Whereas the roster of gifted athletes able to jostle for the win on the 171-km Extremely Path du Mont Blanc (UTMB) on Sept. 1 remains to be ridiculously deep, one notable competitor shall be absent: four-time winner and course file holder Kilian Jornet. The athlete introduced on social media Thursday that he wouldn’t be attending as a consequence of an harm that hasn’t healed. “No UTMB for me this 12 months,” Jornet shared. “I nonetheless can’t run as a result of sacrum harm so we determined it was higher to prioritize a superb restoration and attempt to do one thing enjoyable when the ache disappears.”
Followers have been anticipating a rematch between Jornet and Canadian Mathieu Blanchard, who shall be vying for his third consecutive podium end in Chamonix. Blanchard ran final 12 months’s race in 19 hours, 54 minutes and 50 seconds to complete an in depth second behind Jornet, who ran 19:49:30, setting a brand new course file.
Jornet battled by way of harm within the Eiger Extremely Path by UTMB, vying for a UTMB Working Stone that will permit him to compete within the closing UTMB occasion in Chamonix. Whereas Jornet leads the UTMB Index with a 945 score, he wanted to complete the race to turn into a contender within the closing. The athlete injured his sacrum in coaching two days earlier than Eiger Extremely, however fought by way of to complete in forty eighth place in a race received by 16-year-old Swiss athlete Lorick Buclin (1:21:26).
“Some days earlier than Eiger Extremely path I began to really feel ache in my proper hip, Jornet shared on Instagram. “I believed it was a muscle downside or tendinitis that will go away with some straightforward days, however after a verify we discovered it’s a bone edema.” The multi-sport mountain athlete defined that he suspected the trigger was returning to huge operating weeks too rapidly after a Himalayan expedition that left him with damaged ribs and a hip harm.”It feels it’s a nasty timing to get this harm so near the races however managing accidents and restoration is a part of an athlete’s life,” he stated.
Whereas Jornet expressed hopes in late July that he would have the ability to line up alongside the likes of People Jim Walmsley and Courtney Dauwalter, British ultrarunner Tom Evans and Canadian Blanchard, the athlete determined in opposition to it. Followers can hope to see him crewing his spouse, Swedish ultrarunner and ski mountaineer Emelie Forsberg, who shall be lining up at CCC (Courmayeur–Champex–Chamonix), the 100K race on the UTMB World Collection Finals.
Jornet is considerably of a legend at UTMB, first profitable the race in 2008 as a 20-year-old and returning to win 2009, 2011 and 2022. Jornet has a protracted listing of accomplishments and holds the quickest identified time pace file for the ascent and descent of main mountains, together with the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.
