After 83 kilometres, the European Marathon Championship was decided in a very close sprint. Gold was won by the German runner Baum, while Fabian Rabensteiner achieved a splendid third place.
Source: press release
Fabian took his third European podium in a row, completing his personal medal collection following victory in the Czech Republic in 2022 and second place in France last year. The Italian led the race almost from start to finish, together with the German Lukas Baum, the new European champion, and the Spaniard David Valero Serrano, who preceded him at the finish line in Viborg.
“I had a fantastic race, almost flawless, and I stayed in the leading group for the whole race. I have never had to chase any opponent” declared Rabensteiner. “I tried to attack at the end because I knew I would probably be beaten in a sprint, but I found an amateur in the technical section who slowed down my action and prevented me from breaking away from the others. This is the third consecutive year that I have finished on the podium and I am really satisfied with this result."
The National Marathon team in Denmark, in Viborg for the European championships, had a positive trip. We return home with two bronze medals, respectively by Fabian Rabensteiner and Claudia Peretti.
Mirko Celestino: “It was a very nice week, for the relationship that was established between the athletes and for the results obtained today. The boys were very good at managing the races, as I asked them to do, and in the end we put all the Italians in the top 10 and brought home two medals, apart from Foccoli, the youngest of the group who pays a little of experience. I thank all the staff for the excellent work done, also in light of the health problems that affected Peretti herself, debilitated in the days preceding the race by severe dysentery.”
Fabian Rabenstainer, 34 years old from Bolzano, takes his third European podium and completes his personal collection of medals, after the title won in 2022 in the Czech Republic and last year's silver in France. The Italian leads the race practically from start to finish with the German Lukas Baum (new European champion) and the Spaniard David Valerio Serrano, who precede him to the finish line in Viborg.
Claudia Peretti's race was certainly more difficult and in some ways exciting as she, leading with a small group of five athletes, suffered a crisis in the last round and seemed to be out of the running. However, the Italian recovered in the final stages, recovered positions and fought for silver until the end, which she only lost in the final stretch. The Dutch Rosa Van Doorn wins ahead of the Bosnian Lejla Njemcevic.
In general, the Italian away match showed off a compact and highly competitive group. Among the men worth mentioning is Gioele De Cosmo's seventh place, Jakob Dorigoni's ninth and Dario Cherchi's tenth. Among the women, in addition to Peretti's bronze, Debora Piana (ninth) and Sandra Mairhofer (tenth) finished in the top ten. 28th Davide Foccoli.
COMPLETE results
