European Race Walking Team Championships

Marc Tur walked the race of his life to win the men&rsquo;s 50km race walk at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, Czech Republic on Sunday (16) in 3:47:40.
Not only that, but the Spaniard recorded an Olympic qualifying time more than two minutes inside the 3:50:00 limit.
The tall athlete with a languid style, started to smile with two kilometres to go, and by the final 500 metres was beaming. His previous 3:54:51 best from 2019 was history, and a slow start paid dividends in a race he led only at the 43 kilometre-checkpoint.
Tur passed the long-time leader Karl Junghannss, who went for broke in a final bid for the Olympic German team. At one stage, he was three minutes up on the chasers, but that long, lone effort was doomed the instant Tur took over at the front.
He breezed past the flagging German, who dipped his head slightly in acknowledgment of the end of a brave solo effort. Junghannss eventually faded to eighth in 3:52:07 although he did have the consolation of taking silver in the team race.&nbsp;
[INSTAGRAM ID="http://www.instagram.com/p/CO8tf_jtbg2"]
Chasing Tur was Aleksi Ojala who was sporting a sun visor and dark glasses. The Finnish walker has suffered his fair share of non-finishes in major races, but this time he held his nerve to also record an Olympic qualifier in 3:48:25.
Italy&rsquo;s Andrea Agrusti just dipped under the mark needed for Tokyo in third in 3:49:52. As he waved to supporters in the final few metres, it looked as if he might miss out, but came home with eight seconds to spare. Agrusti also led Italy to the team title ahead of Germany and Ukraine.
From a long way back, Latvia&rsquo;s Ruslans Smolonskis charged through for fourth in 3:50:31, with only Ojala missing out on a personal best among the first four.
Italian veteran Marco De Luca was fifth in 3:50:48 while the oldest man in the event Jesus Angel Garcia, 51, was 20th in 4:01:14 in what will surely be his last appearance at the European Race Walking Team Championships.
Drisbioti surprises Giorgi for 35km title
Antigoni Drisbioti claimed the best result of a 20-year career when she paced herself perfectly to win the inaugural women&rsquo;s 35km race walk.
The 37-year-old Greek has been only moderately successful at 20km race walk but the longer distance is where she has found her forte. She was blowing kisses over the final 500m of an unassailable lead.
Italy's arguable pre-race favourite Eleonora Giorgi put down the hammer from the off to notch 9:12 after 2km.. At this point, she was actually third on the road in the men&rsquo;s 50km and leading her own race with teammate Marco de Luca alongside for company.
However, she soon picked up two disqualification cards to put her on the back foot, followed by tears and clear discomfort around the 14-kilometre mark.
There was a rueful look from Giorgi as she was passed by Drisbioti, and then ,somehow with all seemingly falling apart around her, found a second wind.
She moved back into second from fourth after passing Spain&rsquo;s Maria Juarez and Nadzeya Darazhuk from Belarus over the last 10km although Giorgi still looked inconsolable as she crossed the line.
In contrast, teammate Lidia Barcelli passed a tiring Juarez with a lap to go and was delighted with bronze and a near seven-minute PB. Except for Giorgi, the top 10 finishers in the women&rsquo;s 35km race walk all recorded lifetime bests. Italy won team gold ahead of Greece and Belarus respectively.
A notable non-finisher was Portugal&rsquo;s Ines Henriques, one of the early standard bearers for the 50km race walk and a former world record holder for the distance. Henriques withdrew from the race at around 20 kilometres.
There was drama in the men's U20 10km when the apparent winner went from first to fourth some time after the finish.
Dimitri Durand lit the afterburners with a lap to go and came home eleven seconds clear of Spain's Jose Luis Hidalgo but the Frenchman&rsquo;s sprint had cost him dearly. He picked up a 60-second penalty so the three behind him all moved up a place as Durand was relegated from the podium.
Hidalgo was officially followed home by teammate Paul McGrath, with the bronze going to Serhat Gungor from Turkey. It was a considerable personal best for Hidalgo, who belatedly celebrated his 19th birthday last Wednesday by slicing 41 seconds off his previous mark.
Even with the penalty, Durand equalled his 42:26 lifetime best in fourth. His country also claimed team silver behind Spain but ahead of Turkey.
A home win was duly delivered by red-hot favourite Eli&scaron;ka Martinkova in the U20 women&rsquo;s race.
In truth, the competition was over in little more than a minute as the Czech walker put 50 metres between herself and the entire field. It was then a solitary display of superiority all the way to the finish for the 18-year-old with a line of blue kinesthetic tape on her arm.
The next tape that mattered was the winning variety, and she had started interviews before the top 10 trailed in behind her. Her finishing time 45:46 was another personal best in a procession of outstanding perfromances that has seen her hack 10 minutes from her time in just two years.
Behind her, Portugal&rsquo;s Adriana Viveiros recorded a personal best of 47:01, just ahead of Mael Bire-Heslouis for a French U20 record.
The team competition couldn&rsquo;t have been tighter with Portugal just edging past France for gold, and the Czech Republic taking third.
Full results <a href="https://results.onlinesystem.cz/ResultsOverall/Index/2148" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Tur triumphs in the 50km race walk in Podebrady

Antonella Palmisano won her second European Race Walking Team Championships title in Podebrady, Czech Republic on Sunday (16) while Sweden's Perseus Karlstrom also followed suit in the 20km race walk.&nbsp;
The Italian&rsquo;s fondness for the Czech spa town reached a new high having won the individual title on this very same course four years ago before returning to win the annual and long-standing race walking event last autumn.
Her latest triumph saw her eclipse compatriot Eleonora Giorgi&rsquo;s course record to land a very impressive 1:27:42 and win by a considerable margin. Her victory was exactly like October last year when she took a decisive lead at halfway, stepped off the gas, and then put her foot down again in the final quarter.
The others must have forgotten because it looked as if the 2018 European bronze medallist had overcooked it when three Spaniards clawed back her lead at the 16 kilometre mark. Instead, Palmisano found another gear to go away a second and decisive time.
That second burst put paid to the chances of reigning European champion Maria Perez and her Spanish compatriots Laura Garcia-Caro and Raquel Gonzalez as far as the individual title was concerned. However, the trio held on in that order to cement a commanding team win for Spain.
[INSTAGRAM ID="http://www.instagram.com/p/CO77YgAFSJg"]
The early pace was set by Katarzyna Zdzieblo who led through the two kilometre checkpoint. The Pole was reeled in shortly after, but the leading group of 10 was biding its time as she survived all the way to halfway in 44:41.
Indeed, the leaders were spread across the course, suggesting the pace was comfortable. Palmisano then dipped her toe to see what the pack could do by increasing the pace by 10 seconds a lap. She left the rest trailing, but four kilometres later it looked as if she had made a big mistake. If it was a feint to dishearten her pursuers, it worked a treat.
Behind Palmisano and the three Spaniards, Ayşe Tekdal was a surprise fifth place. She was expected to play a supporting role to Meryem Bekmez, the European U18 and U20 champion, as Turkey&rsquo;s best hope for a medal. However, the latter had a bad day and Tekdal came through in 1:29:47, a 25 second improvement on her previous best.
The strong Ukrainian challenge didn't disappoint and Olena Sobchuk, Hanna Shevchuk and Lyudmila Olyanovska came in next - all under 1:30:00 and all within two seconds of each other - for team silver ahead of Italy with bronze.
Karlstrom retains men's 20km race walk title
Perseus Karlstrom could have knocked a few seconds off his course record in the men&rsquo;s 20km race walk. Instead, the Swede stopped at the final feed station, not for a drink, but the same mock Viking helmet and Swedish flag he wore through the finish line two years ago in Alytus, Lithuania.
Same fun gear, same result. And in doing so, the Swede became the first walker in championship history to win back-to-back titles in the men's 20km race walk.
Like Palmisano, the world bronze medallist has a real affinity with Podebrady. He won here last October and also took bronze at the European Race Walking Team Championships four years ago on the same course.&nbsp;
[INSTAGRAM ID="http://www.instagram.com/p/CO8XC1wnDzh"]
As he has done in the past, Karlstom was forced to stay cool in warm conditions as he saw European U23 silver medallist Salih Korkmaz sprint away from the start. He was quickly clocking sub four-minutes for the one kilometre circuit and was out of sight at times until halfway.
The chasing group of 10 then shed Great Britain&rsquo;s Tom Bosworth and Italy&rsquo;s Matteo Giupponi just before 11 kilometres while Karlstom and Spaniards Diego Garcia and Alvaro Martin worked through the gears to catch Korkmaz at exactly the 13 kilometre mark.
The determined Turk tried to inch an advantage over the next three laps, but every time he pushed, the other three latched onto his shoulder. Finally, Korkmaz, now looking wide-eyed and desperate as he strove to get air into his lungs, felt the effects of his precocious start and fell out of medal contention at the 16 kilometre mark.
A couple of laps later the elastic also stretched on Garcia, who drifted back a few seconds - soon to be followed by Martin.
The race was done by the time Karlstom donned his hat. But again, Spain underlined their strength in depth when Martin came home for silver in a lifetime best of 1:19:14. He was followed five seconds later by Garcia.
Former World and European champion Miguel Angel Lopez quietly came through for fourth to confirm yet another Spanish team gold. His time of 1:19:25 was only 11 seconds slower than his best time set six years ago, the same year he won the world title in Beijing.
Italy's Franciso Fortunato was in the form of his life to record 1:19:43 and knock a massive 2:18 off his best in the process to finish fifth.
France's Gabriel Bordier sprinted the last 50 metres to edge home the thickness of a vest from the spent Korkmaz for sixth place with both timed at 1:20:10.
Full results <a href="https://results.onlinesystem.cz/ResultsOverall/Index/2148" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Palmisano and Karlstrom repeat in the 20km race walk in Podebrady

The women&rsquo;s 20km race walk at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady on Sunday (16) should bring an intriguing three-way battle for the individual title.
The event will be streamed live through the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Athletics Facebook page</a>&nbsp;on Sunday courtesy of the Czech Athletics Federation and live results will appear&nbsp;<a href="https://results.onlinesystem.cz/ResultsOverall/Index/2148" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Final entries can also be found&nbsp;<a href="https://directus.european-athletics.com/assets/8932fb2d-89ea-4d63-9ed9-0480764abcbf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a>
After a low-key couple of years Maria Perez from Spain and Italy&rsquo;s Antonella Palmisano are back in form with the Olympic Games in Tokyo - although the race walking and marathon events will be held in more benign conditions in Sapporo - only weeks away.
But based on pedigree and recent races only Meryem Bekmez from Turkey is in the kind of shape to split the two senior champions. The European U18 and U20 champion set a personal best 1:28:48 in late March in Antalya, a 36 second boost on her national record.
By her own reckoning, Palmisano came back from her &lsquo;year of darkness&rsquo; in 2019 to win in Podebrady last October in 1:28:40, her fastest time since taking bronze at the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships. Palmisano was also a winner when Podebrady last staged the European Race Walking Team Championships in 2017.
But the Italian will have a struggle with Perez, the walker who unexpectedly won that title in the German capital almost three years ago now.
The Spaniard chalked up an impressive season&rsquo;s best of 1:28:26 at the Spanish Championships in March to win by more than two minutes. And to underline her strength, Perez also walked a national record of 2:44:17 for the 35km race walk one month prior.&nbsp;
Team gold looks headed towards either Spain or Italy. The Spanish ranks include Laura Garcia-Caro and Raquel Gonzalez who won individual silver and bronze in Alytus two years ago when Perez was their distant third counter in 11th. Joining Palmisano on the Italian team are Valentina Trapletti and Mariavittoria Becchetti who boast season&rsquo;s bests of 1:29:58 and 1:30:05 respectively.
Any spoke in that wheel should come from Ukraine. Their team which includes Lyudmila Olyanovska, Hanna Shevchuk and Olena Sobchuk have all either dipped under 1:30 already this year - or in Sobchuk&rsquo;s case - are just one second over.
The reigning champion Živilė Vaiciukevičiūtė, who triumphed on home soil in Alytus, will not be defending her title after unexpectedly announcing her retirement last year at the age of 24. The Lithuanian team in Podebrady does include her sister Monika and veteran Brigita Virbalyte.
The programme also includes the newly-introduced women&rsquo;s 35km race walk in which Antigoni Drisbioti has the best time of the year by more than five minutes over the next competitor.&nbsp;
The Greek&rsquo;s best time of 2:50:04 represents a decent clocking but lurking and ready to strike are Italy&rsquo;s Eleonora Giorgi and former world 50km race walk record-holder Ines Henriques from Portugal who also won at that distance in sweltering conditions at the 2018 European Championships.&nbsp;
Giorgi has the fastest lifetime best at 2:43:43 and is seeking back-to-back triumphs at the European Race Walking Team Championships after winning the 50km race walk in Alytus two years ago in a European record of 4:04:50.
Fellow Greek Kiriaki Filtisakou and Spaniards Maria Juarez and Julia Takacs, the latter a bronze medallist at 50km race walk in Berlin 2018, should also feature in the 23-strong field.
The U20 women&rsquo;s 10km is the one race of the day that could bring a home win. Eli&scaron;ka Martinkova walked 45:52 at Dudince in March to hack off a huge near four-minute improvement on her best from 2020.
If not the Czech, Lizaveta Hryshkevich from Belarus is next closest with 46:58 recorded just last month on home soil.
The rest of the field lag by two minutes and more behind the impressive favourites.

Perez and Palmisano poised to go head-to-head in Podebrady

The men&rsquo;s 20km race walk at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, Czech Republic on Sunday (16) should literally be a stroll through the park for two race walkers.
The event will be streamed live through the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">European Athletics Facebook page</a> on Sunday courtesy of the Czech Athletics Federation and live results will appear <a href="https://results.onlinesystem.cz/ResultsOverall/Index/2148" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Final entries can also be found <a href="https://directus.european-athletics.com/assets/8932fb2d-89ea-4d63-9ed9-0480764abcbf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a>
Reigning champion Perseus Karlstrom from Sweden and Turkey&rsquo;s Salih Korkmaz top the entry list in terms of best times for 2021 by a distance. The conundrum is: how hard will they go?
A good workout for both will undoubtedly bring sub-1:20 clockings, and maybe even the mouth-watering prospect of a sprint at the end. History would also be made if Karlstrom successfully defends his title as no athlete has ever won back-to-back individual titles in the men&rsquo;s 20km race walk before.&nbsp;
But Korkmaz is in the form of his life after setting a 1:18:42 lifetime best on home soil in Antalya on 6 March. It was a Turkish record, one which the 24-year-old already held from the previous year at the same place when he clocked 1:19:31.
Karlstrom goes into the race around Spa Park as the defending champion from Alytus two years ago and he notched up a time only three seconds shy of Korkmaz&rsquo;s time when he competed as a guest at the Spanish Championships in Murcia on 14 March.&nbsp;
What&rsquo;s more he has a lot of senior pedigree. The sporting world was forced to stand still for the majority of 2020, but the world bronze medallist from 2019 somehow managed to win four races, one of which was at the rescheduled annual race walking gala in Podebrady in mid-October.
If anyone knows what it&rsquo;s like to triumph in the Czech town that sees itself as the country&rsquo;s centre of race walking - it&rsquo;s Karlstrom. He also won individual bronze when the European Race Walking Team Championships was held on this very same course in 2017.
Behind the leading two should see a battle for bronze between Spaniards Diego Garcia and Alberto Amezcua who both eclipsed the 1:20-barrier in Murcia. Garcia helms a super strong Spanish team who will be seeking their third successive team title. Their ranks are bolstered by European silver medallist Alvaro Martin and former world and European champion Miguel Angel Lopez.
[INSTAGRAM ID="http://www.instagram.com/p/CO0KAFFBe3b"]
The unknowns are France&rsquo;s Gabriel Bordier and Kevin Campion, neither of whom have recorded times in the 20km race walk this year. Great Britain&rsquo;s Tom Bosworth, who could afford to ease off the pedal in the British Olympics Trials around Kew Gardens in March on his return from injury, and Frederico Tontodonati from Italy should also not be discounted.
The men&rsquo;s 50km race walk is the last chance saloon for anyone needing a sub-3:50 time that brings a seat on the plane to Tokyo for the Olympic Games this summer.
Closest to the mark is Alexandros Papamichail. The Greek was agonisingly short in Dudince in March where he finished in 3:51:03. If the 32-year-old - who has a lifetime best of 3:49:56 - can find the required 64 seconds in Podebrady, it&rsquo;s job done.
Likewise, Ukraine&rsquo;s Valeriy Litanyuk, whose 3:56:18 this year needs a good day around the park to hive off more than a kilometre. Teammates Ivan Banzeruk and Ihor Hlavan, who won gold and silver in Podebrady in 2017, will be a threat both individually and collectively for the team title as well.
Germany&rsquo;s Carl Dohmann and Nathaniel Seiler already have the qualifying mark for Tokyo after well-paced races in Frankfurt just last month but should still be up with the leaders. Their team chances will be further embellished by the inclusion of fellow sub-3:50 performer Karl Junghannss.&nbsp;
Those yet to show their hand at the long distance this season include Stefano Chiesa and former champion Marco de Luca, both from Italy and both sub-3:50 operators at their very best.
Two-time Olympian Brendan Boyce from Ireland, whose 2:11:02 for the 30km race walk in December is a decent indicator of form, will also hope for a good morning in Podebrady.
Also hoping for a good morning is the venerable Jesus Angel Garcia, the 51-year-old who is seeking qualification for a potentially record-breaking eighth successive Olympic appearance later this summer. Garcia is by far the fastest entrant with a 3:39:54 lifetime best although that time dates all the way back to 1997 incidentally from Podebrady.
The U20 men&rsquo;s 10km race walk is set to be a great tussle - and if Spanish race walkers take all three podium spots - it won&rsquo;t be a surprise.
Topping the list is Spain&rsquo;s Paul McGrath - who has a Scottish father and a Spanish mother in case you wondered - with a 41:39 at Seville in February, a huge 69-second improvement on his personal best from last year.
Not far behind, and also in great form, are his compatriots Jose Luis Hidalgo, second to McGrath in Seville, Pablo Pastor (42:30) who was third, and Jorge Lopez, who walked 42:49 in January.
If there is to be a fly in the Spanish ointment it should come in the shape of Turkish race walker Serhat Gungor whose 42:06 on home soil in March was a one minute-plus improvement on his PB.
Factor in Taras Koretskyy from Ukraine, who has clocked 43:28 this year, and it will be a shock if the top seven come from anywhere else.

