2nd CISM Balkan Mountain Running Championship on Vršac Hill successfully completed – Nevena Jovanović, Hüseyin Can triumph

The second CISM Balkan Mountain Running Championship was held today on a circular route over Vršac Hill. Competitors from the armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Türkiye and Serbia took part in the competition. Women competed in a 6 km race, while male competitors ran an 8 km race course.
 
The event is the result of a successful, decade-long cooperation between the Balkan countries’ armed forces under CISM’s Balkan Military Games Project. As part of this project, regional Balkan military championships are organized in various sporting events, including mountain climbing.
  Local competitor Nevena Jovanović won the women’s individual race in 29 minutes and 01 seconds, ahead of two representatives of the Bulgarian Armed Forces – runner-up Marinela Cekova (29:47) and third place finisher Antonya Grigorova (31:34). The Bulgarian team (Marinela Cekova and Antonya Grigorova) triumphed in the team race, beating the Serbian runners-up (Nevena Jovanović and Nataša Popović) and Montenegrin third place finishers (Andrea Saitaj and Jelena Ivković).

The Turkish men’s national team won a double victory, beating fierce competition. Hüseyin Can finished first in 30 minutes and 54 seconds, the runner-up was Murat Emektar (31:42), while the Serbian representative Đuro Borbelj, last year's winner and a member of the Military Academy’s Sports Unit, took third place, finishing in 31 minutes and 50 seconds.
 
The Turkish team (Hüseyin Can, Murat Emektar and Mahsum Değer) triumphed in the men’s team race ahead of the Serbian team (Đuro Borbelj, Miodrag Vukić and Janko Urošević), while the BiH team finished third (Neven Cicović, Dejan Žerajić and Matija Ivaković).

Cups and medals were presented to the winners by the Head of the Serbian Delegation to CISM, Col. Assoc. Prof. Negovan Ivanković, Ph.D., accompanied by heads of delegations and representatives of the City of Vršac and the Vršac Athletic Club “VAK 1926”. At the championship’s closing ceremony, Colonel Ivanković thanked the competitors for the commitment they had shown and excellent scores they had achieved, despite severe weather conditions. He said that sport was extremely important for members of the military to develop a healthy lifestyle, which, in turn, was very important for developing virtues and collective identity within the military profession. Over the past two days, all competitors and heads of delegations presented their countries and armed forces in the best light possible, he said.
  Organisational units of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, the City of Vršac, PUC "2nd October", Vršac Athletic Club "VAK 1926", Tourist Organization of Vršac, Serbia Timing and Hotel "Vila Breg" helped the Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to CISM to organize and hold the competition.