Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå is the best mountain biker in history. Her most successful season was 2004, when she not only triumphed at the Marathon World Championships in Bad Goisern, but also became European and World Champion in Cross Country in the same year and won the gold medal for Norway at the Olympic Games in Athens. Since the 2019 season Gunn-Rita has not been running any more World Cup races and now enjoys competing in the most beautiful marathons with many like-minded people without any pressure to perform. On 18th July this extraordinary athlete will be at the start of the Salzkammergut Trophy in Bad Goisern and tackle the 210 km course!
The extreme course is also a special sporting event for Gunn-Rita, as she says herself:
"I am really looking forward to coming back to Bad Goisern for the Trophy! In 2002 I started on the Trophy B course at the European Marathon Championships. The long climb from Hallstatt to the Roßalm and the descent to the Gosausee were uniquely beautiful sections. I also still have fond memories of the 2004 World Championships course, especially the long downhill to Bad Ischl and the spectacular route through the Ewige Wand. At that time, the course was very similar to the first part of today's Trophy A course.
This year I chose the Trophy extreme course! Even if or just because I know the entire course, I have great respect, especially since I have never had to cover such a long distance in a mountain bike race on a single day. Since I don't train long distances as much as I used to, I'm really excited about the challenge that's coming up. 210 Km and more than 7000 meters of climbing will also be the sportive highlight of the year 2020 for me!