Three days of intensive racing in the 2026 Skyrunning World Championships concluded today with the SKY discipline where Italy’s Luca Del Pero and Poland’s Patrycja Stanek claimed gold.
Three main skyrunning disciplines – VERTICAL, SKYULTRA and SKY, featured in the championships held on the island of La Gomera in Spain’s Canary Islands on September 18-20, 2026.
The SKY course, 29 km long with 1,900m vertical climb, covered the final stretch of the SKYULTRA course Starting in Hermigua in the northeast of the island and finishing in San Sebastiàn de la Gomera on the Atlantic coast, the hub of the championships.
The final climb was once again key in determining the men’s race. Del Pero took the lead and, with a final push, overtook Spaniards Dimas Pereira and Fabian Venero. He closed in 2h43’27” to secure the well-deserved gold. Pereira, just over a minute later took the silver, while the bronze went to Poland’s Dominik Tabor. Venero, 2025 SKY European and Youth World Champion, after leading for more than half the race, had to settle for fourth and Lukasz Wachala from Poland rounding out the top five.
“I tried the course before and so I knew how to manage my performance,” commented Del Pero. “The race seems easy but it’s not, with four steep ascents and descents alternating with runnable stretches. I knew it would be hot and I suffered a lot. I kept my position in sixth, seventh position and, one step after the other, overtook the others in the last 15 kilometres to take the lead – and the win.”
Poland’s Patrycja Stanek led the women’s race from the start, extending her advantage near the halfway point and holding off a late challenge by Norway’s Eva Simonsen on the final descent. Stanek clinched gold in 3h20’29”, with Simonsen taking silver.
Stanek’s enormous talent was evident from the start. “I started running in the mountains at the 2023 Youth World Championships and took third in the SKY. A year later I was fourth in the VERTICAL and third in the SKY. After that I started with the Skyrunner® World Series – I was third at the Ultraks Extreme in August. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible, so I’d like to go back next year. This was my first senior World Championship and I was first! I’m really happy.”
Italy’s Cecilia Basso, 2018 Youth World Champion, looked out of contention for a podium place while in 13th position on the course, but with amazing effort conquered the bronze. Briton Carys Mai Hughes concluded in fourth, after battling for a podium place. Spain’s Ana Granda was fifth.
World titles and 27 medals were awarded overall to Individuals and Official Teams, together with a Combined title based on the best results of the VERTICAL and SKY races.
270 athletes from 36 countries took part in the events. All 36 countries took points and 10 countries won medals.
The country ranking is based on the points accrued by the two best men and women across the three disciplines. Replicating the 2024 World Championships, Spain, Italy and Japan lead the country ranking. Japan took the bronze for the third consecutive time.
Gomera Paradise race director, José Antonio Rodríguez Herrera, commented, “We are delighted to have hosted the World Championships on our small island of La Gomera, and grateful to the ISF for giving us the opportunity to showcase our island to the world. Of course, we also thank all the runners from around the world and across the Canary Islands for choosing Gomera Paradise. Without you, none of this would be possible. Congratulations to all the winners and teams, especially the Spanish national team, who were crowned world champions on home soil.”
ISF President and skyrunning founder Marino Giacometti stated, “It’s been an incredible weekend on this spectacular island with strong athletes from across the world participating in the Skyrunning World Championships.
It’s an inspiration and an enormous satisfaction to see how much the sport has grown. We have to thank our members for developing skyrunning in their countries and for participating in championships. To see athletes who excelled in the Youth Championships over the years now shining on the international stage as seniors is heartening. Once again, I’d like to thank our Spanish member, FEDME, for hosting the event in their country and the excellent organisation of the Gomera Paradise team, together with the Canary Islands’ Tourist Office and the La Gomera council.”
Following ISF protocol, WADA antidoping tests were carried out in the SKYULTRA and SKY disciplines.
Medal count and country ranking
Course Certification + technical level
All athletes will be included in the ISF Ranking
Event website
FEDME website
SKY results
MEN
Gold – Luca Del Pero (ITA) 2h43’27”
Silver – Dimas Pereira (ESP) 2h44’10”
Bronze – Dominik Tabor (POL) 2h46’52”
WOMEN
Gold – Patrycja Stanek (POL) 3h20’29”
Silver – Eva Simonsen (NOR) 3h21’05”
Bronze – Cecilia Basso (ITA) 3h25’09”
COMBINED results
MEN
Gold – Luca Del Pero (ITA)
Silver – Dominik Tabor (POL)
Bronze – Pablo Van Hoorn (NED)
WOMEN
Gold – Eva Simonsen (NOR)
Silver – Corinna Ghirardi (ITA)
Bronze – Joke Descheemaeker (BEL)
TEAM RANKING
Gold – Spain 918 points
Silver – Italy 896 points
Bronze – Japan 594 points