Karlstrom seeking back-to-back 20km race walk titles in Podebrady

The final entries for the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, Czech Republic on 16 May have been published and can be found <a href="https://directus.european-athletics.com/assets/8932fb2d-89ea-4d63-9ed9-0480764abcbf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
According to the final entries, 212 athletes - 111 men and 101 women - representing 25 Member Federations will be competing across the six events which make up the programme.
Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom is defending his title in the men&rsquo;s 20km race walk - and he will seek to become the first man in history to win back-to-back titles in the event - but the Spaniards will begin as the overwhelming favourites for their seventh team title.
There will also be keen interest in the progress of another Spaniard Jesus Angel Garcia in the 50km race walk. At 51, Garcia is the oldest athlete entered for Podebrady and he is seeking to secure what would be a record eighth Olympic appearance in Tokyo later this summer.
Garcia is one of the greats of this event with three victories to his name. He won the inaugural edition of this competition in 1996 - one year before his teammate Manuel Bermudez was even born - in La Coruna before back-to-back wins in 2000 and 2001.
The Spaniards will also have excellent individual and team chances in the women&rsquo;s 20km race walk courtesy of the likes of Laura Garcia-Caro and Raquel Gonzalez. Reigning champion Živilė Vaiciukeviciute unexpectedly retired last year although Lithuania will be represented by her twin Monika and the very experienced Brigita Virbalyte.
The women&rsquo;s 35km race walk replaces the 50km race walk in Podebrady. Two of the continental standard bearers of the 50km race walk - Portugal&rsquo;s Ines Henriques and Italy&rsquo;s Eleonora Giorgi - are among the entrants.
Live streaming details for the European Race Walking Team Championships will be communicated next week.

Final entries published for European Race Walking Team Championships

The idyllic Czech spa town of Podebrady will be playing host to this year&rsquo;s edition of the European Race Walking Team Championships, previously known as the European Race Walking Cup, on 16 May which has attracted interest from more than 250 race walkers representing 26 countries.
For the vast majority of prospective competitors, Podebrady will be familiar territory as the town hosted the 2017 edition of the biennial competition which was held under its previous alias of the European Race Walking Cup. And for any newcomers to Podebrady, this might not be their only excursion either as the event returns to Podebrady in both 2023 and 2025.
The roots of race walking in Podebrady date as far back as the nineteenth century and the town remains a lucrative fixture on the international circuit. The annual race walking gala is a European Athletics Race Walking Permit Meeting and this year&rsquo;s event will be held in conjunction with the European Race Walking Team Championships.
Last year&rsquo;s event, which was moved from its traditional springtime slot to the autumn owing to the coronavirus pandemic, was won by Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom and Italy&rsquo;s Antonella Palmisano, both of whom will be looking to extend their excellent records at the European Race Walking Team Championships.
After winning bronze in Podebrady four years ago, Karlstrom confidently strode to the individual title in the 20km race walk in Alytus, Lithuania in 2019 and recent form suggests the Swede is well placed to successfully defend his individual title in Podebrady next month.
[INSTAGRAM ID="http://www.instagram.com/p/Bxp7J37nmuz"]
Competing as a guest at the Spanish Championships in Murcia last month, Karlstrom marched to a dominant victory in 1:18:45 ahead of a strong Spanish contingent who won the team title in Alytus two years ago. Karlstrom won by almost one minute from European silver medallist Diego Carrera Garcia who will spearhead the Spanish team in Podebrady.&nbsp;
Karlstrom is currently the joint second fastest race walker in Europe this year, only three seconds behind Turkey&rsquo;s improving Salih Korkmaz who leads the 2021 European list with a national record of 1:18:42. Russia&rsquo;s Vasiliy Mizinov has also clocked 1:18:45 this year although he is yet to receive clearance to compete internationally as a neutral athlete.
Palmisano won her individual title on this very course in Podebrady four years ago when she memorably brandished a &lsquo;Forza Antonella&rsquo; flag as she crossed the finish-line but her title defence in Alytus ended in tears as she dropped out mid-race with illness.
Like Karlstrom, Palmisano will face a strong Spanish contingent in the 20km race walk including reigning European champion Maria Perez who leads the 2021 European list with 1:28:26 along with Laura Garcia-Caro and Raquel Gonzalez who won individual silver and bronze medals two years ago and led Spain to the team title.
As well as men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 10km races for U20 athletes, the programme also includes the men&rsquo;s 50km race walk as well as the newly introduced women&rsquo;s 35km race walk. The latter event is due to feature Eleonora Giorgi who won the 50km race walk in Alytus two years ago in a European record of 4:04:50.&nbsp;
The men's 50km race walk will be graced by the venerable and indefitagable Jesus Angel Garcia who will almost certainly be the oldest participant competing in Podebrady at the age of 51. Garcia won the inaugural edition of the European Race Walking Cup in 1996 before subsequent victories in 2000 and 2001. A good showing in Podebrady will put Garcia in the fray to represent Spain at a potentially record-breaking eighth successive Olympic Games in Tokyo later this summer.
Media wishing to cover the European Race Walking Team Championships can apply for accreditation by downloading and filling out <a href="https://directus.european-athletics.com/assets/57dc4273-d055-481f-9c2a-c1cdaec8ef34" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this form</a>.

One month to go until the European Race Walking Team Championships

Reigning European champions Maria Perez and Alvaro Martin are two of the standout names on a strong Spanish team for the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady, Czech Republic on 16 May.
Spain was the most successful nation at the last edition of this competition which took place two years ago under its previous alias of the European Race Walking Cup, winning eleven medals in total including gold medals in both the senior men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 20km race walk events.
Perez and Martin were both part of those gold medal-winning teams in Alytus, Lithuania although neither of them finished with an individual medal. Perez could only manage a 14th-place finish in the women&rsquo;s race while Martin was the second counter for Spain with a fifth-place finish in the men&rsquo;s race.
From an individual standpoint, Perez is expected to improve substantially in the Czech spa town and the reigning European champion is one of the prospective title favourites with just over six weeks until the event. She warmed up for Podebrady with a commanding victory at the Spanish Championships in Murcia in 1:28:26, the fastest time by a European - excluding Russian walkers who haven&rsquo;t been cleared to compete internationally - this year.&nbsp;
Perez strode out to victory by more than two minutes ahead of compatriots Raquel Gonzalez (1:30:47) and Laura Garcia-Caro (1:31:09), the individual bronze and silver medallists from Alytus two years ago when they spearheaded Spain to the team title.&nbsp;
Both Gonzalez and Garcia-Caro have been named on the Spanish team for Alytus along with Julia Takacs who steps back down to the 20km race walk after winning an individual silver in the 50km race walk two years ago.
Martin was the third Spaniard home in Murcia earlier this month in 1:20:59, beaten by European silver medallist Diego Garcia (1:19:40) and Luis Alberto Amezcua (1:19:54). All three race walkers will be on Spanish team duties in Podebrady along with former world and European champion Miguel Angel Lopez, the elder statesman of the team at the age of 32.
[INSTAGRAM ID="https://www.instagram.com/p/CMakqJLMjKC"]
This same quartet competed for Spain two years ago when they romped to the team title with Garcia, Martin and Lopez finishing third, fifth and sixth respectively as their three scoring counters.
Spain will also be sending teams to compete in the women's 35km and men's 50km race walk events as well as both the men's and women's U20 10km races. More details about the Spanish team for Podebrady can be found <a href="https://rfea.es/web/noticias/desarrollo.asp?codigo=13279#.YGMJhl1KjDJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

European champions Perez and Martin headline Spain’s team for Podebrady

This could be the year of the underdog - at least Zivile Vaiciukeviciute hopes so.
The surprise winner of the European Race Walking Cup on 19 May thinks a second bite of a tasty apple awaits in the heat of Doha.
The 23-year-old twin is more than aware that the next major 20km is like no other: the gun goes on the IAAF World Championships final at 11.30pm on 29 September - about the time Vaiciukeviciute normally sips her bed time cocoa, or the Lithuanian equivalent.
The effect of a unique race spanning two days is intriguing. Who will adjust, and who will turn into a pumpkin as athletes hit the midnight hour? “It’s difficult to imagine what will happen in Doha,” she offered. “That midnight start will be interesting for everyone, and probably different from anything else that's gone before, so maybe it gives a chance to everyone rather than a small group of favourites.”
Vaiciukeviciute believes the desert is as good a place as anywhere to replicate the calm and cool that saw her triumph in Alytus, even though there are more than 20 walkers with faster 2019 times.
That’s not the name of the game in World Championship racing, as Lu Xiuzhi found out two years ago. Headed for a medal at London 2017, the Chinese race walker met the dreaded red disqualification disc yards from the finish line.
The eventual bronze medal, Antonella Palmisano from Italy, was too distant to see she had moved into third until someone told her.
<iframe src='https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/videos/2444964908867061/&show_text=0&width=560' width='560' height='315' style='border: none; overflow: hidden;' scrolling='no' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' allowfullscreen='true'></iframe>
As for Vaiciukeviciute in the same race, she was nearly a lap behind but still scored a 1:31:23 PB for 19th. That was two years ago: this is now. The Lithuanian is three minutes quicker than her London mark and now mixing it with the best.
Last year at the European Championships in Berlin, she recorded 1:28:07 for fifth, also a national U23 record, while treading on the heels of long-time Lithuanian number one, Brigita Virbalyte-Dimsiene.
The latter had a bad day in Alytus, and looked slightly shocked as the understudy lapped her in the closing stages but even then the fierce fight for gold was far from over.
Vaiciukeviciute inched ahead of Spain’s Raquel Gonzalez but when that battle was won, Laura Garcia-Caro picked up the pace to push the Lithuanian all the way to the line.
At halfway through the final lap, it looked as if Garcia-Caro was making ground, but as both turned the final corner, the eventual winner dug deep to forge home.
In fact, Vaiciukeviciute reeled off 2kms splits with never more than seven seconds between them; and only appeared in the front two on the penultimate lap.
Buried behind shades with head down, she only made the telling move when it mattered.
The winner said she was surprised to break the tape, but her progress tells a different story.
Third in Dudince in March, and fourth a month later in Podebrady battling classy international fields suggests she is getting used to life at the top.
“When you start to win one thing; it’s easier to win the next, and gradually you have the mentality to expect to do well,” she added. “All the same, I was surprised to be where I was during the race in Alytus, but then got used to it and relaxed. I felt better the more the race wore on, and thought a medal was a good possibility.
“There was no pressure because I was really thinking about a team medal. Of course, it helped I was competing in Lithuania at home. Everything was familiar.”
That team medal didn't materialise as it did in 2017 when Lithuania took bronze. However, the country still finished fourth and with the likes of 20km race walkers Artur Mastianica and Marius ÅÂ½iukas also knocking on the medal door, a tiny country of fewer than three million is clearly punching above its walking weight.
Vaiciukeviciute barely raised an eyebrow. She feels European success for Lithuania was always on the cards.
“We have a lot of great athletes,” she said. “It’s just taken time and dedication to gradually ease up the standings and achieve good results. I’m sure there is more to come.”
<div> </div>

 This could be the year of the underdog - at least Zivile Vaiciukeviciute hopes so. The surprise winner of the European Race Walking Cup on 19 May thinks a

Vaiciukeviciute relishes the role of underdog with Doha approaching

After winning the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus on 19 May in a championship record of 3:37:43, the big news from Yohann Diniz is there are two more 50km races in his career - and that’s it.
The Frenchman has no intention of becoming the force of nature that is his contemporary Jesus Angel Garcia from Spain who continues to defy the odds as well as Father Time by walking well under four hours as he did in Alytus at age 49.
Diniz will line up for the 50km nudging midnight on 28 September at the IAAF World Championships in Doha before bowing out altogether at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo - hopefully on a better note than in Rio de Janeiro four years earlier when illness wrecked his campaign for a medal. 
By Tokyo, he will be just five months short of his 43rd birthday and while it is not out of the question that Diniz could challenge for medals in big events over the course of the next decade (the third-placer in Alytus Joao Vieira from Portugal is 43), the world record-holder has designs to go out on top. 
There were question marks over whether he had recovered from fatigue fractures that denied him a European Championship appearance in 2018 but Diniz emphatically answered them all around the one kilometre loop in Alytus. 
In fact, the nearest anyone got to the multi-medallist was on the start line. 
From the gun, Diniz forged to the front, and by the five kilometre mark, he was 53 seconds ahead of his nearest pursuers. Thereafter, his metronomic head and legs reeled off five kilometre splits between 21:14 and 21:40. 
<iframe src='https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/videos/2833406716700243/&show_text=0&width=560' width='560' height='315' style='border: none; overflow: hidden;' scrolling='no' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' allowfullscreen='true'></iframe>
If that seems a wide-ish margin, the explanation was evident to all spectators and watchers on the live feed. Diniz had to endure two toilet stops but unlike the Olympic Games three years ago, this time he was able to dive into portable cabins on the side of the tree-lined road.
Even though the IAAF World Championships brings a phalanx of Japanese and Chinese race walkers ready to stamp on his heels in Doha, Diniz nonetheless shot to the top of the 2019 list in Alytus and it won’t do prospective challengers any good to learn his pace was deliberately slower than might have been gambled without the enforced injury break. 
“I had discussed with my coach and preferred to slow down in Alytus,” said Diniz after the race. 
“I know my opponents are willing to play second place and expect a failure on my part. So, you have to work mentally on it and trust your experience. As I get older, I get wiser - and at this rate, I should be ready for the perfect race at the 2036 Olympics!'
However, there is always a doubt over the head of the man from Reims when he lines up for the longer effort. He has succumbed in all three prior Olympic appearances so far, although he did manage to muster up an eighth-place in Rio de Janeiro despite collapsing on at least two occasions in the last fifteen kilometres. 
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-conversation='none' data-lang='en'>
Earlier today, Yohann Diniz returned to international action by winning the 50km race walk in a championship record and world lead of 3:37:43. 
Diniz 3:37:43 
Dziubin 3:45:51 
Vieira 3:46:38 
Brzozwski 3:46:42 
Boyce 3:48:13 
Alfredas Pliadis <a href='https://t.co/nkKMJfOTt5'>pic.twitter.com/nkKMJfOTt5</a>
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) <a href='https://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1130074748501807104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>May 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
But in the black-and-white world of Diniz, there is a gold medal from the World Championships in 2017, three from the European Championships - the latter in 2014 producing a current 3:32:33 world record; and a hat-trick of European Cup wins, the first in 2007 over 20km.
Feast or famine, it was hardly surprising Diniz admitted a dose of nerves on the Alytus start line. “I was pleased with the race,” he said. “But on the day, I felt a stress about the effort that was coming, the event - I had a ball in the stomach. 
“I had not raced for nearly two years, so I was lacking reference points and sensations in my body. I felt stiff to start with and picked up a disqualification card very early on. 
“It took me 20km to relax, but considering May brings the first high temperatures of the year, I am pleased with how it went. It felt really hot, but by August you are used to the heat.”
Dealing with the conditions was helped by a hyperthermic chamber back in Reims where the heat was literally turned up to aid acclimatisation. Barely a minute after he finished, Diniz was joking with teammates and media, and even asked one Russian journalist if he had brought any restorative vodka. 
But the French champion’s bonhomie belied an effort that was hard and long, and Diniz revealed the end of a stellar career is in sight. He heads to Font Romeu in the Pyrénées for more altitude training between 10 July and 10 August, and then back to Reims for final preparations ahead of Doha.
“I have two more 50km races as goals, and then I will retire for sure,” he said. 
“In Alytus I felt fine and it was also great I have qualified for Tokyo ahead of the 3.44:00 qualifying time, so all is well and I am savouring every moment and really, really enjoying it.
“I hope there are a couple more to come.”

