Hanna Gröber stunned the field, as well as herself, with a comfortable win in women’s up and downhill mountain race on the last day of the European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships in Ljubljana-Kamnik on Sunday (7).
The German runner finished the 13km race in 1:09:41 ahead of Britain’s Nancy Scott (1:11:07) and Nelie Clement from France (1:11:14) to win the last individual gold medal of the championships and Germany's second individual gold of the day after Julia Ehrle won the U20 women's title.
After two days of inclement weather, the sun had come out on the closing day, and it was also time to shine for Gröber who dominated the field from the first climb with an outstanding race.
Taking the lead early in the race on the first climb, she opened a gap to both Scott and Clement. “At that point I knew it could be my race”, Gröber said in the finish area.
Pushing hard from six kilometres onwards, she reached the final peak way ahead of Scott and Clement before flying down the trails back down towards the finish-line in Kamnik.
"Downhill running is my superpower. Actually, I don’t know why, but I am very good at it,” she said. This proved crucial as she came home a comfortable lead of 1:26 ahead of Scott. “It is a dream come true. I knew it was going to be a hard race in hot and humid conditions – but that’s what I like," said Gröber.
What helped her was the perfect preparation for the race and the exact course. "I checked the course and the downhills one week before the championships with a friend, so I knew I had to be concentrated up till the end."
Running the first downhill in a controlled manner, she let her legs final on the final descent. With constant information about the gaps to the other runners, her self-confidence grew. "Knowing that the gap is getting bigger and bigger elevates your own performance," she said.
Also, Scott knew that she couldn’t close the gap on the German on the descent down to Kamnik. "I tried to stick with the leaders on the first hill because I know I am not a strong descender. The last climb then was very slippery, and I had to grab the trees to keep my balance," she said.
The hardest part for her though was the road back to the finish. "At that part of the race I am always outkicked. It’s always a bit of a worry," said Scott who was in the sights of the bronze medallist once they descended back into Kamnik.
Clement couldn’t quite overhaul Scott in the closing stages but the Frenchwoman was happy with her second bronze medal after finishing third in Friday’s uphill race. "This time it was hot and slippery and a tough race with Nancy and Hanna, but I am very happy," she said.
The team competition was as close as it could be with Switzerland winning gold just ahead of Spain and Great Britain.
Both Switzerland and Spain finished on 27 points but the Swiss won the team title by virtue of their third counter Flurina Eichholzer-Bott finishing ahead of Spain’s third counter in 11th.