipline which once again finds its home on our beautiful Alpe Cimbra. Together with us, the Municipality of Folgaria, FolgariaSki and the Polisportiva Alpe Cimbra are working to guarantee the best preparation of the competition ground, but above all, the warm hospitality that only the Alpe Cimbra and Trentino can reserve to major sporting events".
WEEK-END COMPETITIONS
The natural and artificial obstacles scattered along the routes will test, as always, the multidisciplinary preparation of the participants: in addition to having to show off resistance and strength for the tests related, for example, to the transport of weights, they will have to demonstrate agility and balance in crossing beams and ropes, or mobility and coordination on overcoming suspended structures, such as multirigs, but also obviously speed while running on different off-road tracks.
The qualified athletes, through useful placements in the races recognized in their respective countries of origin, will compete on the Short (3km, 20 obstacles, 14 June), Standard (15km, 40 obstacles, 15 June) and Team (8km, 20 obstacles, 16 June) with a single, great objective, namely to aspire to the overall and Age Group podiums. But even amateurs and non-qualified people will be able to test themselves, with the same rules and the same obstacles as the best continental athletes, thanks to the Journeyman mode or with the Fun Run (8km, 20 obstacles, 16 June).
Furthermore, during the entire event, the qualifying phases and the final of the spectacular 100m format (12 obstacles) will take place, similar to the one also included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic program as the new fifth discipline of the Modern Pentathlon. The big news this year also concerns the introduction of the Adaptive category (Para OCR) on all distances and the holding of the Kids event (800 metres, 10 obstacles), for very young people aged 6 to 12.
THE ITALIAN CALL-UPS AND THE TOP RUNNERS
In Italy the movement is represented by the ASD Italian OCR Federation, founded in 2016 with the aim of regulating and promoting obstacle racing at a national level. Today the peninsula has 50 thousand finishers every year with as many as 60 affiliated sports clubs, including organizers, teams and obstacle courses.
The FIOCR itself has announced the first calls of the Italians who will compete for the titles up for grabs, including Gian Maria Savani from Parma, who won gold in the Short distance and silver in the Standard at the 2023 World Championships, and Francesca Dambruoso from Mantua , Master champion at the 2023 World Championships and vice-champion Master 100m at the 2023 European Championships.
Righerta Kadija and Federica Toni, Deborah Molinaro from Romagna, and Noemi Orologio from Umbria will be the further recruits of the women's squad, while, among the men, Loris Pintarelli from Trentino, Emilio Pagnotta from Basilicata, Flavio Pellerei from Piedmont , Valentino De Vanna from Tuscany, Alberto Miotti from Piedmont and Yuri Prezzi from Emilia.
Defending the 2023 European Overall titles in the Short distance are Ida Mathilde Rubens Steensgaard (DEN) and Jesse De Heer (NED), while in the Standard Ulrikke Evensen (DEN) and Stijn Lagrand (NED). In the 100m, however, they are competing in search of the successors of Jonaczyk Katarzyna (POL) and Prokudin Urii (EOSF).
PRESS RELEASE
FOTO 1
FOTO 2
FOTO 3
FOTO 4
VIDEO PROMO |