 After winning the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus on 19 May in a championship record of 3:37:43, the big news from Yohann Diniz is there are two more 50km

Diniz: “I have two more 50km races and then I will retire for sure”

European Race Walking Cup champion Eleonora Giorgi discovered just how tough walking 50 kilometres is on Sunday (19) in Alytus when the event was held as part of the European Race Walking Cup programme for the first time.
Tough enough thinks the winner and newly minuted European record-holder to revise plans for a repeat in the scorching heat of Doha at the IAAF World Championships in September.
The 29-year-old stepped up to the long race after struggling with technical problems that saw her suffer crucial disqualifications over the last four years.
She was on the cusp for a medal at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in Rome three years ago before seeing the dreaded red disc thrust at her on the lip of the stadium with 200m to go while vying for the silver medal.
Before that, Giorgi was also removed by officials at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in 2015.
So it made sense for someone with her latent talent to dip a toe into a race where she could slow down, be technically sound from first to last, and still win. Even so, those debut 50 laps on the Alytus course in Lithuania have raised doubts about a second attempt.
“I will decide with my coach what I will do for Doha,” she said. “I would prefer to do the 50K, but it will depend on how long it will take me to recover. I am very competitive at the 20K also.”
Maybe. But it was over four years ago she set a personal best of 1:26:17 in winning her first European Cup title in Murcia despite two top spots at the same distance in March and April of this year.
<iframe src='https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/videos/866127147099301/&show_text=0&width=560' width='560' height='315' style='border: none; overflow: hidden;' scrolling='no' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' allowfullscreen='true'></iframe>
Those victories in Dudince and PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady were heartening and the latter was a solo 1:27:46 effort, the fastest time by a European in 2019
But there are a few - especially among the Chinese contingent - capable of walking a minute faster in Doha in spite of the conditions and a unique near midnight start.
Once Giorgi sits down with coach Gianni Perricelli, she might prefer to work out a way to even-pace racing rather than endure another two uneven halves as in Alytus.
“I had planned for four hours or 4:05 so it was fast,” she explained. “But 50K is hard and it is unpredictable. I got into my own rhythm and I felt good. However, I slowed down at halfway, and then realised that the Spanish girl [Julia TakÃ¥cs] was behind me so I had to fight in the last five kilometres.”
And fight she did. At 30km, Giorgi had more than four minutes over TakÃ¥cs but the European bronze medallist from Berlin - and a veteran of three other 50km races - moved smoothly through the field and ahead of European and world champion Ines Henriques from Portugal into second place.
That experience allowed TakÃ¥cs to increase her tempo and finish less than a minute behind Giorgi who nonetheless mounted a final 4:42 kilometre to counter the Spaniard’s late charge and come home in style.
<iframe src='https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/videos/2833406716700243/&show_text=0&width=560' width='560' height='315' style='border: none; overflow: hidden;' scrolling='no' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' allowfullscreen='true'></iframe>
Giorgi’s original plan was to study form and attach herself to a group of men aiming for four hours. She was forced to review the situation very soon after the 8:00am start in Alytus.
Nonetheless, unlike the relative sprint that is 20km, Giorgi also gave herself a bit of breathing space.
“I had hoped I could walk with and get help from the group of men and do four hours. But they were going faster than that so I had to walk alone,” she said. “It was all right. I could listen to my own rhythm, and also I had time to think.”
It also answered another question about whether mixed gender races could be useful to women getting a pacemaking tow from men? Clearly not, at least as far as Sunday went for the Italian champion.
Even so, Giorgi thinks there is still life in the 50km - at least for the next couple of years before proposed changes could see it make way for shorter events.
“I think the women deserve the same rights as the men, and we are improving fast and breaking records all the time like at Alytus, with the European record,” she said.
The summit meeting with her coach over the next few days will decide whether Giorgi tries to improve all the more at 50km - and on paper what would seem a near-certain IAAF World Championships medal - or take a gamble that is the return to 20km and a technically sound race.

 European Race Walking Cup champion Eleonora Giorgi discovered just how tough walking 50 kilometres is on Sunday (19) in Alytus when the event was held as part

Giorgi keeps all options open after breaking the European 50km race walk record

The European Athletics Executive Board has announced that PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady in the Czech Republic will stage the next three editions of the European Race Walking Team Championships, formerly known as the European Race Walking Cup, in 2021, 2023 and 2025.
The Czech spa town which is situated on the River Elbe is synonymous with race walking in athletics circles. PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady has already staged the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in 1997, the European Race Walking Cup in 2017 as well as the annual European Athletics Race Walking Permit Meeting which dates back to 1929.
Delving even further back into history, a 50km race walking event was held between Prague and PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady as far back as 1894 - two years before the first Summer Olympics in Athens and 38 years before the 50km race walk made its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 1932.
“We know PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady has a long history in staging well-organised and high quality international race walking events so we are therefore very happy to announce the next three editions of the European Race Walking Team Championships will take place in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady,” said European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen.
“The fact we have awarded PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady the next three editions of the European Race Walking Team Championships shows we have the fullest confidence in the Local Organising Committee to deliver the best environment for the athletes.”
The 2019 European Race Walking Cup took place on Sunday 19 May in the Lithuanian town of Alytus where Italy topped the medal table with three gold medals. One of those gold medals came from Eleonora Giorgi who won the inaugural staging of the women’s 50km race walk in a European record of 4:04:50.
In total, eleven European Athletics Member Federations - and one Authorised Neutral Athlete - won medals in Alytus.

 The European Athletics Executive Board has announced that PodÄ&#155;brady in the Czech Republic will stage the next three editions of the European Race

Poděbrady to stage European Race Walking Team Championships in 2021, 2023 and 2025

Eleonora Giorgi lived up to her billing to claim a first European Race Walking Cup title as well as a European record over 50km on her debut at the distance and with temperatures hovering around 25C by the finish.
The Italian removed the mark of 4:05:56 set by Portugal’s Ines Henriques that was originally a world best to win in 4:04:50, and did it the hard way.
As Diniz in the men’s event, Giorgi was away from the start, forging a big lead with every stride. She hit the 10 kilometre mark in 48:18 with Henriques (50:06) marginally ahead of Spain’s Julia Takacs and Khrystyna Yudkina from Ukraine. By the 25km mark, Giorgi was more than four minutes clear and wasn't too far off sub-four hour pace in 2:00:37.
As it turned out, the last 15 kilometres were understandably hard for Giorgi. At 31 kilometres, she still had more than four minutes over Takacs who had just moved into undisputed second. And the Spaniard - with experience at the distance - used it to good effect as she increased tempo to finish less than a minute behind Giorgi who still mounted a final rally to walk the last kilometre in 4:42.
Takacs was also under the previous European record in second, also regaining the Spanish record with 4:05:46. Henriques made up the podium in third in 4:13:57 and behind her there were personal bests for Ukraine’s Valentyna Myronchuk (4:15:50) and Nastassia Yatsevich from Belarus (4:16:39).
Bekmez delivers while Orsoni surprises in the U20 races
There was never a doubt about the winner of the women’s U20 10km as Meryem Bekmez destroyed the field to walk solo from the gun.
The young Turk’s only concern was weaving her way through 50km walkers throughout, and it needed a nifty piece of organisation to get the winning tape in place just before the 18-year-old broke it with something to spare.
Turkey was by far the strongest team on paper and so it proved with Evin Demir taking silver - albeit more than a minute behind her teammate. Neither posted a personal best, but in the heat and with medals on their mind rather than times - it didn't matter.
The surprise of the race saw the third Turk Kader Dost fade over the last two kilometres to be first passed by Pauline Stey from France and then in the last 200 metres by Estonia’s Jekaterina Mirotvortseva - the first time that country has made a top four finish in a major race and with a 48:05 national U20 record.
 [PHOTO src='1286932' size='mediumLandscape' align='right']
If Bekmez’s gold was an odds-on certainty - Riccardo Orsoni was a surprise U20 men’s winner. The Italian shrieked with delight as he broke the tape, which was hardly a surprise - 30 seconds earlier he had been a distant second.
Fate had intervened to deprive race favourite Lukasz Niedzialek of a gutsy win, when he was pulled over to the pit lane to serve a one-minute suspension in sight of the winning line. Orsoni duly seized his chance to not only win but remove 15 seconds from his PB in 42:43.
Spain’s Pedro Conesa had originally been part of a small group breathing down Niedzialek’s neck, but walked the second half of the race an isolated third only to receive a welcome silver instead. Right at the death, and with medal hopes seemingly dashed, Niedzialek sprung out of captivity and blasted the last 60 metres to make sure of bronze.
The individual winners also doubled their medal hauls as Turkey and Italy came away with the team honours in the U20 races.

 Eleonora Giorgi lived up to her billing to claim a first European Race Walking Cup title as well as a European record over 50km on her debut at the distance

Giorgi sets a European record of 4:04:50 on her 50km debut in Alytus

Yohann Diniz proved he was a worthy champion again when he walked solo - this time to a championship record at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on Sunday (19).
Neither heat - nor recent injury concerns - proved a stop to the Frenchman, 41, who was never in danger of missing out on a third title in competition history.
His pace was metronomic - 4:25 per lap - and stuck to it except for a fast finish to complete in 3:37:43 which was remarkable in the circumstances. His winning time was the third fastest of his career, bettered only by his world record of 3:32:12 which he set at the 2014 European Championships in Zurich and his championship record time of 3:33:12 from the IAAF World Championships in London two years ago.
As Diniz shaved more than three minutes off Vladimir Kanaykin's long-standing championship record, a very distant second went to Dzmitry Dziubin from Belarus who made a breakthrough leap to the podium after joining Diniz’s chasers at the 22 kilometre checkpoint. The Belarusian gradually forged a gap over the rest, walking the last 20 kilometres on his own to notch a 3:45:51 clocking - a PB by more than two minutes.
The bronze was something of another surprise on a morning of quite a few in four races. At 43, Portugal’s João Vieira prevailed to win a first 50km medal in a major competition - and nine years since he won silver in the European Championships in the 20km race walk.
In fact, it was his duel with Artur Brzozowski and Brendan Boyce that provided the race’s true excitement. For much of the second half, the three of them duelled, never more than a few seconds apart.
Irishman Boyce had to give way just after the 40 kilometre mark but he still walked to a PB - 3:48:13 for fifth - while there was a sprint between Poland’s Brzozowski and Vieira, with the Portuguese veteran edging it by four seconds.
Older still is Jesus Angel Garcia and the Spaniard, who won the inaugural edition of this event in 1996, was a creditable 15th in 3:57:51 just months away from his 50th birthday.
Garcia will still come away from Alytus with a silver medal in his hand luggage from the team race. The Ukrainians successfully defended their team crown with 26 points, comfortably ahead of Spain (43) and Belarus (49).

 Yohann Diniz proved he was a worthy champion again when he walked solo - this time to a championship record at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus,

Diniz smashes 50km championship record on his comeback race in Alytus

The women’s 20km race walk at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on Sunday (19) produced the race of the day - and the result of the day if you are Lithuanian.
The country’s fine form at team level finally produced the goods on an individual basis for Zivile Vaiciukeviciute. Bronze medallists two years ago, the home nation was fancied to do well as a collective again, and maybe Brigita Virbalyte-Dimsiene would be in the lead group.
But she looked slightly shocked as her understudy at the European Championships last year lapped her in the closing stages. Even then the fierce fight for gold was far from over.
Vaiciukeviciute inched ahead of Spain’s Raquel Gonzalez but then Laura GarcÃ­a-Caro picked up the pace to push the joyful Lithuanian all the way to the line.
Halfway through the final lap, Garcia-Caro was making ground, but as both made the final turn, the eventual winner dug deep to forge home.
From the start, defending champion Antonella Palmisano set out her stall and for half a kilometre European champion Maria Perez gave chase before easing back to settle in a group of 10.
Two laps later, Perez was disappearing back down the field and already 43 seconds behind the leader. The European champion from last year was clearly in trouble, and going backwards.
Despite her status as event poster girl in her hometown, maybe the pressure also got to Virbalyte-Dimsiene, who walked a national record 1:27:59 for fourth at Berlin 2018 - but was never in contention today.
Instead the baton was picked up by Vaiciukeviciute who set a national U23 record with 1:28.07 in that same race to finish fifth. She was right up with a group of six as Palmisano turned the screw but the best laid plans of race favourites often go astray and lap 13 proved unlucky for Palmisano as her early strength visibly drained.
Vaiciukeviciute and Gonzales drew level, and although the Italian tried everything she knew, the elastic snapped at at the 14km checkpoint.
For the first time in the day, local voices were cheering a possible home win and even the course commentator got in on the act to urge the crowd to up the decibels with ‘Vaiciukeviciute’ as a chant turned into three syllables. It was evident the medals were headed to the front three at 15km (1:11:54) and when Gonzales’s head was thrown back trying to gulp air over the closing stages, 23-year-old Vaiciukeviciute knew she was about to win her first major honour.
On a warm afternoon in Alytus, Vaiciukeviciute set a season’s best of 1:29:48 to defeat the Spanish duo of Garcia-Caro (1:29:55) and Gonzalez (1:30:17). Perez faded to eleventh in 1:34:08 while reigning champion Palmisano, who was such a convincing winner in Podebrady two years ago, was a non-finisher.
The Spaniards won the team title with 16 points from Italy (27 points) but the only disappointment for the home fans was Belarus pipping Lithuania to team bronze - 33 to 36 points.
Karlstrom takes the biggest win of his career in a European-leading time
Born in Sweden but made in Australia is close to the truth for Perseus Karlstrom who claimed victory in the men’s 20km race walk in Alytus in a European-leading time of 1:19:54.
Wearing fancy dress yellow and blue Viking helmet in the last 200 metres - which brought back memories of Karsten Warholm’s celebration at the IAAF World Championships in London two years ago - complete with fetching pigtails, the 29-year-old celebrated his first major victory by moving from third in Podebrady right to the top of the podium.
The Swede has spent several successful western winters in Australia and even has an Australian coach in Brent Vallance.
 [PHOTO src='1286929' size='mediumLandscape' align='right'] 
A trio of high profile wins at 20km this year in a row bodes well for Karlstrom ahead of the IAAF World Championships in Doha later this year and he played the waiting game to perfection in Alytus.
 
