At the Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon 2023, the fourth and final race of the EuroHeroes series, on Saturday (16) Tereza Hrochova of the Czech Republic and Sebastian Hendel of Germany finished first and second in the men’s and women’s races respectively, which was good enough for them to take the overall EuroHeroes titles for 2023.
The first three half marathons of the series, which is held in the Czech Republic, took place in the spring in Karlovy Vary, Ceske Budejovice and Olomouc, with the final event being the weekend’s Mattoni Ústí nad Labem Half Marathon 2023.
In the men’s race, Hendel had to run under 1:06 to secure the victory, and he did so in impressive style, clocking 1:05:16 to take the win. This also secured him the overall EuroHeroes crown with 2018 points.
In the women’s race, Hrochova battled it out with European Athletics marathon champion Aleksandra Lisowska for the overall title, with Hrochova finishing second in 1:13:49 and Lisowska taking third place in 1:15:18. Ukraine’s Valeriia Zinenko took the race win, just six seconds ahead of Hrochova in 1:13:43.
This result meant that both Hrochova and Lisowska scored higher than the previous series leader Belgium’s Hanne Verbruggen in the overall EuroHeroes standings. Hrochova was awarded the overall title with 2111 points, with Lisowska taking second with 2084 points, and Verbruggen third with 2076 points.
The EuroHeroes Awards Ceremony followed the final race and was an evening of celebration, recognition and inspiration. The event saw the series’ top-ranking athletes presented their awards by Marko Vasic, Running Unit Director at European Athletics, and Carlo Capalbo, President of the RunCzech organising committee.
At the start of the evening, Capalbo said: “Every beautiful thing, every outstanding thing starts by chance. We had this idea about ten years ago. EuroHeroes aims to identify, promote, and develop European athletes. And that's what we did in 2018. In 2019, we received an award from European Athletics for the best European project.
“Of course, we had a small, sad break, and now we are back in 2023. I am particularly happy to start EuroHeroes again because the quality of athletes who ran these four races is extremely high, so it was very competitive.”
Mr Vasic added: “European Athletics celebrates these amazing European athletes, winners of the EuroHeroes race series. With this exciting format, we are creating new heroes of athletics, amazing runners, and in the home of Emil Zátopek, a true European hero.
“Tonight, we are here to celebrate the new generation of European heroes, Tereza and Sebastian. European Athletics is here to celebrate you. Tereza, you are walking in the big steps of Zatopek and promoting our sport to a new generation of runners. And Sebastian, you are bringing this mould to millions of Germans and hundreds of Europeans. Thank you to both of you and all the other runners and thank you for bringing this sport to the masses and making more people run.”
The EuroHeroes project and awards ceremony would not be possible without the commitment of RunCzech, European Athletics and the four cities and regions in the Czech Republic that host the races.
About EuroHeroes
EuroHeroes was founded by RunCzech in 2018 and since then has honoured and celebrated the achievements of European athletes with the goal of enhancing the competitiveness of European athletes, promoting their development, and uncovering new running stars.
The competition format requires runners to complete at least two of the four EuroHeroes races (all World Athletics Road Race Label half marathons in 2023) held in the Czech Republic to be in with a chance of winning the overall title. Athletes are awarded points according to the World Athletics Scoring Tables to determine the winners. The sum of the two best points totals earned by each athlete determines the final rankings and titles.