New York, .- The Polish Piotr Lobodzinski won on Tuesday the vertical race of the Empire State Building, which involved more than 200 people from more than a dozen countries, which rose 86 floors and 1,576 steps of the historic New York building.
Lobodzinski took 10 minutes and 5 seconds to cross the finish line, followed by distance, more than a minute away, by Wai Ching Soh of Malaysia and Fabio Ruga of Italy.
Suzy Walsham, from Australia, was the first woman to climb the Empire State in 12 minutes and 18 seconds in what is her tenth victory of this race, Laura Manning, from Finland, was the second woman and Cindy Harris, from the USA , that last year came second, this time was the third.
Walshman, 45, was facing Cindy Harris, the world number two skyscraper racing, after the Australian citizen won on May 4 another competition in Taipei in which they had to climb 101 floors.
“The Empire State Building is the most iconic building in the world, so it makes sense that this vertical race is the most iconic athletic challenge in the world,” Walshman said in a statement.
Among the winners of the men’s race were not some of the favorites, like the American Sproule Love or Ralf Hascher of Germany, who last year staged a very tight race in which Love reached the finish line with just one second of advantage.
Also participating in the competition were riders from New Zealand, Belgium, the United Kingdom, China, Spain, Mexico and Canada in an event sponsored by the Turkish airline Turkish Airlines, which led to the New York tower, more than 440 meters high, to be illuminated with the colors of the company, white and red.
In more than 40 years of history, more than 8,000 athletes have reached the top of the Empire State Building, located on Fifth Avenue at the height of 34th Street in Manhattan. (EFE)