From the gun, Great Britain’s Tom Bosworth and defending champion Christopher Linke were first to show and shot through the three kilometre mark in 12:03 - but ominously a chasing group heaving with talent were biding their time.
The Brit inched ahead by two seconds at 5km (20:05) with Miguel Angel Lopez the first of a 12-strong throng, a further 11 seconds in arrears.
That gap from Bosworth to Linke grew wider by lap six, and the immediate chasers were down to seven. By the eight kilometre mark in 32:05 for the fair-haired leader, Bosworth was nine seconds to the good over Linke and 22 seconds ahead of the lead group.
Halfway was reached in 40:11 but the group with designs on a win had swallowed up Linke and cut the deficit to 13 seconds. With five laps remaining, the Briton was reeled in by Karlstrom and Spain’s Diego Garcia - and no wonder. The pair notched 3:48 for the fastest kilometre so far.
Karlstrom showed he meant business as he discarded his dark glasses on the penultimate lap, and so did European bronze medallist Vasiliy Mizinov - one of two neutral athletes competing in the 20km race walk.
Cleverly biding his time at the back of the chasing group, he lit the afterburners to pass Garcia and claim silver in 1:20:18 and five seconds ahead of the second Spaniard.
Bosworth rallied to hold on to fourth in 1:20:53 and his effort was not without reward. Backed up by Callum Wilkinson in ninth in 1:21:54, Great Britain won their first ever medal at the European Race Walking Cup with team silver behind Spain and in front of Ukraine.
European champion Alvaro Martin and former world and European champion Miguel Angel Lopez were the other scoring members for Spain in fifth (1:20:59) and sixth (1:21:00) respectively while reigning champion Linke slipped down to 12th in 1:23:21.

 The women’s 20km race walk at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on Sunday (19) produced the race of the day - and the result of the day if

Vaiciukeviciute powers to home glory in the 20km race walk in Alytus

The Alytus 2019 European Race Walking Cup on 19 May will be streamed live without restrictions <a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OiOuy7DnII' target='_blank'>here</a> from 6:00am local time (7:00am CET) on Sunday.
The first event on the programme is the 50km race walk in which the men and women start together. The men’s line-up is headed by France’s Yohann Diniz who returns to action after injury while the inaugural women’s race features world and European champion Ines Henriques from Portugal and Italy’s Eleonora Giorgi.
The programme concludes with the women’s 20km race walk at 4:30pm (3:30pm CET) in which Antonella Palmisano will seek to defend her title with opposition coming from European champion Maria Perez from Spain. 
There will also be high hopes on the Lithuanian contingent who won team bronze in Podebrady two years ago and had two individual finishers inside the top-five at the European Championships in Berlin.
Live results can be found <a href='https://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-race-walking-cup/2019/schedules-results/index.html' target='_blank'>here</a>.

 The Alytus 2019 European Race Walking Cup on 19 May will be streamed live without restrictions here from 6:00am local time (7:00am CET) on Sunday. The first

Live streaming available for European Race Walking Cup

You can never be sure what you’re going to get with Yohann Diniz which makes the 50km race walk at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on Sunday (19) which is streamed live <a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=4OiOuy7DnII&app=desktop' target='_blank'>here</a> all the more exciting.
The world record-holder and reigning world champion either soars or sinks with very little middle ground in between. But one thing’s for sure: the Frenchman will set an electric pace and force rivals to squint at his disappearing back as early as the 10km checkpoint. 
It’s around here that Diniz, 41, will either walk to solo glory or come to grief as he did in the last three Olympic Games. 
He could probably afford to walk 10 minutes slower than the 3:32:33 world record set at the Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships and still win - but that’s not his style. 
Nominally looking at silver and bronze should be a strong Ukrainian quartet - even in the absence of reigning European champion Maryan Zakalnytskyy - spearheaded by defending champion Ivan Banzeruk who has personal best of 3:44:49 for the 50km race walk. 
A solid Spanish team headed by Benjamin Sanchez should also be in contention while Italy with the dependable Marco De Luca on their team should challenge for team honours. 
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'>
Now 49 Jesus Angel Garcia will be making his tenth European Race Walking Cup appearance on 19 May. 
He won the inaugural 50km walk title in 1996 and is one of four athletes over 40 to register for the 50km in Alytus. 
Garcia (49) 
Vieira (43) 
Liesting (41) 
Diniz (41) <a href='https://t.co/28tU9OmB0d'>pic.twitter.com/28tU9OmB0d</a>
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) <a href='https://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1126521890724556800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>May 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
He is unlikely to win, but Jesus Angel Garcia deserves a medal just for being on the start line. The Spaniard is 50 in October and continues to record top times regardless of a sixth decade stamped on his passport. What keeps him going if bottled would net the patent holder a fortune. 
Garcia, whose international career began in earnest at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona where he finished tenth, has already clocked 3:57:23 this year. Many half his age who would be delighted to get under 4:00:00 just once. 
Berlin 2018 medallists and reigning champion Linke among the cast for the 20km
By contrast to the long race, the 20km race walk is wide open and there is much similarity of season’s bests among a field of 56. 
Spain’s Alvaro Martin has yet to show the form that saw him triumph at last year’s European Championships following knee surgery in January. Silver medalist Diego Garcia and former world and European champion Miguel Angel Lopez will make Spain hard to beat for team honours. 
Another prospective contender for individual gold could be Massimo Stano from Italy. He walked 2:35:03 for 35km in January and set an eye-catching 38:28.05 clocking over 10,000m in April to shatter his previous best by nearly two minutes.
Stano was just one second away from bronze in Berlin last year and the walker who pipped him at the European Championships lines up in Alytus as well. 
Neutral athlete Vasiliy Mizinov recorded an unratified 1:18:32 in February but a 1:20:14 clocking for victory in Podebrady in April could be a more accurate barometer of his current form. Mizinov is second on the 2019 European list behind Sweden's Perseus Karlstrom who clocked 1:20:05 in February and is unbeaten in six races this year. 
 [INSTAGRAM ID='https://www.instagram.com/p/BxexOxiHFEr/']
No stranger to success in Podebrady is Christoper Linke. The German had to settle for third this time, but the defending European Race Walking Cup champion is again in good shape although he was beaten at the German Championships by Nils Brembach. 
Cheered to the echo will be Marius Ziukas, who at 33, has waited a long time for a share of the limelight. The Lithuanian walked a PB, 1:20:31 in February and then a significant negative split a month later to win in 1:22:29 at Dudince. 
The best of the rest will find Great Britain’s Tom Bosworth and Callum Wilkinson in the lead group with individual and team honours in mind. France’s Gabriel Bordier and Kevin Campion and Italy’s Federico Tontodonati can also expect a top-10 finish. 
Poland has never enjoyed a winner in the U20 10km - but that is surely about to change thanks to Lukasz Niedzialek. 
His 40:23 at home in April was a PB by a massive margin and the 2016 U18 European champion has more than three minutes on his nearest rival in a field of 35. 
Of the chasers, Anton Bildziuha and Pavel Oliohovik from Belarus will duel for a medal but so will rising stars Chris Snook from Great Britain, Italy’s Gabriele Gamba and Turkey’s Selman Ilhan - all of whom have personal bests under 44 minutes.

 You can never be sure what you’re going to get with Yohann Diniz which makes the 50km race walk at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on

Diniz to return to international competition in the 50km race walk in Alytus

Two years ago in Podebrady there was only one Italian winner but there is a high chance there could be two at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on Sunday (19) which will be streamed live <a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=4OiOuy7DnII&app=desktop' target='_blank'>here</a>. 
It will be a surprise if any colour vest but blue spearheads the charge to gold in both the women’s 20km and 50km race walks with defending champion Antonella Palmisano ready to repeat her 2017 win at the shorter distance.
Meanwhile Eleonora Giorgi makes her debut at the 50km, boasting an impressive 2:45:21 for 35km achieved at the end of January. Her splits in that race on home soil suggest she should coast under 4:00 for the whole trip.
Giorgi has had her share of injuries but she secured a 1:31:07 win in Dudince in March, and laid waste to that mark with 1:27:46 last month in Podebrady - the best time in 2019 by a European race walker thus far. 
Palmisano kept her powder dry until the end of April before asking followers to guess her time at the Italian Club Championships over 10,000m and win a prize. The first three who ventured 42:40.9 or close, now wear a brand new sports shirt and betting fans can put theirs on a double for Italy’s finest.
 [INSTAGRAM ID='https://www.instagram.com/p/BxXK552HeSb/']
If there is to be a duel over 20km, the likely chasers will include European champion Maria Perez, who stuck a toe into the 2019 race scene with an easy win at the Spanish Championships in March in 1:30:55 along with Ukraine’s Inna Kashyna.
The latter was seventh in the European Championships but if current form is anything to go by, her 1:29:30 clocking in Rio Maior in April when she timed her late charge to near perfection for second place bodes well for a challenge on the medals in Alytus. 
Neutral athlete Yana Smerdova, 21, should be in the mix as well.
And if there is a pretender to the Palmisano/Giorgi Italian throne - it’s Eleonora Dominici. She had a personal best of 1:38:22 three years ago and has suffered her fair share of disqualifications since then. In March at Cassino, Dominici notched a breakthrough 1:30:35 to put technical issues behind her and shore up what should be a very tough Italian team.
If there is a stronger collective unit: it’s Spain. Perez, Raquel Gonzalez, who has clocked 1:30:17 in 2019 and Laura Garcia-Caro are a good bet for top place on the podium.
But what would really raise the decibel levels in Alytus is a push by the home team and this is by no means beyond the realms of possibility as Lithuania were the surprise package with fourth and fifth in last year’s European Championships.
Although the first of those is now 34, Brigita Virbalyte-Dimsiene holds the national record with 1:27:59 from the European Championships Berlin and clocked 1:31:25 in February, the ninth fastest time by a European in 2019.
Right behind her in the German capital was Zivile Vaiciukeviciute who set an U23 national record with 1:28.07. Vaiciukeviciute is also one place behind Virbalyte-Dimsiene on the 2019 European list with a season’s best of 1:31:57. 
Zivile’s twin sister Monika augmented a fine team bronze in Podebrady two years ago, and so deja vu beckons with Spain, Italy and Lithuania in that order.
Giorgi poised to make a statement on her 50km race walk debut
The European Race Walking Cup embraces the 50km race walk for women for the first time and an entry list of 30 demonstrates how quickly female athletes have taken to the event. 
It was only two years ago a mere seven lined up for the IAAF World Championships in London - and only four of those finished.
In Alytus, Giorgi should prevail, but many an athlete in the long race has been reduced to the land of the walking dead in the closing stages. 
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'>
Focused 
Mancano 'solo' 10 giorni alla mia prima 50 km. <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/keepcalmandcarryon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#keepcalmandcarryon</a> <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/sharetheroad?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#sharetheroad</a> 
AleÅ¡ Gräf <a href='https://t.co/Z0PnXDn6qB'>pic.twitter.com/Z0PnXDn6qB</a>
— Eleonora Anna Giorgi (@eleagiorgi) <a href='https://twitter.com/eleagiorgi/status/1126570367982632960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>May 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
Best placed to cash in should the Italian falter is the inaugural world and European champion Ines Henriques from Portugal who broke the fledgling world record in 2017 with 4:05:56 - a mark which now stands at 3:59:15. 
Behind them should be Spain’s Julia Takacs with a lifetime best of 4:13:04 and the Belarusian pair of Nastassia Yatsevich and Nadzeya Darazhuk who have lifetime bests of 4:18:00 and 4:18:01 respectively.
From the longest event on the programme to the shortest, it will be another shock if Turkey’s world U20 10,000m race walk silver medallist Meryem Bekmez doesn’t romp home in the U20 10km in one of her final competitions before she graduates into the senior ranks. 
Her season’s best of 44:25 is only one second behind her PB and more than a minute quicker than next fastest which also happens to be held by a Turkish race walker in Evin Demir.
The third fastest is their teammate Kader Dost. The trio is so far ahead of anyone else on paper, only judges' intervention can surely stop a Turkish team gold as well as all three individual medals.
<div> </div>

 Two years ago in Podebrady there was only one Italian winner but there is a high chance there could be two at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus,

Italians Palmisano and Giorgi poised to challenge for double gold in Alytus

The final entries for the Alytus 2019 European Race Walking Cup on 19 May are now available and can be found under Related Documents and <a href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/7beb2469-ec02-4933-b23f-142421f10f92.pdf' target='_blank'>here</a>.
A total of 256 athletes - 139 men and 117 women - from 29 countries (including Authorised Neutral Athletes) have been registered for this year’s edition which is the first to achieve full parity. The programme includes a women’s 50km race walk for the first time and it features reigning world and European champion and ex-world record-holder Ines Henriques from Portugal.
Henriques has been one of the pioneers in the nascent history of the event but the standards are improving rapidly - the world record now stands at 3:59:15 - with more race walkers attempting the distance.
One notable debutante in Alytus will be Italy’s Eleonora Giorgi who has prepared for an assault on the distance by taking part in a 35km race walk event in January, covering the distance in 2:45:21. She then sharpened up for Alytus with a commanding victory in the 20km race walk in Podebrady where she broke the tape in a European-leading time of 1:27:46.
Despite Giorgi's absence, there will still be high hopes for Italy in the women’s 20km race walk as Antonella Palmisano defends her title. Palmisano won by nearly two minutes at the 2017 European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady but Spain’s Maria Perez will be keen to add this accolade to her European title from the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships.
The men’s 20km race walk is arguably the highest quality event on the programme with the top eight from Berlin 2018 - including the Spanish triumvirate of Alvaro Martin, Diego Garcia and Miguel Angel Lopez - all on the start-line along with reigning champion Christopher Linke from Germany.
Ukraine’s Ivan Banzeruk will also be defending his individual title and team honours in the men’s 50km race walk although their collective prospects are weakened by the absence of Berlin 2018 champion Maryan Zakalnytskyy.
And his individual prospects will be put to the test by world record-holder Yohann Diniz from France who will contest the distance for the first time since winning the IAAF World Championships in London nearly two years ago. Diniz missed out on a chance of winning a fourth successive European title in Berlin due to injury but the 41-year-old will return to international action next weekend.
And a special mention goes to Spain’s Jesus Angel Garcia, eight years the Frenchman’s senior at 49 years old. Garcia won the inaugural European Race Walking Cup title in 1996 and has qualified for yet another Spanish team by virtue of a third-place finish at his domestic championships.

