On Saturday, June 13, Olomouc’s Upper Square will transform into the running capital of the Czech Republic. For the sixteenth time, the city will host the Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc, an event that once again promises thrilling drama, fierce head-to-head battles and world-class performances.
On Saturday evening, an exceptionally well-matched field of athletes will gather at the start line, all eyeing the current European event record of 1:02:12, set in 2015 by Turkey’s Polat Arikan. A glance at the start list makes it clear that this record could very well be rewritten on Saturday. Based on recent form, the fastest man in the field is Germany’s Jan Lukas Becker, who clocked a personal best of 1:01:20 in Barcelona earlier this year. Hot on his heels will be Jorge Blanco, the winner of the recent Mattoni Half Marathon České Budějovice, who arrives with a sharp time of 1:01:45 from Valencia 2024. The duo of Jona Bodirsky and Mykola Mevsha boast sub-63-minute personal bests, while Dutch runner Khalid Choukoud – last year’s bronze medalist here – is returning to fight for the win and valuable EuroHeroes ranking points.
The home fans will have their eyes glued to an elite eight-man Czech lineup. Main attention will center on Patrik Vebr of the RunCzech Racing Team, backed by the experienced Jiří Homoláč, who will be defending his title as the top Czech finisher from last year. Both Czech athletes have the potential to outpace the current Czech event record in Olomouc, held since 2015 by Jan Kreisinger with a time of 1:05:50. Looking to shake up the standings and contend for top spots are also Tomáš Křivohlávek and the young talent Matěj Hřebačka, who made his half-marathon debut in České Budějovice.
The women’s field promises a perhaps even more dramatic showdown for the podium. Spain’s Carolina Robles showed stellar form in Karlovy Vary, taking a well-deserved victory. Czech Olympian Tereza Hrochová wrote a similar success story in a different city, rewriting her personal best in České Budějovice and proving she has hit peak early-season form. Adding firepower to the field are last year’s EuroHeroes champion Nóra Szabó of Hungary and Norway’s Hanne Mjøen Maridal. Remarkably, the personal bests of these last three runners are separated by a mere four seconds.
However, we cannot overlook Nataliia Strebkova of Ukraine or German-Croatian runner Kristina Hendel in the hunt for medals. This highly competitive lineup is rounded out by other top-tier Czech athletes, including Michaela Čepová, who secured a fantastic third-place finish in České Budějovice after a brilliant final kick and the talented Michaela Brtníčková, who dominated the domestic field as the fastest Czech woman at May’s Vodafone Prague Marathon.
The Mattoni Half Marathon Olomouc is the penultimate race of this year’s EuroHeroes series. Launched in 2018 by RunCzech in partnership with European Athletics, the initiative aims to promote and nurture European long-distance running talents. The series consists of four half marathons, with each athlete’s top two performances counting toward the final standings.
Last year, the overall titles went to Dutch athlete Khalid Choukoud and Hungary’s Nóra Szabó. While Choukoud currently leads the men’s standings again this year, Great Britain’s Natasha Wilson holds the most points in the women’s category. However, with many elite runners in Olomouc having completed only one race so far, the leaderboard could see a massive shake-up.
On the men’s side, the spotlight is on the winners of the last two half marathons, Damián Vích and Jorge Blanco. In the women’s standings, Michaela Čepová currently sits in second place as the highest-ranked Czech runner. Here, too, the final outcome will be heavily influenced by the winners of the previous two races, Tereza Hrochová and Carolina Robles, both of whom will need to keep a close eye on last year’s champion, Nóra Szabó.
Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon Records:
- Event Record – Men: 1:00:15 Stephen Kiprop (KEN), 2018
- Event Record – Women: 1:06:38 Mary Keitany (KEN), 2015
- European Event Record – Men: 1:02:12 Polat Arikan (TUR), 2015
- European Event Record – Women: 1:09:51 Trihas Gebre (ESP), 2018
- Czech Event Record – Men: 1:05:50 Jan Kreisinger (CZE), 2015
- Czech Event Record – Women: 1:11:10 Eva Vrabcová Nývltová (CZE), 2018
