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Wikström wins the 60th Lidingöloppet in an event record on home soil

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Two-time Olympian Carolina Wikström won the famous TCS Lidingöloppet, the 60th edition of the race, on home soil on Saturday (28) afternoon in an event record.

Less than two months after racing for Sweden in the marathon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Wikström reeled in four-time winner and event favourite Sylvia Medugu with less than three kilometres remaining to take victory over the atypical distance of 30km at the first World Athletics Cross Country Silver race of the 2024-25 season.  

“I never thought the result would be this good. I felt so tired the first 10km and thought I wouldn’t finish,” said Wikström who was making her competitive debut at the Lidingöloppet having contested it back in 2018 when she was still predominantly a recreational runner.

Wikström gained further kudos as she broke the finish-line tape, adorned with a laurel wreath, in an event record of 1:51:36, prising the record away from the Danish-based Kenyan Medugu who had to settle for second behind the Swedish marathon specialist in 1:52:32.

The men’s race was a tight duel between Sweden’s Ebba Tulu Chala and Burundi’s Oscar Niyonzima who ran side-by-side from the start all the way through until the final kilometre. 

But with 600 meters to go, Tulu Chala managed to break Niyonzima to secure the win in 1:38:19 to win by three seconds. 2020 winner Linus Rosdahl was third in 1:38:41.

In total, 30,000 participants registered for the Lidingöloppet, the world’s biggest cross country race. Almost 15,000 runners took part in the 30km - a 30 percent increase from last year - which is the blue-riband event of the programme.

At the Castlegar International Cross Country in Galway, a World Athletics Cross Country Tour Bronze event, on Saturday (28) Keelan Kilrehill - who was part of Ireland's gold medal-winning team in the U23 race at the 2021 SPAR European Cross Country Championships on home soil in Dublin - won the senior men's 7.8km in 23:50 ahead of 19-year-old Niall Murphy in 23:56.

Lauren Tinkler won the senior women's 6.15km in a gun-to-tape 21:47 by almost one minute ahead of Mary Mulhare in 22:46. 

Steven Mills for European Athletics




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