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Der Halbmarathon in olmütz 2024 - Foto: Organisers
EuroHeroes standings may shake in Olomouc/Czech Republic. – Hendel aims to defend victory
Race in a UNESCO town with a strong starting field. This is what the Half Marathon in Olomouc will bring. Olomouc is a charming town with a well preserved and protected historic city centre.
Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon is the third of four EuroHeroes races this season and the final one where athletes can join in to be able to be part of it. EuroHeroes is a project of RunCzech in cooperation with European Athletics aiming to find, develop and promote the most talented european athletes.
In Olomouc, this year’s EuroHeroes competition enters its second half. We already had Half Marathons in Karlovy Vary and České Budějovice. The EuroHeroes season will finish in September in Ústí nad Labem.
After two races Ukrainian Mykola Mevsha is the leader of the men’s standings while Lilia Fisikovici from Moldova is leading woman. Two best results from the four races count into the EuroHeroes overall competition so the leaderboards can change quite a lot after the race in Olomouc.EuroHeroes is an initiative of RunCzech and European Athletics pursuing a better position of european athletes on the world stage.
Elite athletes in the field
Sebastian Hendel should be the main front runner of the race, defending his overall EuroHeroes triumph from last year and his win at the half marathon in Olomouc. He made a great step towards his defense at the last race in České Budějovice, where he won. Last year, he improved his PB to an impressive 1:01:52.
His biggest challenger could be Spanish Chakib Lachgar who has a wide range of achievements. Lachgar won the gold medal at last year’s world championships in 50 kilometers race. He has an even better PB (1:01:45) than Hendel (1:01:52) by seven seconds.
Italy’s Danielle D’Onofrio, who shone with a second place in České Budějovice (1:04:25), or current EuroHeroes leader Mykola Mevsha from Ukraine, who improved his personal best in the south of Bohemia by two minutes (1:06:12), will be looking to get back into the game for the top spots. In the men’s field are 4 runners with PB’s under 63 minutes
Moving to the women’s field, Ukrainian Maryna Nemchenko shone with a European race record in České Budějovice (1:11:26), which she will be looking to follow up in Olomouc. From her position as EuroHeroes leader, Lilia Fisikovici goes into the race having finished third in the last race.
Monika Jackiewicz of Poland, who was fifth in the EuroHeroes standings last year, is going to Olomouc in great shape. This year she improved her personal best by two minutes (1:10:38) at the half marathon in Sevilla. Hungarian Nora Szabó wants to at least repeat the second place she ran this year in Karlovy Vary with 1:13:27.
Event Highlights
In addition to the elite competition, the Mattoni Running Festival Olomouc offers a variety of races and activities for all ages:
- New 5km Race: A flat and fast course ideal for runners of all levels.
- dm family mile and dm bambini run: Encouraging family participation and promoting fitness among children.
- Mattoni Music Festival: Featuring music points along the race route to energize participants and spectators.
The races start at Horní náměstí in the heart of a charming Olomouc city center.
The festival is expected to attract around 9000 runners during the Mattoni Running Festival weekend. Olomouc Half Marathon holds the World Athletics Road Race Label, highlighting its significance on the global running stage.
Join us at the Mattoni Running Festival in Olomouc for an unforgettable running weekend.
More information here: https://www.runczech.com/en/events/mattoni-olomouc-running-festival-2024
