Mountain Racing World Cup 2001

The 17th Mountain Race World Cup was held on September 15 and 16, 2001 in the alpine city of Arta Terme ( Italy ). Participants competed in the discipline of mountain running "up and down." 8 sets of awards were played: four in individual and team championships (men, women, juniors and juniors up to 20 years old). Among juniors athletes of 1982 year of birth and younger could act.

Mountain Racing World Cup 2001
Host city	Arta Terme , Italy
Member countries	thirty
Of the participants	346
Medals	eight
Opening	September 15, 2001
Closing	September 16, 2001
date
Stadium	Val Booth Valley

The tournament returned to Italy nine years later. The competition was hosted by the city of Arta Terme in the Friuli – Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. A circular track was laid along the slopes of the surrounding mountains in the Val Bout Valley. The height difference on one circle was about 350 meters, the highest point of the path was in the area of ​​the village of Kabia at an altitude of 753 meters above sea level. Start and finish were located in Arta Terme. Traditionally, the strong Italian team had an additional advantage on this track: in previous years, the country’s mountain running championship was regularly held here ^[1] .

346 runners (143 men, 86 women, 71 juniors and 46 juniors) from 30 countries of the world came to the start. Each country could put up to 6 people in the men's race, up to 4 people in the women's and junior and up to 3 people among the juniors. The strongest in the team championship were determined by the sum of the places of the four best participants in men, the three best in women and juniors, the two best in juniors.

Lea Fech from Switzerland excelled in the junior race and won the second World Cup medal. A year earlier , she had bronze on her account. In the team event, the Polish girls won, who brought their country the first gold in the history of the tournament.

For the third year in a row, Florian Heinzle finished second among juniors. This time the Italian title was given to the Italian Stefano Skaini , the pedestal was supplemented by his compatriot David Spini . These two results predetermined the success of the hosts in the team championship - for the seventh time in a row.

Two-time World Cup medalist (1997, 1998) Melissa Moon from New Zealand in 2001 made a thorough attempt to win the championship title. She spent most of the summer in Europe, opposing the recognized leaders of mountain running at the stages of the Grand Prix. In Arta Terme, she was able to fully realize her willingness. In the first half of the distance (running up), Melissa managed to create a gap that her rivals (primarily Anna Pikhrtova from the Czech Republic) could not eliminate in the final segment (running down). Moon's finish advantage was 15 seconds.

Among men, the challenge to the hosts of the competition was thrown by the Englishman Billy Burns . In the course of the course, he attempted to break away, leading at the top of the second (final) circle. However, on the final descent, two Italians were able to get ahead of him. Marco De Gasperi and Emanuele Manzi fought for the victory until the finish line - De Gasperi was the strongest in it, ahead of his opponent by only 3 seconds (the smallest advantage of a champion in the history of competitions). Burns finished third in 13 seconds. 24-year-old De Gasperi won the World Cup for the third time. Since 1997, he and Jonathan Wyatt from New Zealand have been given the championship title only, and in turn. De Gasperi became the first in the years when the “up-down” distance was held, Wyatt was twice better on the “up” track. In the team event, the Italian team won a landslide victory for the ninth time in a row.

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  Panorama of Arta Terme

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  Kabiya Village, the highest point of the route