The podium for men.

BOclassic sets a new record: This run was historic

The 49th edition of the Bolzano New Year's Eve Run will go down in history. First, Nadia Battocletti celebrated victory in the prestigious running event for the first time since 1988, and shortly afterwards Sabastian Sawe set a new course record in 28.00 minutes, beating the 32-year-old record by two seconds.

31 December 2023

From: pm/sn

Nadia Battocletti did it! The reigning vice-European cross-country champion showed a very strong performance at the 49th BOclassic South Tyrol and kept her two strongest competitors - Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi and Nelly Chepchirchir, both from Kenya - at bay on the four loops of 1,25 kilometers.

The leading trio stayed together for three laps before Kipkemboi had to pull away. On the long home straight in Bahnhofsallee, Battocletti finally turned on the turbo and, with a strong time of 15.30 minutes in front of thousands of on-site spectators, completed the first victory by an Italian athlete since Maria Curatolo's success in 1988. Waltherplatz was transformed into a madhouse.

Nadia Battocletti became the first Italian woman to win the Bolzano New Year's Eve run in 35 years.

Nelly Chepchirchir took second place, three seconds behind, while the two-time BOclassic winner Kipkemboi had to make do with third place. The 2019 vice world champion over 5000m lost 19 seconds to the 23-year-old from Trentino. With a strong fourth place, Giovanna Selva made people sit up and take notice. The former cross-country skier from Piedmont reached the finish in 16.11 minutes. This made her four seconds faster than her Italian compatriot Ludovica Cavalli.

Sawe and Crippa have an epic fight

The men, who tackled the eight laps through Bolzano city center shortly after 14 p.m., still had a group of seven together after the first loop, including Sabastian Sawe (Kenya), Yeman Crippa (Italy) and Maxime Chaumeton (South Africa). ) were also the three top favorites. Round after round, one athlete dropped out due to the very high pace. The “Azzurro” Pietro Riva was hit on the third loop, then Paulos Surafel (Great Britain) and Chaumeton, who had been in the lead up to this point like last year, broke away.

So it all came down to a duel between Sawe and Crippa. On the third-to-last lap, the half marathon world champion made his first attack and on the penultimate loop, the 28-year-old increased his lead a little. But Crippa was still in close contact. Due to the lap times, the course record, which had been held by Phillimon Hanneck from Zimbabwe since 1991, was within reach. And indeed: Sabastian Sawe completed the 10 kilometers in 28.00 minutes, remaining two seconds below the 32-year-old record that was set at the time in significantly better external conditions.

Crippa reached the finish in 28.03 minutes, just one second slower than Hanneck in his record run more than three decades ago. As in the previous year, the Trentino native came second and was also able to celebrate a new personal best. And the third person was also on the podium in the same position at the award ceremony last year: Maxime Chaumeton from South Africa. Behind them, Fearghal Curtin (Ireland) and Surafel took fourth and fifth place. By the way, David Andersag from Kardaun, a South Tyrolean long-distance runner, was also at the start, but he didn't finish the race and dropped out early.

49th BOclassic South Tyrol – results

elite men
1. Sabastian Sawe KEN 28.00
2. Yeman Crippa ITA/GS Fiamme Oro Padova 28.03
3. Maxime Chaumeton RSA 28.39
4. Fearghal Curtin IRE 29.08
5. Paulos Surafel GBR 29.13

elite women
1. Nadia Battocletti ITA/GS Fiamme Azzurre 15.30
2. Nelly Chepchirchir KEN 15.33
3. Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi KEN 15.49
4. Giovanna Selva ITA/CS Carabinieri 16.11
5. Ludovica Cavalli ITA/CS Aeronautica Militare 16.15