“There are more and more Asian competitors and trail running is becoming more and more popular in Asia – explains Grégory Vollet -. This is why we have decided to integrate two Asian dates into our 2024 calendar. To ensure that travel is convenient, these two races have been spread over two weeks, like the US trip, meaning competitors will be able to participate in two events in one trip.”
The Kobe Trail in Japan will open the 2024 season on April 20-21 and athletes will then head to Sichuan for the second race on April 27-28. The Polish stage – Tatra Sky Marathon – will be close to Sierre Zinal “This race will take place a week after the legendary Swiss event – explains Greg Vollet -. Thanks to this additional race every athlete, whether European, Asian or American, will have to complete a only intercontinental flight to qualify for the final.”
The program
Although the Golden Trail World Series will add four new races to its 2024 calendar (two in Asia, one in Poland and a new race in the United States), the series will obviously retain its great legendary races: Zegama-Aizkorri is the third race of the season, followed a month later by the Marathon du Mont-Blanc in Chamonix. The historic Sierre-Zinal will be the fifth race of the season and will be included in the European trip together with the Tatra Sky Marathon in Poland. Live across the finish line (c) Golden Trail Series Even more live streaming! Building on the television success achieved in 2023 (with over 6 million viewers tuned in to Eurosport for the Grand Final in Italy and an audience equal to other disciplines, such as the MTB World Cup), the Golden Trail World Series will be broadcast once again several times on Eurosport, but also on over 100 TV channels around the world. “In total we will have 5 races broadcast on TV compared to 3 last year – clarifies Grégory Vollet -. The objective is to give even more visibility to our athletes and our sport”.
The final
With 8 normal races on the schedule, athletes will now have their four best results factored into the overall rankings before the final (up from three last season). After these 8 races, the 30 best male and female athletes will then be invited to take part in the World Grand Final (the destination of which will be revealed later). “We have increased the number of races this season to include Asia. So it was necessary to increase the number of races that count towards the general classification to avoid diluting the level too much during the year. However, by introducing these trips we now give the ability for all athletes to do two races in just one trip. So now, most of them will be able to compete in two consecutive races in an attempt to reach the final.” Once the standard season is over, athletes ranked outside the top 30 will still be able to take part in the Grand Final independently, as they did this year, to try to obtain additional points and reach the ELITES category (top 30 finals) for qualify for an invitation to the following season.
2023-08-12 00:00:00
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