WMRA World Cup

Last updated
WMRA World Cup
Tournament information
Sport Mountain running
LocationVaries
DatesMay or June–Early October
Established1999
FormatRace series
Current champion
Men: Patrick Kipngeno
Women: Joyce Njeru

The WMRA World Cup is an annual series of mountain running competitions organised by the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) that runs from around May to October. [1] Athletes are awarded points for each performance on the tour. Its predecessor was the Alpine Grand Prix, a 1997 formation including four European races in the Alps region. [2] It formally became the WMRA Grand Prix in 1999 and subsequently expanded to six races in 2001. It reverted to four races in 2007 and from 2008 onwards began to vary between five and seven races. The competition took its current title World Cup in 2014. [3] [4]

Contents

History

The series originally was held mid-year around July to August, fitting mostly between the European Mountain Running Championships (held in early July) and the World Mountain Running Championships (held in mid-September). [5] From 2001 onwards, the expansion of the series meant the inclusion of the World Championships as a leg of the series (if held in Europe) and the Grand Prix Final event coming after the championships as a season-closer for mountain running. [6] [7] The races in the middle period of the series are usually held relatively close together to allow top level athletes from across the world to compete in many races without excessive travel. [5] From 2006 onwards the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) began sanctioning the meetings on the annual circuit. [8]

The points scoring format is cumulative. Finishing positions in a WMRA Grand Prix race range from 100 points for first to 1 point for 30th. Additional points may be awarded for performances achieved at the World Championships, if that event is included in the tour that year, and the Grand Prix Final race. An athlete's four best performances across the series are totalled and the athlete with the highest overall score wins the series. The series has a men's division and a women's division, with both a men's and women's series winner being declared. Athletes must compete in at least two races in order to be considered in the final rankings. [9] [8]

Jonathan Wyatt of New Zealand is the most successful athlete of the series history, accumulating eight wins from 1999 to 2009. He is also the only male athlete to achieve a perfect score (winning all his races), having done so five times consecutively from 2002 to 2006. Angela Mudge of Great Britain and Poland's Izabela Zatorska are the joint most successful female runners across the series, each with three victories to their name. Zatorska became the first person to achieve a perfect score in the series in 2001. Anna Pichrtová (2006) and Andrea Mayr (2014) are the only other women to match that feat. Eritrean Azeria Teklay became the first winner from Africa in 2012, marking increased participation from outside the Western world. [10]

The World Cup was cancelled in 2020. [11] From 2022 World Cup Gold Label and Silver Label events are held.

Editions

Ed.YearDatesRacesMen's winnerPointsWomen's winnerPoints
1997 [nb1] 4Flag of Austria.svg  Helmut Schmuck  (AUT)260Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Janina Saxer-Juszko  (SUI)300
1998 [nb1] 4Flag of Italy.svg  Antonio Molinari  (ITA)?Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Janina Saxer-Juszko  (SUI)?
1st199911 July–3 October4Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonathan Wyatt  (NZL)280Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Angela Mudge  (GBR)320
2nd200011 June–20 August4Flag of Italy.svg  Antonio Molinari  (ITA)340Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Angela Mudge  (GBR)285
3rd200117 June–6 October6Flag of Italy.svg  Marco De Gasperi  (ITA)290Flag of Poland.svg  Izabela Zatorska  (POL)300 [PS]
4th200226 May–6 October6Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonathan Wyatt  (NZL)300 [PS] Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Angela Mudge  (GBR)290
5th200311 June–5 October6Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonathan Wyatt  (NZL)400 [PS] Flag of Italy.svg  Antonella Confortola  (ITA)380
6th200416 May–9 October6Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonathan Wyatt  (NZL)400 [PS] Flag of Poland.svg  Izabela Zatorska  (POL)340
7th20058 May–8 October6Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonathan Wyatt  (NZL)300 [PS] Flag of Poland.svg  Izabela Zatorska  (POL)325
8th200623 July–28 October6Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonathan Wyatt  (NZL)430 [PS] Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Anna Pichrtová  (CZE)430 [PS]
8th200710 June–6 October4Flag of Italy.svg  Marco Gaiardo  (ITA)300Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Anna Pichrtová  (CZE)308
9th20081 May–4 October7Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonathan Wyatt  (NZL)394Flag of New Zealand.svg  Anna Frost  (NZL)315
10th200921 May–3 October7Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonathan Wyatt  (NZL)352Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Iva Milesova  (CZE)327
11th201013 May–2 October5Flag of Turkey.svg  Ahmet Arslan  (TUR)386Flag of Austria.svg  Andrea Mayr  (AUT)340
12th201122 May–1 October6Flag of Turkey.svg  Ahmet Arslan  (TUR)407Flag of Slovenia.svg  Lucija Krkoč  (SLO)405
13th201217 May–6 October5Flag of Eritrea.svg  Azeria Teklay  (ERI)404Flag of Italy.svg  Valentina Belotti  (ITA)357
14th20132 June–5 October6Flag of Eritrea.svg  Azeria Teklay  (ERI)377Flag of Slovenia.svg  Mateja Kosovelj  (SLO)375
15th20148 June–4 October6Flag of Eritrea.svg  Petro Mamu  (ERI)386Flag of Austria.svg  Andrea Mayr  (AUT)440 [PS]
16th2015 [12] 7 June–3 October6Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Andrew Douglas  (GBR)275Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Sarah Tunstall  (GBR)375
17th201612 June–1 October6Flag of Eritrea.svg  Petro Mamu  (ERI)450Flag of Austria.svg  Andrea Mayr  (AUT)425
18th201728 May–7 October7Flag of Italy.svg  Alex Baldaccini  (ITA)440Flag of Italy.svg  Alice Gaggi  (ITA)470
19th2018 [13] 15 July–6 October5Flag of Kenya.svg  Geoffrey Gikuni Ndungu  (KEN)410Flag of Austria.svg  Andrea Mayr  (AUT)435
20th2019 [14] 24 May–12 October7Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Andrew Douglas  (GBR)525Flag of Ireland.svg  Sarah McCormack  (IRL)495
21st2020 [15] Cancelled0{none}0{none}0

