Centimeter decision at the Bolzano New Year's Eve run

After three wins in a row, Olympic bronze medalist Edwin Soi had to give way to Imane Merga. The Ethiopian, winner of this year's Diamond League, needed 10:28 minutes to cover the 32 km distance. However, Merga had to fight to the finish line because double European champion Mo Farah was only 0,2 seconds behind. Defending champion Edwin Soi was already weak at the beginning of the last of the eight rounds. The Olympic bronze medalist had to be content with third place (+0.09). Andrea Lalli ran a very courageous race. Italy's young star ultimately took sixth place behind Silas Kipruto (Kenya) and the US boy Scott Bauhs. Markus Ploner also did excellently. In 30:07 he came 12th. Peter Lanziner was 15th. Record winner Sergej Lebid disappointed in tenth place.

In the women's race, 5000 m world champion Vivian Cheruiyot secured a befitting victory in the 5 km distance. However, the runner from Kenya, who only ran 37 km, struggled with the cold, which was unfamiliar to her - and with last year's winner, Gedo Sule Utura. At the halfway point of the race, the 27-year-old, along with Utura and third-placed Prisca Jepleting in the World Championships, were clearly ahead of Cherono. Jepleting had to stop about 150 meters from the finish. Utura, however, stayed level until the finish line. In the end, a tenth of a second or just a few centimeters decided in Utura's favor. Silvia Weissteiner shone in her comeback as the best Italian in eighth place. Among other things, she left last year's runner-up Sonja Roman behind. This proves how strong the women's race was this year. Agnes Tschurtschenthaler also made it into the top 10 again in tenth place. Almost 15.000 spectators lined the 1.25 km long circuit in what was probably the most crowded New Year's Eve run in the world. The victories of Cheruiyot and Merga were successes number 30 and 31 for the African “miracle runners” in Bolzano.

Results 36th BOclassic (December 31, 2010)

Men (10 km): 1. Imane Merga (Ethiopia) 28:32.6 2. Mohamed Farah (Great Britain) 28:32.8 3. Edwin Soi (Kenya) 28:41.6 4. Silas Kipruto (Kenya) 29:15.0 5. Scott Bauhs (USA) 29:16.1 6. Andrea Lalli (Italy) 29:21.5 7. Ahmed El Mazoury (Italy) 29:52.1 8. Vasily Matvichuk (Ukraine) 29:56.0 9, Giovanni Gualdi (Italy) 29:56.5 10. Sergey Lebid (Ukraine) 30:04.1 12. Markus Ploner (Italy, Franzensfeste) 30:07.4 15. Peter Lanziner (Italy, Truden) 30:51.9

Women (5 km): 1. Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya) 15:52.7 2. Gedo Sule Utura (Ethiopia) 15:52,8 3. Priscah Jepleting Cherono (Kenya) 15:59.6 4. Aniko Kalovics (Hungary) 16:17.2 5. Ana Dias (Portugal) 16:20.6 6. Irina Mikitenko (Germany) 16:22.4 7. Christelle Daunay (France) 16:24.5 8. Silvia Weissteiner (Italy/Gasteig) 16:45.9 9. Sonja Roman (Slovenia) 16:49.4 10. Agnes Tschurtschenthaler (Italy/Sexten) 17:03.3

Voices about the race:

Imane Merga (1st) Last year I made a tactical mistake when I started the race too slowly. This year I learned from it. I came here to win and to cap off a great season. I am very happy that I succeeded. That's a nice end to the year. The audience was once again fantastic and supported us from start to finish.

Mo Farah (2nd) I wanted to improve on my third place from last year and I succeeded. But honestly, I wanted to win and I was really close. It's a shame, but Merga is of course a world-class runner. Just when I thought it might be enough, Merga snatched the win away from me.

Edwin Soi (3rd) I thought there was still one more lap to run. Unfortunately I made a mistake, but I hope I can get the win back next year.

Andrea Lalli (6th) I'm really satisfied. My goal was to improve on the time from the previous year and I succeeded. I improved and showed that I was capable of doing well. I ran ahead at the beginning, but I still need time to really keep up with the Kenyans.

Markus Ploner (12th) I am satisfied with both the placement and the time. I knew I was in shape. However, after a cold in the last few days, I was a bit unsettled. That's why it ended up going better than I thought. I only slumped a bit on the last two laps.

Vivian Cheruiyot (1st) I'm very happy about the victory. I wanted to have a good race. All the better that it was enough to win. It wasn't easy because the cold was getting to me. I felt this especially when the speed increased. And Utura put up really tough resistance.

Silvia Weissteiner (8.) I have never experienced the BOclassic as intensely as this year. Above all, I am happy to have finally competed again after 13 months. I have rarely been as nervous as I am today. The African women's initial pace was too high for me, but then I found my rhythm. After all, I was the best Italian. Now I hope that I stay injury-free and that the BOclassic was the start of a successful 2011 for me.

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Centimeter decision at the Bolzano New Year's Eve run

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