 The final entries for the Alytus 2019 European Race Walking Cup on 19 May are now available and can be found under Related Documents and here. A total of 256

Final entries for the 2019 European Race Walking Cup now available

The European Race Walking Cup will take place in Alytus, Lithuania a week on Sunday and the message from this weekend is clear: beware of the Spaniards with a penchant for gold medals.
It might have been over shorter distances than the 20km over which they will compete on 19 May but European champions Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez showed that winning can become a habit as they triumphed at the Spanish University Championships in Castellon.
Martin won the 10,000m race walk in 39.34.4 from Diego Garcia in 39:37.1 – the same one-two as in Berlin last summer – with Jose Manuel Perez third in 40:28.2. 
Meanwhile, Perez took the women’s 5000m race walk title in a world leading time of 20:52.76 from Raquel Gonzalez in 21:07.54 and Marina Pena in 23:02.68.
In the 20km race walk in Berlin last summer, Martin and Perez were Spain’s two gold medallist at the European Championships and they will be looking to make a major impact again as the country defends team titles in both races in Alytus. 
Two years ago in Podebrady, Martin was 31st and the fourth Spanish finisher home in 1:25:53. The first three counted with his teammate Miguel Angel Lopez second in 1:20:21 behind Germany’s Christopher Linke (1:19:28) with Garcia seventh in 1:21:56 to take the team gold with 30 points from Germany with 35. 
In the women’s race, Perez was sixth in 1:30:52 - and was the second Spanish finisher home - with Laura Garcia-Caro taking individual bronze in 1:29:57 and Lidia Sanchez-Puebia ninth in 1:32:09. 
The women’s team replicated the achievement of their male counterparts by taking team gold with 18 points, 16 clear of Italy in second and both Spanish teams look in good shape to defend their titles as a collective in Alytus later this month. 
Mazuronak eases to victory in the Trieste Half Marathon 
It was quite a weekend for reigning European champions and another who was celebrating victory was European marathon gold medallist Volha Mazuronak from Belarus.
Her victory last summer came as she had to battle through with a nose bleed to triumph and this time she was victorious in the Trieste Half Marathon in 73:56, beating Burundi's Cavaline Nahimana by four seconds. 
On a memorable weekend for Israeli athletics which was capped by Lonah Chemtai Salpeter’s sub-2:20 performance in the Prague Marathon and Girmaw Amare’s national record in the men’s race, there was also a landmark performance at home by Maru Teferi. 
The men’s 10km record of 28:55 had been shared by Dov Kremer (from 1991) and Ayele Seteng (from 1995) but now the record is in the hands of Teferi. His marathon record might have been eclipsed by Amare in the Czech capital but Teferi ran into the record books with a 28:33 clocking for victory in Herzliya.
Haimro Alame was also inside the previous mark with a runner-up finish in 28:36 while Selamawit Dagnachew made it a home double by winning the women’s race in 32:19. 
There was double European success at the Mainz Marathon as Poland’s Andrzej Rogiewicz won the men’s race in 2:21:24 and Lithuania's Remalda Kergyte-Dauskudiene took the women’s title in 2:41:39. 
Spain celebrated a home win at the 35th edition of Milla Sagrada Familia in Barcelona on Sunday with Esther Guerrero first in the women’s race in 4:51 and Britain’s Spencer Thomas the men’s champion in 4:16.
And at the Great Bristol 10km, there was double home glory with Chris Thompson winning the men’s race in 29:35 and Kate Reed triumphant in the women’s race in 33:11. 
Good throwing from Jasiunaite and Matusevicius in Palanga
The summer season is back in full swing and at the Lithuanian Throwing Championships in Palanga on Saturday, European javelin bronze medallist Liveta Jasiunaite improved her lifetime best to 61.73m. Edis Matusevicius won the men’s javelin with a European-leading mark of 82.73m. 
At the French Clubs Leagues, Quentin Bigot achieved a fine 77.21m in the hammer in Tomblaine while in Venissieux, Melina Robert-Michon, the Olympic silver medallist, won the discus with 59.51m.
Bulgaria’s Valentin Andreev is preparing for the Boras 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in July and the 17-year-old, who won a silver medal in the hammer at the European U18 Championships last year, went out to 82.72m with the five kilogram implement at home in Balchik.
Andreev will throw with the six kilogram implement in Boras where he will cross paths again with Ukraine’s Myhaylo Kokhan who won both the European U18 Championships and Youth Olympic Games last year. 
There was also a notable lifetime best for Jodie Williams who clocked 11.17 in the 100m in Lubbock in Texas, improving her eight-year-old lifetime best of 11.18 which she set to win the 100m title at the 2011 European U20 Championships. Williams also sped to a wind-assisted 22.46 to win the 200m.
<div> </div>

 The European Race Walking Cup will take place in Alytus, Lithuania a week on Sunday and the message from this weekend is clear: beware of the Spaniards with a

Martin and Perez prepare for Alytus with victories in Castellon

Reigning European 50km race walk champion Ines Henriques will head the Portuguese team going to the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on 19 May.
Henriques, who also holds the European record with 4:05:56 set when she won the inaugural world title in London two years ago, will start as the gold medal favourite for the first ever women’s Cup race over 50km
However, the 39-year-old will be looking for better fortune than her outing at the last Cup in 2017 when she was disqualified in the 20km event. Nevertheless, Alytus will be Herniques’ 12th appearance in the European Race Walking Cup having competed in every single edition since it was inaugurated in 1996 apart from the first one in the Spanish city of La Coruna.
 Curiously, Henriques has yet to win an individual Cup medal with her best finish being seventh in 2007 – although she helped Portugal’s women team gold in 205, silver in 2013 and bronze in 2015 – however, her Alytus team mate Ana Cabecinha knows the feeling of standing on the podium having taken the 20km silver medal two years ago in Podebrady, Czech Republic.
The Portuguese team includes the evergreen 43-year-old Joao Vieira, who will contest the men’s 50km. The two-time European Athletics Championships 20km race walk medallist has competed in all 13 editions of the Cup with a best finish of fourth in the 2003 20km.
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'>
<a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/atletica?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#atletica</a> 22 convocati azzurri per la Coppa Europa di <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/marcia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#marcia</a> a <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/Alytus?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#Alytus</a> di domenica 19 maggio. <a href='https://twitter.com/Nelly_Palmisano?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>@Nelly_Palmisano</a> e <a href='https://twitter.com/MassimoStano?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>@MassimoStano</a> nella 20 km, prima volta nella 50 km per <a href='https://twitter.com/eleagiorgi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>@eleagiorgi</a> 
LEGGI Ã¢&#150;Â¶<a href='https://t.co/Jhm34nT44P'>https://t.co/Jhm34nT44P</a> <a href='https://t.co/SzPFb5eEFV'>pic.twitter.com/SzPFb5eEFV</a>
— Atletica Italiana (@atleticaitalia) <a href='https://twitter.com/atleticaitalia/status/1123249156661948423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>April 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
In Alytus, Ana Cabecinha will be reunited on the start line with the winner in Podebrady, Antonella Palmisano, after the latter was named as part of 22-strong Italian team for the Cup earlier this week.
Palmisano, who also won bronze medals at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 and in Berlin over 20km, will be bidding to become only the second woman to retain a European Race Walking Cup title.
She will have accompanying her in the 20km Valentina Trapletti, eighth in Podebrady, and Eleonora Dominici which will make Italy strong contenders for team medals again after having taken the silver in 2015 and 2017.
Europe’s fastest woman over 20km last year, Eleonora Giorgi, will step up and make her debut over the 50km distance in Alytus.
“We have a mix of experience and youth. From the near veteran Marco De Luca to the school student Gabriele Gamba but I have three tips: Stano (Massimo Stano, third at last year’s IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships last year), Palmisano and Giorgi. Massimo wants to impress in Alytus not only to secure selection for the Doha World Championships but because he has become a man that his rivals are looking out for,” said the Italian federation technical director Antonio La Torre on the announcement of the team.

 Reigning European 50km race walk champion Ines Henriques will head the Portuguese team going to the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on 19 May.

Berlin 2018 champion Ines Henriques to compete in European Race Walking Cup

Germany will be sending a team of 17 athletes to compete at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on 19 May.
Germany won six medals at the 2017 European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady where Christopher Linke won the 20km race walk title in 1:19:28 to win by nearly one minute ahead of defending champion Miguel Angel Lopez from Spain. Linke also won the annual race walking event in Alytus last year in 1:21:10 which might stand him in good stead ahead of his title defence next month.
Linke also led the Germans to team silver and he will be looking to come away from Alytus with medals from both the individual and team race. He is third on the 2019 European list with a time of 1:20:33 behind Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom (1:20:05) and neutral athlete Vasiliy Mizinov (1:20:14) but he was beaten at the recent German Championships by Nils Brembach - 1:20:48 to 1:21:32.
Joining Linke and Brembach on the German team for Podebrady are European eighth-placer Hagen Pohle and youngster Leo Kopp who won the U20 10km race walk title in Podebrady two years ago.
Their team for the women’s 20km race walk includes national champion Saskia Feige, who is sixth on the 2019 European list with a national U23 record of 1:30:40, while 20-year-old Teresa Zurek makes her senior debut in this competition after winning bronze in the U20 10km race walk in 2017.
European fifth-placer Carl Dohmann leads the German 50km race walk team in the men’s race while Bianca-Maria Dittrich will contest the first ever edition of the women’s 50km race walk at the European Race Walking Cup.

 Germany will be sending a team of 17 athletes to compete at the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on 19 May. Germany won six medals at the 2017

Reigning champion Linke spearheads German team for European Race Walking Cup

Ukraine has named a team of 22 athletes for the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on 19 May including Ivan Banzeruk in the men’s 50km race walk.
Banzeruk won the 50km race walk title in warm conditions in Podebrady two years ago in 3:48:15. He also led Ukraine to the team title although their chances of retaining that title might be weakened due to the absence of reigning European champion Maryan Zakalnytskyy.
Ukraine is still fielding a team of four race walkers for the 50km race walk and Banzeruk will be accompanied by Valeriy Litanyuk who finished 15th at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in Taicang, China last May.
There will also be medal prospects both individually and as a collective on the women’s side as well. Inna Kashyna finished fourth individually and in the team race in the 20km race walk two years ago and the 27-year-old is second on the 2019 European list with 1:29:30.
Kashnya’s chances are further embellished by the fact European leader Eleonora Giorgi from Italy is stepping up in distance to contest the 50km race walk in Alytus.
The 50km race walk makes its debut for women in Alytus and the Ukrainians will be sending a quartet including Kristina Yudkina who finished fourth at the European Championships last year.
<div> </div>

 Ukraine has named a team of 22 athletes for the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on 19 May including Ivan Banzeruk in the men’s 50km race walk.

Banzeruk to defend 50km race walk title at European Race Walking Cup

With the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania less than a month away, Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom maintained his unbeaten start to the season with a notable victory in Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico on Sunday (21).
Karlstrom won the 20km race walk title at the fifth leg of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in 1:23:40 to become the first ever European winner in the 17 year history of the race.
Times were of a secondary importance on a hot and humid day but Karlstrom took some notable scalps on the road to Alytus, defeating reigning European silver medallist Diego Garcia from Spain into second place again by nineteen seconds.
Karlstrom also had the beating of two Olympic medallists in Lazaro Cardenas. Guatemala’s 2012 Olympic silver medallist Erick Barrondo was fifth in 1:24:46 with 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Dane Bird-Smith from Australia sixth in 1:25:01.
“World Cup champion in Mexico! Unbelievable feeling crossing the line first after an extremely tough race. Hot and humid battle that ended in the first European victory ever in the 17 year long history of the the Mexican leg in the World Cup!” said a triumphant Karlstrom on his Instagram account.
 [INSTAGRAM ID='https://www.instagram.com/p/BwiK91mnDZ2/']
Karlstrom has a season’s best more than three minutes in excess of his winning time in Lazaro Cardenas - he leads the 2019 European list with 1:20:05 which was set in Adelaide in February - but the Swede showed impressive closing speed, covering the penultimate two kilometre circuit in 7:43 and the final circuit in under eight minutes as well.
After finishing eighth in 2015, Karlstrom made the podium with a bronze medal at the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady two years ago and on current form, the 28-year-old will be targeting a medal of a different hue in Alytus on 19 May.
His principal rivals next month will include a full strength Spanish team including Garcia, reigning European champion Alvaro Martin and former world and European champion Miguel Angel Lopez, and Authorised Neutral Athlete Vasiliy Mizinov.
In the women’s race, reigning European champion Maria Perez from Spain was the leading European finisher in third in 1:31:11, one place and nine seconds ahead of Portugal’s Ana Cabecinha.

 With the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania less than a month away, Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom maintained his unbeaten start to the season with a

Karlstrom maintains unbeaten start to the season with victory in Lazaro Cardenas

Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez made it a Spanish double in the 20km race walk at the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships and they will be in contention to repeat at the European Race Walking Cup in Altyus, Lithuania on 19 May.
Martin won the men’s race by six seconds last August in 1:20:42 while Perez triumphed in the women’s race by 27 seconds, setting a championship record of 1:26:36 on the Breitscheidplatz.
A knee operation in January interrupted Martin’s start of the season and the strength of the opposition will make this race a real test, not least from his fellow Spaniards.
Martin is joined on the start line by teammate Diego Garcia, who was second behind him in Berlin, and Miguel Angel Lopez, who won a highly competitive race at the Spanish Championships.
He might have been sixth in Berlin behind his two compatriots but Lopez was the 2014 European champion and the 2015 world champion at this distance. He also won this title in his hometown of Murcia four years ago before finishing runner-up to Germany’s Christophe Linke in Podebrady two years ago.
Linke, too, will be one of the favourites to retain his crown – which would be a first for the men at this distance – but perhaps the biggest threat to the Spaniards comes in the shape of Authorised Neutral Athlete Vasily Mizinov.
<iframe src='https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics/videos/10156454757706181/&show_text=0&width=476' width='476' height='476' style='border: none; overflow: hidden;' scrolling='no' frameborder='0' allowtransparency='true' allowfullscreen='true'></iframe>
He was third in Berlin but showed immense power to win the European Athletics Permit meeting in Podebrady at the start of April, beating Linke and others in the process.
The British pair of Callum Wilkinson, who produced a British U23 record of 1:21:34 in Podebrady, and Olympic sixth-placer Tom Bosworth will also be in the mix for individual and team medals.
It is the first time that Lithuania has hosted this event which took place for the first time in La Coruna, Spain in 1996 when household names such as Poland’s Robert Korzeniowski and Spain’s Jesus Angel Garcia were among the winners.
In Alytus, Marius Ziukas will be their big hope in the men’s 20km race walk while in the women’s event, Brigita Virbalyte-Dimsiene and twins Zivile and Monika Vaiciukeviciute will be looking to make an impression but can they stop Perez?
She showed her desire for more titles when she was crowned Spanish champion in Oropesa del Mar in March, winning in 1:30:55. That puts her sixth in this year’s list which are topped by Italy’s Eleonora Giorgi who won in Podebrady in 1:27:46 by nearly three minutes.
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'>
Eleonora Giorgi set her fastest time in four years to win the 20km race walk in Podebrady in 1:27:46. 
: <a href='https://t.co/SNSNtkgEUc'>https://t.co/SNSNtkgEUc</a> <a href='https://t.co/lgE5KZIDyV'>pic.twitter.com/lgE5KZIDyV</a>
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) <a href='https://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/1114606779416162305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>April 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
Giorgi, however, will be stepping up in distance to contest the women’s 50km race walk which makes its debut on the programme next month. Reigning world and European champion Ines Henriques from Portugal could toe the start-line in Alytus while European bronze medallist Julia Takacs has been named on the Spanish team.
Ukraine dominated the men’s 50km race walk two years ago, taking first and second individually courtesy of Ivan Banzeruk (3:48:15) and Ihor Hlavan (3:48:38) as well as the team title. The 2019 European list is currently headed by Norway’s Havard Haukenes who won the Dudince 50km in a lifetime best of 3:42:50.
The 50km race walk races will start off the action at 8:00am local time, with the women’s U20 10km an hour later, the men’s 10km U20 at 10:30am before the men’s 20km (2:30pm) and the women’s 20km (4:30pm).
<div> </div>

 Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez made it a Spanish double in the 20km race walk at the Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships and they will be in contention

One month to go - European Race Walking Cup

Great Britain will be represented by eight race walkers at this year’s edition of the European Race Walking Cup which takes place in Alytus, Lithuania on 19 May.
The British team will be fielding a team of four athletes in the 20km race walk including national record-holder and Olympic sixth-placer Tom Bosworth who will be making his sixth appearance at the European Race Walking Cup. Bosworth just missed out on a medal in Podebrady two years ago but his fourth-place finish represented the best ever finish by a Brit in championship history.
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'>
Very proud to make the team for this competition, for the 6th time! it was my debut in a GB kit 10years ago. 
I remember thinking I’d be lucky to make another GB team again! 
Two years ago I finished 4th, with the men’s 20k team also finishing 4th... this time around! <a href='https://t.co/JLDIuqIpXc'>https://t.co/JLDIuqIpXc</a>
— Tom Bosworth (@TomBosworth) <a href='https://twitter.com/TomBosworth/status/1115593065564008448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>April 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
The Brits also just missed out on a team medal in the 20km race walk but they could make another push for the podium as a collective in Alytus. The most in-form of the quartet is 2016 world U20 10,000m race walk champion Callum Wilkinson who moved to second on the British all-time list with a British U23 record of 1:21:34 in Podebrady on Saturday when he finished sixth.
They are joined by Cameron Corbishley who set a British U23 record in the 50km race walk of 3:53:20 to move to second on the British all-time list in Podebrady and two-time Olympian in the 50km race walk Dominic King.
On the women’s side, Bethan Davies and Heather Lewis will be joined by newcomer to the British team Erika Kelly while Christopher Snook is the sole U20 representative in the 10km race walk. 
 
