The 51st Engadin Ski Marathon once again offers excellent cross-country skiing conditions and a field with top international runners. Dario Cologna and Roman Furger for men and Anouk Faivre-Picon for women have won the Engadin for the fourth time. The run has been sold out since the end of January; 14,200 runners are registered.
Superstar Dario Cologna is targeting his fourth victory at the Engadin Ski Marathon. However, he will face a strong field of opponents on Sunday. Last year's winner Roman Furger also wants to win the “Engadin” for the fourth time, even though his current form still raises questions.
In addition to the two Swiss, the French and Northerners in particular are likely to be running for victory: Maurice Manificat was already able to record a World Cup victory this winter. Together with Clément Parisse and Adrien Backscheider, who is also competing, he won bronze in the relay at the World Championships in Seefeld.
From the strong French team, Jules Lapierre, Jean Marc Gaillard, Robin Duvillard and Renaud Jay should also be noted. The strong sprinter was in the top five twice in 2017 and 2018. The Norwegians with Anders Glörsen (winner 2014), Tord Asle Gjerdalen and Chris Andre Jespersen are also among the favorites, as is the winner from 2015, who lives in Switzerland, Ilya Chernousov.
Top women have priority
For women, Nathalie von Siebenthal, who drew attention to herself last Saturday with her 7th place over 30 km at the World Championships in Seefeld, is one of the favorites. Her strongest opponents include Anouk Faivre-Picon from France, who has already won the Engadin three times, Britta Johansson Norgren, the untouched leader of the Visma Ski Classics, Astrid Øyre Slind from Norway and Katerina Smutna, the winner of La Diagonela this year.
The women's elite and elite A take to the track five minutes ahead of the strongest men for the first time. “With the separate start for the best women, we want to offer them even better conditions for the competition,” says race director Adriano Iseppi. “Running in a sometimes even motivated men's field means unnecessary stress for women, and it can also influence the course of the race. This also makes the women's race easier to understand for television viewers.”
The Engadin Ski Marathon is produced by Swiss television SRF and broadcasted live on television in several countries. “The new membership in the long-distance series “Visma Ski Classics” gives us much better TV coverage,” says managing director Menduri Kasper. “We hope that this will increase our reputation in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. This will bring new cross-country skiers to Engadin and to future marathon weeks.”
Top field for Friday's night sprint
Last year's winner Even Northug from Norway, top Swedish sprinter Teodor Peterson and Frenchman Renaud Jay lead the list of favorites for the Engadin night sprint. On Friday evening in the St. Moritz Kurpark, they will face the Swiss Roman Furger and Erwan Käser, among others.
The women's field also promises top-class sport: With last year's runner-up Elisabeth Schicho (Germany) and the Norwegians Berit Mogstad and Alnäs Anikken Gjerde, there are strong female sprinters at the start. The young broadcaster Fabiana Wieser will also receive a lot of attention from the audience: She was surprisingly third in the previous year.
Live broadcast on the Internet from 8:15 a.m.
The Engadin Ski Marathon has been broadcasted directly on the Internet since 2016. Starting at 8:15 a.m., the live stream will provide impressions from the start room and race pictures from the top and the popular runners. The live stream can be accessed via the Engadin Ski Marathon website or on the SRF Sport app. It can also be seen on mobile devices.
In addition to the live stream and the website, the Engadin Ski Marathon also offers results, impressions and pictures via the social networks Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. At the address www.liveimage.ch There is also a current picture gallery on display on a regular basis, which is fed by photographers directly from the track.
TV broadcasts 2019
- SRF zwei, 10:30 — 11:40 a.m., partial recording (German), commentator: Patrick Schmid, SRF expert: Adriano Iseppi
- RSI LA2, 8:20 — 9:25 a.m., live broadcast (Italian), commentator: Giancarlo Dionisio
- RSI LA2, 10:15 — 10:30, live broadcast (Italian), commentator: Giancarlo Dionisio
- RTS Deux, 8:20 — 9:25 a.m., live broadcast (French), commentator: Jean-Marc Rossier, expert: Charles Pralong
- RTS Deux, 10:30 — 11:40 a.m., live broadcast (French), commentator: Jean-Marc Rossier, expert: Charles Pralong
- RTR, 8:30 — 11:00 a.m., live broadcasts on radio (Romanian)
Online live stream 2019
- 8:20 a.m. — 10:30 a.m.: www.srf.ch/sport & SRF Sport app (German) *
- 9:25 a.m. — 10:15 a.m.: www.rsi.ch/sport & RSI Sports app (Italian) *
- 8:20 a.m. — 11:40 a.m.: www.rts.ch/sport & RTS Sports app (French) *
- 8:30 a.m. — 11:30 a.m.: play.vismaskiclassics.com/visma-ski-classics/
*only for viewers within Switzerland
The marathon week
- Youth Sprint, Wednesday, March 6, 2019
- Engadin night run, Thursday, March 7, 2019
- Night Sprint, Friday, March 8, 2019
- Engadin Ski Marathon, Sunday, March 10, 2019
- Engadin half marathon, Sunday, March 10, 2019