Spain’s Jan Torrella went all-in on the last downhill section to win gold in the senior men’s up and downhill race at the European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships in Ljubljana-Kamnik on Sunday (7).
Torrella pulled clear from Switzerland's Dominik Rolli and Sweden’s Petter Engdahl on the downhill to win the title. Engdahl, who held on for bronze, had to receive medical treatment after collapsing in the finish area.
Rolli went off to a fast start in Kamnik, taking the lead ahead of Engdahl. They were joined later on by Torrella who opted for a more conservative start in warm conditions. "The beginning was very fast and I was in 20th position," he said. "In the uphill I could progress little by little and finally catch up with the leading guys."
The final attack then came after the last steep climb. "I had so much strength left on the top and said: all or nothing now so I pushed as hard as I could. In the beginning I thought Dominik was going to catch me, but I never looked back."
After just over one hour of running, gold was safe for Torrella. "I still can’t believe it," said Torrella who covered the 13km course in 1:00:09. "I pushed so hard that I had no energy left in my legs, but the crowd has given me power," he added.
Torrella, who finished seventh in the uphill race in wet conditions on Friday morning, won with a gap of 54 seconds ahead of Rolli (1:01:03) and an exhausted Engdahl (1:01:48) who just held on for the bronze ahead of Italy’s Cesare Maestri in fourth in 1:01:57.
"Jan was the fastest of the three us in the downhill, but I am very happy with the second place," Rolli said, figuring out the last climb as the hardest part of the race. "It is always like that. You are all out and you have to push, push, push."
That’s also what Engdahl did. So hard that the Swedish runner collapsed soon after he reached the finish-line in third place. "I got very overheated, but I am okay now," Engdahl said, coming back from treatment in the medical tent. "I should have done some heat training before the race. Scandinavians are simply not used to that kind of weather."
The moment when he realised he could not keep up with neither Torrella nor Rolli was hard. "But there is not much you can do," he said. "You have to focus on yourself and just get to the finish line, there are guys behind chasing you. No time to panic, just give all you have. I am super happy I made it."
Despite missing out on an individual medal, Maestri led the Italian team to the team title. Their three counters all finished inside the top seven.
Switzerland and Spain won silver and bronze respectively in the team race.