The Polish team achieved great success by winning the European vice-championship in the senior team classification at the Trail Race distance during the European Mountain Running Championships in Annecy, France. This is a historic achievement for Polish sport.
Mountain running is a very difficult sport (https://youtu.be/yd1TGK3CpT8?si=jYrwniU4cwpDBVPz)
European vice-championship for Poles
The Polish men's team won the silver medal in the Trail Race distance of 58 kilometers with an elevation of 3,500 meters. Technically, the route was extremely demanding, full of wet rocks, protruding stones, roots and mud. Team composed of 4 members included Rafał Matuszczak (5th place individually, time 5:11:56), Dawid Malina (6th place, time 5:18:12), Marcel Fabian (17th place, time 5:29:25) and Miłosz Szcześniewski (22nd place, time 5:32:37).
The Poles scored a total of 28 points, second only to the championship hosts, the French, who scored 6 points. The Czechs took third place with 47 points. The individual winner was Frenchman Thomas Cardin with a time of 4:52.
Polish women just behind the podium
In the women's race over the same distance, the Poles took fourth place. The team included Urszula Paprocka (13th place, time 6:22:47), Katarzyna Solińska (16th place, time 6:28:21) and Katarzyna Wilk (27th place, time 6:44:57). The French outclassed the competition, taking the first four places. The silver went to the Spanish and the bronze to the Italians.
A revolution in mountain running
From 2022, the World and European Mountain Running Championships are organized by World Athletics and European Athletics, which has significantly increased the prestige and sporting level of these competitions. Over 600 competitors from 22 countries took part in the European Championships in Annecy, competing over three distances.
Trainer about success
“This is one of the most successful performances of the Polish national team in history. The players rose to the challenge. We won the historic European vice-championship in the senior team classification over the Trail Race distance, the ladies finished fourth," said Andrzej Orłowski, coach and team leader.
“We have collected valuable experience that will pay off in the future. It was a difficult championship, from snow and plus three degrees to heavy rain and plus twenty. Full of mud and not very alpine - there were no long uphill sections, only quite short and steep ones, full of technical elements. The sports level is huge, next year there will be the World Championships in Spain, where about a hundred teams and 2,000 players will come," he added.
"Let's hope that this will be noticed by PZLA and the full team will travel, fully secured, with the opportunity to properly reconnoiter the area to show that Poles are strong in the mountains," Orłowski added.
Poles in Annecy
The Polish team came to France with 13 runners under the leadership of coach Andrzej Orłowski and the technical team. The lineup included, among others: Anna Celińska, Dominik Tabor, Patrycja Stanek, Rafał Matuszczak, Dawid Malina, Marcel Fabian, Miłosz Szcześniewski, Urszula Paprocka, Katarzyna Solińska, Katarzyna Wilk, Maciej Lachowski, Jakub Florek and Karolina Tyman.
Source: sportfakty.wp.pl
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