<div> </div>

 Great Britain will be represented by eight race walkers at this year’s edition of the European Race Walking Cup which takes place in Alytus, Lithuania on 19

Eight British athletes confirmed for European Race Walking Cup

Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships 20km race walk gold medallists Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez will head a very strong Spanish team that will contest the European Athletics Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania on 19 May.
Martin, now 24, had his first outing since his triumph in the German capital in the Spanish championships last weekend but could only finish seventh in the wake of surgery on his left knee in January.
“The doctors haven’t completely signed off on me yet but I’ve had three weeks training without any problems and I’m gradually building up to do well later in the year at the big international meetings,” commented Martin last weekend.
He will be joined on the start line of the men’s 20km in Alytus by Berlin 2018 silver medallist Diego Garcia and former European and world champion Miguel Angel Lopez, who also won the Cup race in 2015 and took silver in 2013 and 2017.
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'>
Esta es la Selección Española que competirá en la próxima Copa de Europa de marcha de Alytus (19 mayo)<a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pasi%C3%83%C2%83%C3%82%C2%B3nPorCompetir?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>#PasiónPorCompetir</a> 
Ã¢&#158;Â¡ <a href='https://t.co/txs1vRLofF'>https://t.co/txs1vRLofF</a> <a href='https://t.co/InAhYRyVNz'>pic.twitter.com/InAhYRyVNz</a>
— atletismoRFEA (@atletismoRFEA) <a href='https://twitter.com/atletismoRFEA/status/1108725015581736962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw'>March 21, 2019</a></blockquote>

Lopez, who was sixth in Berlin, was an impressive winner of the Spanish title in Oropesa del Mar on Sunday, winning in 1:21:21 and crossing the line exactly two minutes ahead of second-placed Garcia.
With the 20km quartet completed by Alberto Amezcua, Spain will be favourites to defend their Cup team title in this category that they won two years ago in the Czech town of Podebrady. 
In the women’s 20km event, the 22-year-old Perez – who, like Lopez, also won the Spanish title last weekend – will have among her team mates Laura GarcÃ­a-Caro, who was third in the last edition of the Cup two years ago and sixth in Berlin, as well as Lidia Sánchez-Puebla and Spanish 50km record holder Raquel González.
 [PHOTO src='1286400' size='mediumLandscape' align='right'] 
“I’m not at my top level yet, maybe 80%, but I can feel the spark is there,” reflected Perez after winning her second domestic crown, crossing the line in 1:30:55 and winning by 45 seconds from Gonzalez. 
The names in the men’s 50km include the evergreen 49-year-old former world champion Jesus Angel Garcia Bragado who is a three-time winner in the Cup (1996, 2000 and 2001) and who also has two silver medals to his name.
BenjamÃ­n Sanchez, José Ignacio Diaz and the reigning national champion Marc Tur complete the Spanish quartet in the men’s 50km. 
In the women’s 50km, the event making its debut in the Cup, Berlin 2018 bronze medallist Julia Takacs heads the Spanish team with Ainhoa Ã¢&#128;&#139;Ã¢&#128;&#139;Pinedo, Maria Larios and Mar Juarez accompanying her.

 Berlin 2018 European Athletics Championships 20km race walk gold medallists Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez will head a very strong Spanish team that will

European champions Martin and Perez head strong Spanish team for Alytus

Antonella Palmisano, Christopher Linke and Ivan Banzeruk took the three senior individual gold medals at the 12th edition of the European Race Walking Cup held in the Czech spa town and race walking mecca of PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady on Sunday (21).
Senior women’s 20km
The seemingly foregone conclusion that Antonella Palmisano would dominate in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady proved sound. Dominate she did.
In the lead almost from the gun, the Italian piled it on and at halfway she was already 27 seconds ahead of a chasing group of four.
The Rio 2016 Olympic Games fourth-place finisher but this was her first senior title after first coming to prominence at the 2010 IAAF World Cup when she came out of the blue to lift the U20 title in Mexico.
Easy to spot thanks to wearing long blue compression socks, the 25-year-old was lapping backmarkers before the fourth 1km lap, and after missing the 27-year-old 10km world record by a single second last month, she must be considered a medal contender at the IAAF World Championships in London this coming August.
 [PHOTO src='1281262' size='mediumLandscape' align='right'] 
Her personal best of 1:27:51 was also in danger coming up to the last 50 metres but she darted over to the side of the course, clutched at a supporter’s Italian flag with ‘Forza Antonella’ on it, dropped it, picked it up and strolled to the line to finishing in 1:27:57, missing her best by six seconds.
Palmisano looked surprised when told she had missed out on a personal best time but quickly recovered to say it was “unimportant.”
'What mattered,” she added, “was having the flag in my hand to win my first major senior race.”
A long way behind, with Palmisano hitting the halfway mark in 44:23, Portugal looked strong with both Ana Cabecinha and Ines Henriques in contention for medals as the quartet of chasers passed 10km in 44:50. 
However, the latter’s dream was dashed just shy of the 15km mark when she incurred the judges’ displeasure and was shown the dreaded red disc.
This left Cabecinha and race surprise Laura Garcia-Caro from Spain in the frame for silver and bronze.
The Portuguese walker dug on vast reserves and experience to edge ahead and take second in 1:29:44 with Garcia-Caro third in 1:29:57 but the Spaniard stood on the top of the podium a little later as she lead home Spain to team gold with all three of their scorers inside the top 10.
Senior men’s 20km 
Christopher Linke just loves PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady.
Three first places and a second on this course in the last two years suggests the German finds this circuit a home from home.
The only problem the 1.90m-tall walker encountered en route to gold was ducking under a sponsor’s sign every lap, which was otherwise too high for everyone else to reach.
No one got close to the 28-year-old once he broke away eight kilometres into the race and he prised open the gap to form a chasm before winning in 1:19:28.
“I have one of the best coaches in the world in Ronald Weigel (former world champion). It is a great motivation and there is a saying which says that when you train with the best you learn to win,” reflected Linke.
'I love it here in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady even though it has been a hard year. After 10k, I went at my own pace and I really enjoyed it. I truly feel this is my time to shine,” he added.
Behind him, the race for the other two places on the podium became a drawn out affair between France’s Kevin Campion, back to form, reigning world and European champion Miguel Angel Lopez and Perseus Karlstrom from Sweden.
After a disappointing and injury-marred 2016, Lopez injected the speed needed to get away from his pursuers at 17 kilometres to claim the silver in 1:20:21.
The chief judge’s disqualification disc decided bronze when Campion was removed with a third warning, handing the bronze to the Swede in 1:20:40.
 [PHOTO src='1281265' size='mediumLandscape' align='right'].
Great Britain’s high-rated Tom Bosworth struggled to ignore a hip injury, but fourth in 1:21:21 was a decent return as he builds for the world championships on home soil in a few months’ time.
Like in the women’s 20km, Spain took the team title with Linke’s win helping Germany get the silver medals.
Senior men’s 50km
The long race went to form with Ivan Banzeruk playing the waiting game and then striking at 38 kilometres into the race to establish what was to become an unassailable lead.
The Ukrainian came into the race with a 3:44:49 best and, in the end, his pedigree paid off as he won in 3:48:15.
By holding back, the 27-year-old finished strongest while team-mate Ihor Hlavan upped the pace in the closing stages to take a deserved silver medal 23 seconds in arrears of his compatriot.
Bronze went to an Italian, but not the one who led the race for 23 kilometres.
Michele Antonelli was close to four minutes behind early leader Teodorico Caporaso – who went through 20km in 1:33:00 and at one point has nearly a two-minute advantage over the rest of the field – but came through, despite two cards against him before the halfway point, to take third place in a personal best of 3:49:07.
 [PHOTO src='1281266' size='mediumLandscape' align='right'] 
Banzeruk and Hlavan were followed home by their compatriot Maryan Zakolnytskyy in sixth place to give Ukraine the team title with Italy in second place and Spain third.
U20 men’s 10km 
Leo Kopp proved that success in April’s annual race walking extravaganza in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady was no flash in the pan.
The German, 19 on Tuesday, awarded himself an early birthday gift with a second personal best around the park course and in much the same way as he posted his first at the European Athletics Permit Meeting.
Biding his time after a group of four had gone through 5km in 20:43, Kopp streaked ahead in the last two kilometres to come home in 41:08, finishing 11 seconds ahead of Mikita Kiliada from Belarus.
Poland’s Lukasz Niedzialek was third in 41:28, all three men on the podium and seven of the top eight achieving personal bests.
Belarus just edged out France for the team gold medals, with Ukraine taking third.
U20 women’s 10km 
Russia’s Yana Smerdova – racing as an Authorised Neutral Athlete –looked as if she was about to breakaway on the eighth lap out of 10 but, when she heard the bell, she changed gear so fast it was clear the 19-year-old had been coasting until that point.
A 10-metre lead became 50 metres in less than two minutes as the black-vested athlete headed for the finish line before winning in 46:39.
Behind her, Germany’s Teresa Zurek was hoping to repeat her April win in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady while Turkey’s Meryem Bekmez was just hoping to get to the finish this time.
Bekmez, still only 16 and the European U18 champion last year, had recorded a 5km personal best in the previous race but was then disqualified after crossing the line.
The Turk had an eye on the board in this race too after picking up one card but the 16 was able to outsprint Zurek over the last 100 metres to claim a deserved silver in 46:48 with the German three seconds further back.
In the final race of the day, Spain took its third team title in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady with Greece second and Germany third.

 Antonella Palmisano, Christopher Linke and Ivan Banzeruk took the three senior individual gold medals at the 12th edition of the European Race Walking Cup held

Palmisano, Linke and Banzeruk take the honours in Poděbrady

Live streaming and results will be available for the European Race Walking Cup PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady 2017 on Sunday (21).
The event will be streamed <a href='http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10183677624-sportovni-beh-a-chuze/217254000170001-ep-druzstev-v-chuzi/' target='_blank'>here</a> with coverage beginning at 0800 local time (CET) with the men’s 50km walk and concluding with the women’s U20 10km walk at 1800 CET. 
All five races will be streamed via a local broadcaster and available worldwide without any restrictions or geo-blocking.
Results after the conclusion of each event will also be available <a target='_blank' href='https://www.podebrady2017.com/en/start-lists-results'>here</a>.
According to the final entries, a total of 226 athletes from 26 countries - and including two Authorised Neutral Athletes - have been entered for the event in the historic Czech Republic spa town, situated around 50km to the east of Prague.
Further information including complete entry lists, timetable and post-event coverage are available from the European Athletics website <a href='http://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-race-walking-cup/' target='_blank'>here</a>. 
<blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'>
Live streaming details for the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady on Sunday. 
⬇<a href='https://t.co/H2gvvDHO4O'>https://t.co/H2gvvDHO4O</a> <a href='https://t.co/P4XSIbzSzp'>pic.twitter.com/P4XSIbzSzp</a>
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) <a href='https://twitter.com/EuroAthletics/status/864775627089612800'>May 17, 2017</a></blockquote>
Leading entrants for the biannual competition include reigning world and European 20km race walk champion Miguel Angel Lopez from Spain, who will be looking to retain the title he won in his hometown of Murcia in 2015. Olympic fourth-placer Antonella Palmisano from Italy will contend for individual and team honours in the women’s 20km.

 Live streaming and results will be available for the European Race Walking Cup PodÄ&#155;brady 2017 on Sunday (21). The event will be streamed here with

Live streaming and results available for European Race Walking Cup

Plenty are headed back to the town 50km east of Prague for the second time in just over a month to compete on the same park course in the European Race Walking Cup on Sunday. 
The European Athletics Permit Meeting on 8 April acted as a useful warm-up – for athletes and organisers alike – and on a fast 1km-loop there’s a fair chance those who did well will repeat the feat.
On the team front, Ukraine have pedigree and experience all round but other walking powers are generally looking to the next generation with a host of first timers at a major competition.
Spain and Italy will account for more than a fifth of the 243 athletes on the final entry lists but, for example, the Spanish 20km women’s team has Julia Tacacs as the only established walker in a red and yellow vest.
Likewise, Italy has included former European Cup winner Giorgio Rubino for the men's 20km, but that was eight years ago in Metz.
Saying that, on current form, compatriot Antonella Palmisano should be a distant blue speck to the rest in the women’s 20km by the finish.
A sharp 41:57.29 for 10,000m back home in Orvieto towards the end of last month suggests the former IAAF World Cup U20 winner is in good shape to back up her excellent fourth place at the Rio 2016 Olympics Games and has a 1:27:51 personal best from 2014 to her name.
 [PHOTO src='1279234' size='mediumLandscape' align='right'] 
But, if there are to be a challengers, then Portugal, Ukraine and, perhaps surprisingly, Lithuania are the likely bets. 
With little walking success as such, the Baltic state now has three who can challenge for team honours, and two of them literally form a twin spearhead.
ÅÂ½ivilé and Monika VaiciukevičiÅÂ«té, both born April 3 1996, finished third and fifth in the April Podebrady meeting and both posted personal bests. 
Supported up by Brigita Virbalytė-DimÅ¡ienė and her second place in February at the Adelaide IAAF Challenge race only 33 seconds outside her top seven placing in the 2015 World Cup, a country of under three million could be about to make a senior team podium for the first time.
Ines Henriques and Ana Cabecinha rarely disappoint for Portugal and the Ukraine quartet headed by Nadiya Borovska could be up there, at least in the early stages.
In the men’s 20km, Great Britain’s Tom Bosworth has been hard at work at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he has been building endurance to go with his prodigious speed and also notched a comfortable 1:20:58 in Portugal at the beginning of April, having also finished sixth atb this distance in Rio.
If form again has anything to do with it, Christopher Linke and Kevin Campion will probably be Bosworth’s shadows.
Linke removed 20 seconds from his personal best to breeze home in a fast 1:18:59 in the April Podebrady meeting, his first race of the year, and the German has also been to Flagstaff.

<iframe src='http://www.youtube.com/embed/fFHAvmZyr2k' width='560' height='315' frameborder='0'></iframe>

France’s Campion has also returned to form after a disappointing 49th in Rio and has improved to, 1:20:28. 
Spain’s Alvaro Martin and Miguel Angel Lopez, the latter the 2014 European and 2015 world champion, will add to the clamour at the front while Ukraine again also have a strong quartet.
For the first time at a major race walk championships, the words ‘Authorised Neutral Athlete’ gets added to a name on the start list.
Sergei Shirobokov is the one Russian cleared to compete in the 20km, and after an unratified 1:18:26 in his Winter Championships in Sochi in February, can boast of the fastest time this year. 
However, Shirobokov can point to previous success to back up his fast time.
Now 18, he was the boy’s 10,000m winner at the 2015 IAAF U18 Championships, and although something of a dark horse, that background could see him easily gallop up on the inside in the final straight.
The men’s 50km starts the weekend and, as is usually the case with the long one, there are only three in the 32 field who have completed the distance so far this year. 
Once again, Ukraine has good depth with Ihor Hlavan having a 3:40:39 best while Ivan Banzeruk was fifth in the 2014 European Championships.
Finland's Aleksi Ojala sports an impressive 3:46:25 best from last year, but after those three, it will need an unknown to upset the odds.
The U20 races could be Sunday's highlight. 
As said, this town with its terrific walking history – which dates back to the late 19th century – already put on a fine show in April. 
Men’s U20 star then was Germany’s Leo Kopp, who is returning to the scene of his win where he set a 10km best of 41:19 after a dazzling turn of speed in the last kilometre to win from David Kuster, who finished 11 seconds back for France.
Å&#129;ukasz NiedziaÅ&#130;ek was third for Poland, Justin Bournier, France, was fourth, and all four are back to do battle again.

<iframe src='http://www.youtube.com/embed/MZIBo_PxZos' width='560' height='315' frameborder='0'></iframe>



Turkey will fancy its chances with Abdulaziz DaniÅ&#159; and Abdulselum Imuk rewriting their personal nest marks in February, as will Giacomo Brandi, who has a 41:44 best from Podebrady last year. 
If Great Britain’s Chris Snook needs further advice after his personal best in seventh place on the same course in April, his mother Verity should prove to be a good mentor.
Not only is she a British team coach and in attendance, but she herself competed on the same course 20 years ago in what was then the IAAF World Cup.
Turkey are team favourites to lift the women’s U20 10km title although form suggests Germany’s Teresa Zurek will contest the individual title. 
Her 45:09 in Naumberg less than a month ago is not far behind the mark set by Turkey’s Meryem Bekmez on home soil in February. 
Others potentially in contention for the podium are Turkey’s Ayse Tekdal and the second ANA (Authorised Neutral Athlete) of the weekend, Yana Smerdova. A 45:48 best suggests she too could provide a surprise, like Shirobokov in the men’s 20km.
Live streaming of the European Race Walking Cup is available <a href='http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10183677624-sportovni-beh-a-chuze/217254000170001-ep-druzstev-v-chuzi/'>here</a>.