Races

Numerous races have featured over the history of the competition, most of them being held in the Alps. Exceptions to this include the Gibraltar Rock Race in Gibraltar, the Snowdon Race in Wales, Skaala Uphill in Norway, and Alyeska Mountain Run in Alaska. The Šmarna Gora Mountain Race in Slovenia has served the honour of being the Grand Prix Final race on several occasions. [10]

2024 World Cup Participating Races

RaceLocationCountryDates
Broken Arrow Skyrace Tahoe, California USA20-23 June 2024
Grossglockner Mountain Run Heiligenblut Austria7 July 2024
Montemuro Vertical Parada de Ester Portugal14 July 2024
Montee du Nid d'Aigle Saint Gervais France20 July 2024
Giir di Mont Premana Italy28 July 2024
Sierre Zinal Sierre Switzerland10 August 2024
Trofeo Nasego Nasego Italy31 August-1 September 2024
Smarna Gora Ljubljana Slovenia6 October 2024
Val Bregaglia Chiavenna Italy12-13 October 2024

Notable Races

RaceLocationCountryInclusion
World Mountain Running Championships VariesVariesWhen held in Europe (post-2001)
La Montée du Grand Ballon Willer-sur-Thur FranceFrequent
Gorski tek na Grintovec [nb2] Kamnik SloveniaFrequent
Mayrhofen Harakiri Run Mayrhofen AustriaFrequent
Šmarna Gora Mountain Race Ljubljana SloveniaFrequent
Feuerkogel Berglauf Ebensee AustriaOccasional
Skaala Uphill Loen NorwayOccasional
Asitzgipfel Mountain Race Leogang AustriaOccasional
Castle Mountain Running Arco ItalyOccasional
Challenge Stellina Susa ItalyOccasional
Schlickeralm Berglauf Telfes AustriaOccasional
Grossglockner Berglauf Heiligenblut AustriaInfrequent
Gibraltar Rock Race Rock of Gibraltar Gibraltar Infrequent
Berglauf Terlan Mölten ItalyInfrequent
Montagne Olimpiche Sauze d'Oulx ItalyInfrequent
Brandenkopf-Berglauf Zell am Harmersbach GermanyInfrequent
Borno Berglauf Borno ItalyInfrequent
Matterhornlauf Zermatt SwitzerlandInfrequent
Hochfellnberglauf Bergen GermanyInfrequent
Gamperney-Berglauf Grabs SwitzerlandInfrequent
Berglauf Seegrube Innsbruck AustriaInfrequent
Snowdon Race Llanberis United KingdomInfrequent
Kitzbüheler Hornlauf Kitzbühel AustriaInfrequent
Tek na smučeh Krvavec Cerklje SwitzerlandInfrequent
Danis-Berglauf/Rothorn-Run Lenzerheide SwitzerlandInfrequent
Tek na Ratitovec Železniki Slovenia2015
Muttersberglauf Bludenz Austria2014
Course des 2 Bains Ovronnaz Switzerland2008
Berglauf Meran Merano Italy2008
Raiffeisen Schneeberglauf Puchberg am Schneeberg Austria2008
Crans-Montana Mountain Race Chermignon Switzerland2007
Alyeska Mountain Run Girdwood United States2002

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References

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  11. "2020 - major events". wmra.ch.
  12. Calendar 2015 - Major Events. WMRA. Retrieved on 2015-03-24.
  13. MOUNTAIN RUNNING WORLD CUP 2018. Archived 2019-10-19 at the Wayback Machine . WMRA. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
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  15. . WMRA (2020-05-11). Retrieved 2024-06-21.