Madalina Florea aiming to turn podium positions into wins as GTWS heads to America

After finishing second at the Mont Blanc Marathon and third at Sierre-Zinal, Madalina Florea will try to claim her first victory in the 2024 Golden Trail World Series in the United States this weekend.

The Romanian was the winner of the Golden Trail Series Grand Final last season and she’s relishing taking on the best of the best again in California at both the Headlands 27k and the Mammoth 26k.

Learning process

Last time out the Tatra SkyMarathon was cancelled because of torrential rain and thunderstorms but Florea was even looking on the bright side after that.

When asked by the GTWS’ Mickaël Mussard about the rule change that has led to (with just three races rather than four counting towards the standings), she said: “For me, it was a great thing because, without that change, some women wouldn’t have been able to finish the series.

“And for me, I want to race against the best athletes in the world in all the races. Now, we’re flying to the US, and I’m really happy to see that some of the top competitors will be there.

“I don’t pay much attention to the general ranking; what I focus on are the names of the women on the races and what I can learn and improve in each race. For example, at Mont Blanc, I changed my tactics to try to stay with the group and not start too fast. In the U.S., I want to start fast, but I’ll have to manage to finish well. But if I don’t learn something from a race, it’s useless, even if I win.”

Winning strategy?

She has just finished a big training block in the mountains in Romania and added: “Sometimes, when I train really hard, I tend to push myself a bit too much because I don’t really know where I’m at, and I kind of feel that way now. So, I took two rest days to try to recover a bit. I feel some muscle tension, but I’m doing okay.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming races in America and asked which of the two suits her best, she replied: “Both, I think. Last year, I finished third at Mammoth but got lost during the race, so this year, I’ll be sure to check the course ahead of time to avoid making the same mistake.

“I think the key will be to stick to my strategy exactly because I know that athletes like Joyce [Njeru] or Anna Gibson will have the same speed as me, and if I don’t apply a perfect race strategy, I won’t be able to perform well.

“That’s why I need to check the courses too, to see what strategy to apply. But clearly, I think it will be important to start fast enough but not too fast, to avoid crashing before the end.”