 Plenty are headed back to the town 50km east of Prague for the second time in just over a month to compete on the same park course in the European Race Walking

Podebrady is fast becoming a home from home for Europe’s finest race walkers

Ines Henriques will be contesting her ninth successive edition of the European Race Walking Cup on Sunday as a senior competitor but she will be lining up as a world record-holder for the first time in Podebrady
At the start of the season, the vastly experienced Portuguese race walker made history by becoming the first official world record-holder in the 50km walk. Henriques stopped the clock at 4:08:26 in Leiria - passing through 20km in 1:37:57 en route - to eclipse the previous world best by more than two minutes. 
 
“We achieved the goals we were looking for which were to be the first Portuguese woman to race the distance and to set a world record,” said her coach Jorge Miguel after her groundbreaking performance.
Henriques has since turned her focus back to the 20km walk and in her last race, the 37-year-old showed she is rounding into form by clocked a season’s best of 1:32:15 at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge event on home soil in Rio Maior. She finished fourth in that race and just one place behind her teammate Ana Cabecinha, who has also been named on the team for Podebrady.
Henriques is yet to claim an individual medal at the European Race Walking Cup but she has been a reliable performer in the team competition. She was part of the gold medal-winning team all the way back in 2005 and helped Portugal to a silver medal in Dudince in 2013 and a bronze medal in Murcia in 2015.

<div> </div>

 Ines Henriques will be contesting her ninth successive edition of the European Race Walking Cup on Sunday as a senior competitor but she will be lining up as a

Record-breaker Henriques to make ninth successive appearance in Poděbrady 

Slovakia have an outstanding record at the European Race Walking Cup and with reigning Olympic and world 50km race walk champion Matej Toth at the helm of their team, they will looking for more success across the border in the Czech town of PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady in a week’s time on Sunday 21 May.
Toth, 34, is at the forefront of an 11-strong squad which Slovakia have announced for a competition where he will drop down from the distance which took him to gold in Rio last summer and Beijing the year before, to contest again the 20km distance, his preferred event at the European Race Walking Cup. 
Endurance might be one of his greatest assets but as he shown at the last three editions of this competition that he possesses enough speed on the right occasion and he has a full set of medals from this event. 
Toth was crowned 20km champion in Olhao in 2011, he won silver two years ago in Murcia and in 2013, on home territory in Dudince, it was bronze. 
His appearance in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady will signal a 16-year relationship with the European Race Walking Cup, having first finished 39th in the U20 10km race in Dudince back in 2001. 
He has competed every time since going from 24th in the 20km in in 2003 to making his first podium at the event six years ago when he won in 1:23:53. 
His appearance in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady will be his first international competition since he won the Olympic gold in Rio, and no doubt he will be looking for a big performance ahead of the defence of his world crown in London. 
 [VIDEO src='1276097' align='right'] 
“Nowhere else can I race walk as well as in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady. In addition, I have made four personal records here. It was in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady that I had my first victory as a senior [in 2003], plus an excellent performance; at the age of just 20 I raced 1:23:17. My dad has joined me every year, it's his annual tradition. In PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady I got to love race walking as a 14-year-old,” commented Tóth last year, showing his affection for the spa town and its race walking heritage. 
Toth has warmed up for the European Race Walking Cup by winning two domestic races in the last month – in Borsky Mikulas and Kosice – curiously in exactly the same time of 1:24:38. 
He is joined in the Slovakian 20km team by Milan Rizek, Dusan Majdan and Miroslav Uradnik. Christopher Linke leads the European lists with 1:18:59 and will start as the favourite at this distance but now that Tóth has been confirmed, the German’s challenge has got that slightly bit tougher. 
When Slovakia won women’s team bronze in Metz in 2009, Maria Czakova was in the winning squad. 
In 31st place, she was the third athlete home from her nation home and she – and Slovakia – will be eyeing a medal again in the 20km where she is joined by Monika Hornakova and Lucia Cubanova. 
As Toth won the men’s race in Borsky Mikulas, Czakova won the women’s in 1:40:38 but it is her 1:33:26 from the high-quality Lugano race in March which should stand her in even greater stead in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady. 
Lubomir Kubis and Daniel Kovac make up the Slovak junior men’s 10km team and Ema Hacundova and Klaudia Zarska will chase glory in the women’s event.

 Slovakia have an outstanding record at the European Race Walking Cup and with reigning Olympic and world 50km race walk champion Matej Toth at the helm of

Tóth aims for the podium again in Poděbrady

The final entry lists for the European Race Walking Cup PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady 2017 on Sunday 21 May are now available on the European Athletics website.
226 athletes representing 26 European Athletics Member Federations (and including two Authorized Neutral Athletes) have been entered for the event in the historic Czech Republic spa town.
Among the notable names entered are men’s 20km defending champion Miguel Angel Lopez. However, the Spaniard faces a rematch of the 2015 race as Slovakia’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games 50km race walk gold medallist Matej Toth, second two years ago and the 20km winner in 2011, has decided to contest the shorter distance once again.
Germany's Christopher Linke and Great Britain's Tom Bosworth, the leading Europeans at this distance in Rio when they finished in fifth and sixth place respectively, are also among the entries for the men's 20km.
The women’s 20km should be a closely-fought affair as nearly all of Europe’s top race walkers will be on the start line including Italy’s Antonella Palmisano, Portugal’s Ana Cabecinha and Ines Henriques as well as Spain’s Julia Takacs.
The complete lists are available to download as a PDF file in the RELATED DOCUMENTS section on the right-hand side of <a target='_blank' href='http://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-race-walking-cup/'>this page</a>.

  The final entry lists for the European Race Walking Cup PodÄ&#155;brady 2017 on Sunday 21 May are now available on the European Athletics website. 226

Entry lists for the European Race Walking Cup Poděbrady 2017 available

Antonella Palmisano leads the 18-strong Italian team for the European Race Walking Cup in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady in the Czech Republic on 21 May.
Palmisano was one of the world’s leading age-group race walkers and her resume includes a third-place finish in the U20 10km in 2009 as well as a silver medal on the track from the European U20 Championships in the same season.
Palmisano is yet to claim a podium finish in a senior championships but the 25-year-old has been improving steadily since her ascent into the senior ranks and looks set to challenge for the individual honours in PodÃ&#132;&#155;brady.
Palmisano finished seventh at the 2014 European Athletics Championships which was followed by fifth at the 2015 World Championships and fourth at the 2016 Olympics. Her record at the European Race Walking Cup isn’t as distinguished but Palmisano arrives in Podebrady as one of the in-form walkers.
While she hasn’t raced over 20km so far this season, Palmisano smashed the Italian 10,000m record with 41:57.29 in Orvieto last month and just missed the world record of 41:56.23 which has stood since 1990.
Palmisano is part of a four-strong team in the 20km walk which also includes Valentina Trapletti, who won the Italian title at that distance in March.
The men’s team for the 20km walk is led by 22-year-old Francesco Fortunato, who arrives fresh from winning the national crown in a lifetime best of 1:22:04. He is joined by former winner Giorgio Rubino and the experienced Marco De Luca, who finished third in the 50km walk in 2015.

 Antonella Palmisano leads the 18-strong Italian team for the European Race Walking Cup in PodÄ&#155;brady in the Czech Republic on 21 May. Palmisano was one

Palmisano poised to challenge in Poděbrady

Ireland has named a seven member team for the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady on 21 May.
The standout name on the team is 39-year-old Robert Heffernan, a five-time Olympian and the world champion in the 50km walk in 2013. Heffernan will step down in distance to contest the 20km walk in Podebrady on the road to the World Championships in London this August.
However, the in-form member of the Irish team is Alex Wright, who has already improved his 20km walk lifetime best twice this season. In his last race, Wright clocked 1:21:17 in Rio Maior last month and will be aiming to improve on his 15th-place finish from Murcia two years ago.
The team also includes Cian McManamon and Brendan Boyce, who is entered in the 20km and the 50km walk.
On the women’s side, Ireland is represented in the U20 10km by Orla O’Connor and Niamh O’Connor, who both competed in the inaugural European U18 Championships in Tbilisi last summer.

 Ireland has named a seven member team for the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady on 21 May. The standout name on the team is 39-year-old Robert Heffernan,

Heffernan and Wright lead Ireland’s hopes in Poděbrady

Tom Bosworth and Callum Wilkinson form part of a nine-strong British team for the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady in the Czech Republic on 21 May.
Bosworth is the most accomplished member of the squad and he looks set to improve markedly on his 16th-place finish in the 20km walk from Murcia two years ago. His standout performance since then was a sixth-place finish in the Olympic Games where he lowered the British record to 1:20:13 in warm and humid conditions.
He began his 2017 campaign in record-breaking form with a national 5000m walk record of 18:39.47 at the British Indoor Championships and the 27-year-old is ranked fourth continentally in the 20km walk with a 1:20:58 season’s best set in Rio Maior last month.
Bosworth is joined on the team by Wilkinson, who is poised to make his senior international debut in Podebrady. The 20-year-old finished 12th over 10km in the U20 race two years ago but made his breakthrough last year by winning gold in the 10,000m walk at the World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz.
 [TWITTER ID='https://twitter.com/CWilko97/status/859779049102639104'] 
Wilkinson only made his 20km walk debut less than two months ago but it was a notable one, clocking a British U23 record of 1:23:47 - a mark which should also stand him in good stead when he returns to Bydgoszcz for the European U23 Championships in July.
The team for the 20km walk also includes 20-year-old Cameron Corbishley and Dominic King, a two-time Olympian in the 50km walk.
On the women's side, Gemma Bridge clocked a lifetime best of 1:35:01 in Podebrady last month and that performance was rewarded with her first international call-up. She is joined in the women's team alongside Bethan Davies and Heather Lewis.

 Tom Bosworth and Callum Wilkinson form part of a nine-strong British team for the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady in the Czech Republic on 21 May.

Bosworth and Wilkinson lead British team for Poděbrady

Two years ago, Christopher Linke celebrated gold at the European Race Walking Cup in Murcia as part of the triumphant German team and in less than a month, he will be eyeing individual success as he returns to one of the biggest events on the calendar.
Podebrady, to the east of Prague in the Czech Republic, is the setting for this year’s European Race Walking Cup and Linke is heading there on 21 May as not only the fastest man in Europe, but with experience of the course itself.
It was in Podebrady only 19 days ago that Linke, 28, produced a 20km personal best of 1:18:59.
He is the only European to dip under 1:20 this year and will be part of a German team of 14 for this major stepping stone towards the IAAF World Championships in London in August.
 [INSTAGRAM ID='https://www.instagram.com/p/BSyd37agsWo/'] 
World and European 20km walk champion Miguel Angel Lopez from Spain is set to defend his crown from Murcia - Linke was seventh in the individual race - Olympic and world 50km champion Matej Toth from Slovakia has opted for the shorter distance in Podebrady.
The rest of the field know how strong Linke is. He proved that in Rio last summer when he was Europe's leading man in the 20km walk where he finished fifth.
Linke will also face strong opposition from within as he is joined in the event by Hagen Pohle. He was 12th in Murcia, one place in front of Carl Dohmann, and along with Linke, they won team gold with 32 points from Russia (35) and Ukraine (37).
Dohmann is competing in the 50km in Podebrady after the team was selected following the German Race Walking Championships in Naumburg.
Nils Brembach and Jonathan Hilbert complete the men’s 20km line-up while Karl Junghann and Nathaniel Seiler are in the 50km squad.
Germany has one senior woman competing, national 20km champion Emilia Lehmeyer, who was eighth in Podebrady in April. This race will give her a good indication of her form heading towards the European U23 Championships in Bydgoszcz in July.
In the U20 events over 10km, Germany’s men team is Leo Kopp, Johannes Frenzl and Jan Stramka while the women’s team is Teresa Zurek, Julia Richter and Julia Henze.

 Two years ago, Christopher Linke celebrated gold at the European Race Walking Cup in Murcia as part of the triumphant German team and in less than a month, he

Linke will be the one to catch in Poděbrady

World and Olympic 50km walk champion Matej Toth made a solid comeback to racing this weekend by claiming his ninth Slovakian title in the 20km walk.
In his first race since Rio de Janeiro where he became his country’s first ever athletics gold medallist, Toth stepped down to contest his secondary event at the Zahoracka Dvadsiatka. In cold and wet conditions, Toth was satisfied with his winning time of 1:24:38. 
'It was without any problems, that is a good sign. I was able to go at 4:10 per kilometre pace. All in all I’m satisfied with my first race after eight months,” he said on his return to racing.
 [INSTAGRAM ID='https://www.instagram.com/p/BTN_W2ElsOH/?taken-by=tothem83'] 
Toth underwent surgery on his left leg in the off-season and only resumed training December. After coming through an early season domestic test unscatched, he will step up his preparations ahead of the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady on 21 May where he has opted to contest the 20km walk. 
The 34-year-old has already claimed the sport’s two biggest accolades but another four years of top level racing awaits. He is aiming to defend his 50km title at the World Championships in London this August and Toth plans to extend his career through until the next Olympics. 
'I said after Rio this was my last Olympics. But this will change, I want to continue until Tokyo 2020. If my health will be okay, I’m full of motivation for that plan,' he said.

 World and Olympic 50km walk champion Matej Toth made a solid comeback to racing this weekend by claiming his ninth Slovakian title in the 20km walk. In his

Toth makes a winning comeback on the road to Poděbrady

Media accreditation is now open for members of the press - written, television, radio and photographers - wishing to cover the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady, Czech Republic on 21 May.
The accreditation form is available to download under ‘related documents’ and should be submitted to <a href='mailto:kucerova@sprmedia.eu'>kucerova@sprmedia.eu</a> by Sunday 30 April.
 The last edition of the European Race Walking Cup was staged in Murcia, Spain two years ago. Miguel Angel Lopez highlighted the event with victory in his hometown over the 20km distance where he defeated soon-to-be world and Olympic 50km walk champion Matej Toth and world record-holder Yohann Diniz for the title.
The programme in Podebrady begins with the 50km walk at 8.00am local-time and concludes with the U20 women's 10km at 6.00pm.

 Media accreditation is now open for members of the press - written, television, radio and photographers - wishing to cover the European Race Walking Cup in

Media Accreditation open for Podebrady 2017

Two years ago, Spain’s Miguel Angel Lopez experienced one of the greatest moments of his life when he won 20km gold at the European Race Walking Cup on the roads close of home in Murcia.
His victory came with a brilliant performance, as he made the break at 9km and savoured the noise and celebrations of the crowd, a triumph which was just the start of an amazing summer where he went on to be crowned world champion in Beijing.
Turn the clock forward two years and Lopez will be looking for a repeat double in the months ahead, beginning with him leading the Spanish 20km team for this year’s European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady on 21 May.
And what a strong men’s team it is, with Lopez joined by Alvaro Martin and Luis Alberto Amezcua, the two men who finished in front of him at last week’s national championships in Merida.
 [PHOTO src='1281049' size='mediumLandscape' align='right'] 
It is not often that Lopez suffers defeat, but to lose to fellow Spaniards will be a warning to the rest that when it comes to the team prize – let alone the individual positions – they are going to be immensely strong. They will also be joined by Diego Garcia Carrera, who was disqualified in Merida.
Lopez has a superb record at the European Race Walking Cup, where his gold in 2015 followed his 20km silver in 2013, his 2011 team gold and, as an 18-year-old, his second over 10km in Leamington in 2007.
But with such a strong line-up, Spain will be determined to make the podium this time, after finishing fourth in 2015 behind Germany, Russia and the Ukraine.
Lidia Sanchez-Puebla heads the women’s 20km bid for glory, after her national championship success last Sunday in 1:30:57, and she is joined by Laura Garcia-Caro and Maria Perez, who were second and third respectively in that race, and Amanda Caro.
Over 50km, the men’s senior team is Francisco Arcilla, Luis Corchete, Ivan Pajuelo and Benjamin Sanchez; over 10km, the junior men’s team is Kevin Cerro, Pedro Conesa and Jose Perez; and over 10km, the women’s junior team is Antia Chamosa, Irene Montejo and Marina Pena.

