BOclassic with Serhiy Lebid and Mo Farah 

About three weeks before the 35th edition of the BOclassic, the international New Year's Eve run in Bozen/Bolzano, the cast is becoming always more concrete. After  last year's winner Edwin Soi, the OC could also commit record winner Serhiy Lebid and Mo Farah. The British runner finished second  in the European XC before Lebid. Aniko Kalovics, winner of 2006, participates in the women's field.

The annual European XC is a very important criteria for BOclassic's OC on their search for stars. "We want to commit top runners in top form for the best cast New Year's Eve run" Gianni Demadonna declares. 

The athlete's manager had the fivefold BOclassic winner Serhiy Lebid and the Brit Mo Farah high on his wish list. After yesterday's bronze and silver in Dublin, he had no further doubts about their commitment.

Lebid is the only European winner of the BOclassic since 1990. Nobody got more victories in Bozen/Bolzano than the Ukrainian with his  five victories . Furthermore, Lebid won eight times the European XC. Last year, he finished second in Bozen/Bolzano, beaten only by Edwin Soi. The Kenyan, placed third in the Olympics of Beijing, is again the favourite.

Besides Lebid, Soi has to dread at least one further European. The Brit Mo Farah finished second in yesterday's European XC before Lebid. Farah was European X winner in 2006 and this year's European Indoor champion over 3000 m. Born in Mogadishu (Somalia), he has been living in England since his childhood. In 2006, Farah also finished second in the EC and this June, he took the European team champion title over 5000 m. Presently, he is the strongest European over 5000 m. With the last two WC, Farah finished sixth and seventh as best European. Italian Daniele Meucci will also show up in Bozen/Bolzano after yesterday's ninth place. 

Besides Soi and Lebid, another BOclassic winner will come to Bozen/Bolzano: the Hungarian Aniko Kalovics. In 2006, she finished the African winning series, lasting 12 years with an impressive gun-to-tape win.

Placings of Serhiy Lebid in Bozen/Bolzano:

2008 2.

2007 4.

2005 3.

2004 1.

2003 1.

2002 1.

2001 1.

2000 2.

1999 1.

1998 18

Biography of Mo Farah: http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=f/country=gbr/athcode=179892/index.html