Excellent tactical planning and special focus on succeeding in Switzerland's largest ski race gave the Swiss-Ski team five of six podium places at the Engadin Ski Marathon on Sunday, as the FIS Marathon Cup concluded for the 2007 season. 21-year-old Dario Cologna became the youngest-ever winner of the Engadin, taking the victory in a sprint finish just ahead of Davos World Cup-winner Toni Livers. In the ladies race, Laurence Rochat won by 1.2 seconds over Sweden's Elin Ek, the only non-Swiss racer to reach the podium in this year's race. A total of 9,600 competitors from 33 different nations took part in the final stage of the FIS Marathon Cup, held under blue, sunny skies yet made challenging by considerable headwind for most of the course. (Note from the FIS Secretary General: the FIS Newsflash Editor, Riikka Rakic drove through the night from the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships to participate in the Engadin Marathon which she completed successfully – she still has the sore muscles to prove it!)
Despite the Swiss domination in their home-field competition, the big winners of the weekend were Swedes Elin Ek and Jerry Ahrlin, who were awarded the crystal trophies as the overall FIS Marathon Cup winners. Ahrlin and Ek each won three of the six competitions that were held this season, and wrested the championship away from the Italian ski team, who have dominated the overall classification for the past several seasons. Ahrlin finished in 9th place at the Engadin Ski Marathon.
Source: FIS
