Team Salomon double at the Olla de Nuria

by Stephen Granger

Norwegian Stian Angermund bounced back to his best form to win the Golden Trail World Series opener at Olla de Nuria in the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain on Sunday (June 13, 2021).

Golden Trail Champion, Maude Mathys, made it a double for Team Salomon, carrying over her form last year with an impressive victory in the women’s competition. Over six hundred athletes completed the high altitude 21km mountain run over four sky-scraping peaks in a celebration of the long-awaited return to the top-quality trail competition associated with the ‘Golden Series’.

Consistently among the top five, Angermund has struggled to regain the regular podium positions to which he has been accustomed in past years, but there is little doubt he is back to his best. He raced away from a top-quality field to win by 92 seconds ahead of Swiss athlete Remi Bonnet, with the favoured Italian, Davide Magnini, a further 17 seconds back in third.

Angermund’s time of 2 hrs 04 min 16 sec is over ten minutes inside the fabled Kilian Jornet’s previous race record, although Sunday’s race took place on a shorter course.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Angermund, who had left his coastal town of Bergen in Norway to train in the higher altitude of the French Alps in preparation for the ‘Olla’.

Bonnet, who won the ‘best  climber’ competition at the Golden Trail Championship last year, showed why he is feared on the ascents by leading the charge to the first summit. “I had felt good from the beginning,” said Angermund. “But then Remi started to push and I let him go – he was going too fast for me.

“I was able to catch him again on the descent and we ran together for a bit.  Then I caught sight of Davide (Magnini) and Nadir (Maguet) close behind.  I know that Nadir is very strong on the descents, so I pushed hard to open a gap and was able to stay ahead to the finish.

“The views from around here are so beautiful – I would like to return many times. It’s like my second home!”

There was never any doubt about Mathys and her ability to destroy almost any field  – in particular on a course where climbing ability was paramount. The main point of interest in the women’s race had been how competitive her compatriot and 2019 Golden Trail World Series winner, Judith Wyder, would be, returning to competitive athletics following the birth of her second child last year.

“I’ve little doubt that Judith will be very competitive,” Mathys had said ahead of the race. “And until the first confrontation of the season I have no way of knowing how my own form is. So I’m quite nervous.”

She need not have been. While leading orienteer, Wyder, enjoyed an impressive initial outing on her return, she was unable to stay with Mathys’ pace on the first climb, where she crested the summit alongside one of the strongest Swiss male athletes, Marc Lauenstein. Thereafter the gap over her female pursuers widened and over twelve minutes separated Mathys and Wyder at the finish.

Thirty-six year old Spanish athlete Oihana Kortazar, proved a revelation, with her strong third-placed finish, just a minute behind Wyder, to the delight of the home fans.

South Africa’s Meg Mackenzie enjoyed a good day out in the mountains. Now focused on longer distance races in ultra-trail, she nonetheless bagged a solid 15^th position in a competitive field in a race that was way short of her best distance.

Story by Stephen Granger

©SPNAfrica News