The 2011 Gigathlon was held under the motto "on the rocks" and led the 5300 Gigathletes over hill and dale up to the Gornergrat. At 3089 meters above sea level, this is the highest point ever passed in a Gigathlon. Project manager Corsin Caluori draws a positive conclusion after the three days in Valais: "In glorious sunshine, we experienced an extraordinary sporting adventure through the beautiful Valais. I was particularly impressed by how top athletes and amateur athletes mastered the route together and lived the Olympic spirit." Many participants are still on the way, the last Gigathlete will not arrive at the finish line until Sunday evening at around 11 p.m.

Hürzeler wins the Gigathlon for the first time
Samuel Hürzeler had already taken the lead on Friday after the first discipline, inline skating, and ultimately claimed a commanding start-to-finish victory. He crossed the finish line with a total time of 19 hours, 1 minute and 33 seconds. Hürzeler's toughest rival, last year's winner Marc Pschebizin, had to retire from the race. The German had been in second place on Saturday despite severe back pain, but did not compete on Sunday. Second and third place went to Oliver Imfeld (Sursee) and Bernhard Hug (Homberg b. Thun).

Nina Brenn wins for the fourth time in a row
In the women's race, Nina Brenn from Zurich earned her victory with an outstanding performance on Sunday. After opening up a lead of just four minutes over second-placed Andrea Huser (Aeschlen) on Saturday, she extended this to almost 20 minutes in the first mountain bike discipline on Sunday morning and never relinquished control of the race after that. The Zurich native crossed the finish line after 20 hours, 28 minutes and 4 seconds and won the Gigathlon for the fourth time in a row. Andrea Huser came second and Sonja Gerster (Unterseen) third.

The complete ranking list is available at www.gigathlon.ch

Single Men
1st Samuel Hürzeler (Steffisburg), 19:01:33
2nd Xavier Sigrist (La Sagne), 19:49:10
3rd Oliver Imfeld (Sursee), 19:52:48

Single Women
1st Nina Brenn (Zurich), 20:28:04
2nd Andrea Huser (Aeschlen ob Gunten), 21:15:12
3rd Sonja Gerster (Unterseen), 22:05:27

Couple
1st Salomon Goldwurst-Power (Gabriel Lombriser (Büsserach)/Barbara Bracher (Thun)) 18:36:09
2nd RADYS.COM (Adrian Ruhstaller (Magglingen)/Rita Bürgi Ruhstaller (Magglingen)) 18:55:55
3rd AEK Bank 1826 (Tobias Walser (Sargans)/Alexandra Gammeter (Steffisburg)) 19:12:31

Team of Five
1st Orthopädie St. Gallen (Nicole Begg (Neus/Inline)/Patrick Schelling (Hemberg/Race bike)/Natalie Hirsekorn (Wittenbach/Swimming)/Lukas Ebneter (Appenzell/Running)/Christof Bischof (Diepoldsau/MTB)) 6:46:24
2nd Goldwurst-Power (Laurien van der Graaf (Davos/Inline)/Hubert Schwab (Frenkendorf/Race bike)/Arlette Alexander (De/Swimming)/Martin Anthamatten (Zermatt/Running)/Friedrich Dähler (Ettingen/MTB)
3rd Eitzinger Sports (Seraina Mischol (Davos/Inline)/Patrick Leuzinger (Ennenda/Race bike)/Susanne Keller (Swimming)/Helmut Perreten (Unterseen/Running)/Sämi Jud (Oetwil am See/MTB)

Source: Press release, www.gigathlon.ch