08.08.2014
Regional Military Mountain running Championship ended
With the ceremonial handover of medals and cups, at the Congress Hall of Andjela Hotel, the military sports manifestation – the fourth “CISM Regional Military Mountain running Championship – Kopaonik 2014” ended.In the women’s competition, the winner was Captain Mihaela Prundus, member of the Romanian Armed Forces, with the score of 25 minutes 13 seconds, and the winner of the men’s competition was her colleague Sergeant Major Marcel Laza, with 32 minutes 20 seconds. In the national team competition – where two most successful male and one female competitor are graded – the team of the Romanian Armed Forces took the first place as well.
Awards to the best teams were handed over by State Secretary Zoran Djordjevic and Lieutenant Colonel Tamas Ovidiu, Romanian Chief of Mission; to the best sportsmen by Brigadier General Sinisa Radovic, Chief of Delegation of Serbia at CISM and Lieutenant Colonel Matjaz Vrhunc, Slovenian Chief of Mission, and the best female competitors were presented their awards by Lieutenant Colonel Dragan Djini, Head of the Military Sports Department at the Military Academy, and Lieutenant Colonel Venelin Deribeev, Chief of the Bulgarian Delegation at the CISM.
Closing the military championship, the State Secretary commended the Ministry of Defence on having given its best for this manifestation to be a success. He congratulated all the contestants and stated that he will most certainly remember that day.- A sports writer once said that winners write history. You are all winners today, you are writing the history of the CISM and of this military competition. I hope that such and similar sports competitions will strengthen the bonds between our armed forces and states – Djordjevic said.
The second and third place in the women’s race, completed by 12 members of the armed forces of 5 countries, were won by Sergeant Daniela Jordanova (Bulgaria) and professional soldier Mateja Mlinar (Slovenia), while slightly lower scores than the winner of the competition of 49 men from 6 countries were achieved by professional soldier Alez Zontar (Slovenia) and professional soldier Veselin Cinzov (Bulgaria).
The second place in the team lineup was won by the Slovenian team, followed by the Bulgarian and Serbian teams, while the Macedonian team came in fifth.Members of the Armed Forces of Serbia achieved satisfying results – professional soldier Natasa Culafic won the fourth place, followed by Lieutenant Colonel Nevena Jovanovic, while the most successful in the male competition was Captain Dejan Popovic, who took sixth place.
Contestants of the championship, held on August 6-9, in the course of the military training camp on Kopaonik, were teams of the armed forces of Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro and the host – Serbia. The competition included men’s running – 8.8 kilometers, or three lapses, and women’s running – 6 kilometers, or two lapses.
The championship was organized by the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Serbia, Delegation of the Republic of Serbia at CISM, in co-organization with the Municipality of Raska, PE Ski Resorts of Serbia, National Park Kopaonik and MK Resort, with the support of the Athletics Federation of Serbia and the Athletics Referee Association of Belgrade. At the end of the tonight’s championship closing ceremony, General Radovic handed over plaques to the officials of the co-organizers.Winners’ impressions
Captain Prundus stated after her victory that she was very happy, and that the race had been rather demanding, but not too difficult.
- It was a bit harder for me because I had been ill the past few days, and had missed the training camp on Kopaonik and stayed in Romania. After my recovery, I came here, and after a long travel and fatigue, I managed to win – Captain Prundus said.Sergeant Major Laza felt victoriously good after his triumph.
- The race wasn’t very difficult. The rest of the men were really good. You know, they are younger; I am 32 years old, and winning the first place wasn’t easy – the best in the race stated.
PHOTOGALLERY
VIDEOGALLERYGet the Flash Player to see this player.
| - The race | FLV |
| - State Secretary Zoran Djordjevic's address | FLV |
| - Medal handover ceremony | FLV |
