September 25, 2008 – The end of the summer also signifies the end of the dry-land season and the 2008 FIS World Cup Roller Skiing. This year’s edition of the FIS World Cup concluded last weekend in an awesome atmosphere in Thessaloniki, Greece. The long summer season included events at six different World Cup venues and a total of 15 competitions in Italy, Germany, Croatia and Greece.

The dominators of the season were the Italians Mateja Bogatec and Emanuele Sbabo, who won the overall ranking in the main category. Bogatec, second in the 2007 overall standings, won the ladies’ title with a margin of 162 points over Elena Ektova (Rus). Erika Bettineschi (Ita) took third, 255 points behind her compatriot Bogatec.

On the men’s side, Emanuele Sbabo succeeds Igor Glushkov (Rus) who took second this year, 54 points behind Sbabo. Simone Paredi (Ita) finished third. The Nations’ Cup went to Italy in a dominating fashion, ahead of Russia and Germany.

In the junior category, Solange Chabloz (Ita) and Ragnar Bragvin Andresen (Nor) claimed victory in the overall rankings.

FIS and the FIS Roller Skiing Sub-Committee led by Özkan Koyuncu can be proud of a successful season with more than 200 athletes from 20 countries, the highest number ever in the history of the FIS Roller Skiing World Cup.