 Two years ago, Spain’s Miguel Angel Lopez experienced one of the greatest moments of his life when he won 20km gold at the European Race Walking Cup on the

Lopez back to defend his European crown

After finishing third in the 20km walk in 2015, Yohann Diniz has confirmed he will revert back to his specialist event at the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady on 21 May.
The Frenchman is one of the all-time greats of the discipline with three European titles to his name. Diniz set the only world record of the 2014 European Championships in Zurich where he splashed through the puddles to achieve a still-standing mark of 3:32:33.
Diniz still hasn’t claimed a global title in the 50km walk and he will race in Podebrady as part of his build-up to the IAAF World Championships in London this August. He suffered a small setback at the French Championships earlier this month where he failed to finish the 20km due to injury but Diniz has already resumed light training and will travel to Portugal next month with the rest of the national team to continue his preparations.
The world record-holder told L’Equipe he is looking to post a time between 3:40-3:45 in Podebrady which will almost certainly put him in contention for the victory in May. For posterity, Mikhail Ryzhov won the title in Murcia two years ago in 3:43:32 while Diniz won the previous edition in Dudince in 2013 in 3:41:07.
Diniz is fast approaching veteran status but he is still capable of challenging for major honours. He finished last year with the world-leading time of 3:37:48 and while his Olympic campaign last summer was derailed by illness, Diniz should remain a factor in the 50km walk at the 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin where a fourth gold medal beckons - and even beyond.

 After finishing third in the 20km walk in 2015, Yohann Diniz has confirmed he will revert back to his specialist event at the European Race Walking Cup in

World record-holder Diniz to headline in Podebrady

Those athletes preparing for the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady in just over two months time may now decide to step up their training just an extra ounce with the news that the Ukrainian team will be led by one of the best in the world – Ihor Hlavan.
It might not be until 21 May when the Czech spa town stages one this year’s biggest events on the European Athletics calendar but Ukraine have set their stall out early, though 2014 world 20km race walking champion Ruslan Dmytrenko has not made it after finishing seventh at the national championships while suffering from illness.
They have named a squad of 18 – 11 men and seven women – which includes Hlavan, who won individual and team silver in the 50km event at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in Rome last year.
A walker of outstanding consistency, Hlavan finished in 3:44:02 as Australian Jared Tallent (3:42:36) took the title in a career where he has been so close to making the podium at a major championship.
Twice he has finished fourth at the world championships – in Moscow in 2013 in the 50km and in Beijing in 2015 in the 20km – and the European Race Walking Cup could be a good omen for the summer ahead, with the World Championships in London.
When Murcia last staged this biennial competition in 2015, Spain’s Miguel Angel Lopez won the 20km and then progressed to world gold in the race where Hlavan was fourth.
Hlavan was fifth in Murcia in 1:21:24 as Lopez won in 1:19:52 but his priority is now on the longer distances in the build up to London.
His personal best goes back to that Moscow final in 2013 when his time of 3:40:39 was 36 seconds shy of Tallent in bronze.
Ivan Banzeruk, who was also part of the world race walking silver medal team in Rome – he was sixth in the race – is part of the 50km squad again, as are Marian Zakalnytstyi and Andriy Hrechkovskyi, who were both non scorers 12 months ago.
Hlavan and Banzeruk had a quite a tussle in the 50km race at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich in 2014, with the latter achieving his personal best of 3:44:49 for fifth, 19 seconds and a position ahead of his teammate.
Serhiy Budza, who was Ukraine’s third athlete home in 17th in Rome, reverts to the 20km in Podebrady.
UKRAINE SQUAD
Men: 20km: Nazar Kovalenko, Ivan Losev, Oleksiy Kazanin, Serhiy Budza. 50km: Andriy Hrechkovskyi, Ihor Hlavan, Ivan Banzeruk, Marian Zakalnytstyi. 10km (juniors): Victor Shumik, Eduard Zabuzhenko, Viktor Kononenko.
Women: 20km: Nadiya Borovska, Inna Kashina, Olena Mizernyuk,Valentyna Myronchuk. 10km (juniors): Darya Khusainova, Ksenia Byelova, Iryna Chernukha.

 Those athletes preparing for the European Race Walking Cup in Podebrady in just over two months time may now decide to step up their training just an extra

Hlavan heads Ukraine's walk to glory

The historical spa town of Podebrady in the Czech Republic which boasts a rich tradition of race walking, will host the 2017 edition of the biennial European Race Walking Cup on 21 May. The European Athletics Council awarded the event to the Czech town during its spring meeting in Amsterdam ahead of the 2016 European Athletics Championships.
The previous edition of the European Race Walking Cup was held in 2015 in Murcia, Spain, and it was local hero Miguel Angel Lopez who triumphed in the 20km as a prelude to his victory at the Beijing 2015 IAAF World Championships later in the season. 
 [VIDEO src='1276107' align='right'] 
Podebrady also hosts the famous annual ‘<a href='http://www.podebrady-walking.cz/en/' id='Podebrady Walking Race'>Podebrady Walking Race</a>’, a European Athletics Race Walking Permit Meeting as part of the Czech and Slovak Championships being held next year on 9 April 2017.
It will serve as a general rehearsal for the European Race Walking Cup where all of the continent’s best race walkers and teams will be present to test themselves ahead of the London 2017 IAAF World Championships.

 The historical spa town of Podebrady in the Czech Republic which boasts a rich tradition of race walking, will host the 2017 edition of the biennial European

Podebrady to host 2017 European Race Walking Cup

There is no place like home - ask Miguel Angel Lopez. The Spaniard knows the streets of Murcia like the back of his hand, and on Sunday evening he made them his own.

Men's 20km 
The homegrown favourite paced a scintillating walk to get clear at nine kilometres and then enjoy the cheers, bravos and the rest of the race if not exactly in comfort, at least with a winning feeling. 
Lopez has set his hearts on World gold to go with two European firsts, and believed when he was 27 he would be at the top of his game. He reaches the milestone in July.
If you tell yourself that long enough, and couple it with hard miles, the sky’s the limit. Lopez to win not only conquering the rest of the world in Bejing at the end of August, he wants Olympic success as well.
But he might have had his heart in his mouth soon after the start.
Yohann Diniz set off like his singlet was on fire. A first 300 metres was at lightning pace and 3:58 after the first kilometre, the French world record holder for a week earlier in the year had creviced an eight-second gap on the chasing throng. By 3km (11:48) it had grown to 18 seconds to three chasers, Lopez, Ivanov and Denis Strelkov.
By the next time round, on a slight dog-leg of a course meant he was momentarily out of sight of pursuers. However, the chasing three had gone a marginal but significant two seconds quicker for the lap up to 4km.
On the next circuit the lead had been cut to a mere five seconds as quickly as it was forged in the first place, but Strelkov had been dropped.
It was deadlocked at 7km with Diniz, Lopez and Ivanov together, but the chasers were gathering to reel in the second Russian and did so after another 800 metres.
The split for the places came in the ninth lap. Diniz was shot out the back, clearly paying for his rash start, while Lopez had drawn a slight advantage out of Ivanov.
He grew the gap all the more when he saw the Russian had drawn two DQ cards.
After that, the chase for the minor medals took centre stage.
Diniz was caught and passed by Matej Toth, third in Dudince’s edition of the European Cup in 2013, who had Dzianis Simanovich from Belarus for company. 
He was living just inside his comfort zone, but like the Slovak got a lift when the unfortunate Ivanov picked up the third and final card.
A second Belarussian, Dziubin passed his friend, but was quickly overtaken by Diniz who had gathered himself for a second go at a medal.
The second wind turned into a strong breeze as he whistled past Simanovich and finally settled a fascinating race that went with a heartening second Spanish win of the day.
Incidentally, Lopez’s 1:19:52 matched his Spanish national championship win in February to the second.
'The crowd was amazing and I live very close to the course, and I will be thinking about today when I am here in the future. It was tough, but I am very happy,” said Lopez.

Video impression of the Murcia 2015 European Cup Race Walking
 [VIDEO src='1276107' align='right'] 
Women's 20km
The women’s 20km lived up to star billing with a dramatic last-lap sprint that decided gold.
Eleonora Giorgi made a brave bid on the final circuit, and it looked to be a decisive move by the Italian.
But world leader, Elmira Alembekova decided otherwise. With arms pumping and legs whirling, she dug deep to turn a five-metre deficit into the slightest of leads with 250 metres left.
Throwing caution to the winds as judges peered ever closer at the leaders’ technique, the Russian underlined her fine form to just about hang on to the finish.
Giorgi hurtled across two seconds later and suggest she will be a major threat at the World Championship later in the year. After all, the economics student improved her personal best for the third race in a row.
A second Russian, Svetlana Vasileyva, walked a last lone lap to claim a deserved bronze.
It was a far cry from the early circuits.
Six were slightly ahead but spread across the road rather than the processional look of most major races. However, the group quickly reformed to 14 by the third tour - with all the favourites forming the spearhead.
It then showed slivers of sunlight a lap later, although just about held together at 5km  (22:21). Then three came off the back including Portugal’s Ines Henriques as the pace moved it up a notch.
Elisa Rigaudo, the Olympic bronze medallist from 2008, was next to discover the leaders meant business.
At half way, (44:12), European Championship silver medallist Lyudmyla Olyanovska was a nose ahead of the rest, but it was almost the same formation with Rigaudo getting an unexpected lift as she latched on to the struggling Raquel Gonzalez from the host country.
By 12km, those in contention had been whittled down to seven, but with all favourites still in place.
Former world record holder Vera Sokolova was the one Russian now forced to settle for a minor place, and twice more round the final seven were also looking susceptible to a major split. 
Olyanovska was at the back, and along with Portugal’s Ana Cabecinha, the pair were forced to let the first five go at 15km (1:05:32).
The European Bronze medallist from 2014 looked to be in to trouble, but with determined cap on back to front, Ane&#133;¾ka Drahotová clawed her way back to the leaders.
It wasn’t to last.
The circuit between 16 and 17km proved decisive. Marina Pandakova paid for the pace as did Drahotová. On the bell lap, Alembekova was going eyeballs out to drop Giorgi and Vasileyva. 
She managed to dispose of the latter, but the Italian took up pole position only to discover Alembekova, who is now blond rather than brunette, proving a show stopper.
For all that, Giorgi was delighted with second place. “This is my first medal and I am very happy; it was my dream. My previous national record was 1:26:46 so I am very happy I beat it for the third time. I would like to fight and beat the Chinese and Russian athletes in Beijing.”
Men's 50km
Mikhail Ryzhov was lost amongst a group of female walkers as he took 50km gold but the Russian winner was a man alone for the last seven kilometres. 
He dropped team-mate Ivan Noskov when it mattered and strode on to a third medal success in three years. In 2014, he won the World Cup, and before that silver at the World Championships. 
Such was the nature of races overlapping each other, the men’s junior 10km and the women’s 20km took place in between.
Even so, there were tiring athletes in both races who only briefly glimpsed Ryzhov as he swept past them. 
Noskov held on for second, and Marco de Luca, sporting more red tape than a government form, was a deserved third. 
The Italian wears the medical strapping to relax his shoulders, but he was as calm and cool as the other 29 walkers at 8am. Soon the two Russians and the in-form De Luca decided to warm things up. 
Three laps into the 50 demanded, the trio forged 200 metres between themselves and chaser Poland’s Grzegorz Sudol, who in turn was 50 metres ahead of the chasing pack. 
Noskov and Ryzhof cranked up the pace to make 5km in 22:35, with De Luca seven seconds in arrears. By 10km (44:46) the leaders had upped a gear, but the Italian was still tantalisingly close. 
However, by 20km, the Russians were almost a minute clear and 13km later De Luca suffered. He was forced into a pit stop on lap 21 that saw him lose a minute, but not third. 
Giving chase was Ukrainian Ivan Banzeruk who notched 2:16:54 at 30k, but although more than three minutes back led a team of talents with proven success in the World Cup, and were to claim bronze in this race. 
Ryzhof was first to show his hand at 43km in a bid to break the bond with his compatriot, and when he did, the medals were decided. 
Banzeruk was fourth, and unsurprisingly Russia won team gold, with Italy delighted at a third silver of the morning.
Women's junior 10km
It went to form in the women’s junior 10km with the fastest this year first across the line.
Russia claimed their third victory of the day when Klavdiya Afanasyeva left her two-team mates just before the 7k mark. When you are as fair-skinned as the winner and still triumph over 30c degrees Spanish heat on a tiring Sunday afternoon, it suggests another successful product off a unceasing assembly line of champions.
Mariya Losinova was second, but when team-mate Olga Shargina was shown the red card on the last lap, the decibels revved up around the circuit.
Behind the leading pair, and they were well spread out, there was a battle royal for what was believed to be fourth. 
Instead, Maria Perez quickly gleaned she and Italian Noemi Stella were chasing a medal after Shargina’s demise.
Roared on by Murcians around the course, Perez found the gear all those given fresh inspiration do, and was 11 seconds clear by the finish.
However, the leading pair made sure the Russian national anthem got a fifth airing along the Gran Via Escultor Francisco Salzillo when they took team gold to go with two previous individual and two team wins.
All three Spanish walkers carried hopes of a home win and were carried on a wave of support from the gun.
Treading on their heels were two Russians - and the third was in the leading group of 12. Three were dropped next time round, and the big shock of the day was to see Lidia Sánchez-Puebla 15 metres back of the leading seven.
The co-favourite ,as a result of a ratified second fastest time on the start list, was clearly struggling. At 5km (23:34) all three Russians forged a lead, hammered, was closer the truth. The 20-metre advantage was a consequence of a 4:28 1km loop in contrast to the next best 4:34 by second Spaniard Maria Perez.
Stella ate into Perez’s lead and passed her, only to see the tables turned when Russian fortunes took a tumble.
A long way back, Katarzyna Zdzieblo sensibly moved through the heat for fifth, and behind her Sanchez-Pueblo will live to fight another day, but this race was more than two minutes outside her best.
Perez admitted she was in good form. I felt perfect physically. I thought the other Spanish performances today were sensational, although the temperature was a like devil’s inferno, and the course was a little bit complicated because it was seemingly flat, but undulated here and there.”

Men's junior 10km 
It’s been coming for a while - but Diego Garcia finally made top of the podium after a couple of near misses.
Roared on by an early morning home crowd in Murcia, the 19-year-old took the bull by the horns from the second lap and never let go.
Surprisingly, he was given a pretty easy ride, and although his face betrayed the effort, the gap to second allowed Garcia to high-five just about every cheering spectator over the last 150 metres.
Garcia won silver at the World Championships last year. Before that, it was bronze at the World Youth Championships in 2013, but this race was all but over after half way.
A blanket would have covered the first 15 on the 1km lap as they tore past 50km walkers already an hour into their race. 
Garcia clearly took home cheers to heart as he forged a small gap on the second circuit that by 4km (16:23) had grown despite a slightly slower mark than the previous two. A dozen-strong group were vainly trying to stay in the Spaniard’s wake, but they were looking far more stretched than he was.
His fifth lap to reach 5km was a heart-bursting 4:01 as he revved up the pace, and only a major collapse was going to stop him.
The pack was whittled down to three after one of the Russian favourites Maksim Krasnov was disqualified at 7km, and clearly one of them was going to miss out on a medal.
It turned out to be Ukrainian Miroslav Uradnik who came off the pack with two laps to go. For a moment it looked as if it was going to be a Spanish one-two, but Frenchman Jean Blancheteau battled with head bowed to get the better of Pablo Oliva over a tough last circuit and decide the medals.
Garcia was ready and waiting to greet Oliva at the end with arms thrown around each other in celebration. Both are trained by same coach, José Antonio Quintana, and both do six sessions a week together.
The winner admitted to a touch of nerves as he went for broke.
“I was on my own during the last race in the World Championships in Oregon,” Garcia added. “I didn’t know how my body would react but this time, it did not bother me.
“I trained to win this race and we were hoping for a one, two. Bringing the gold medal home in my home country is even more important than the next competition in Sweden at the European Junior Championships.”

   There is no place like home - ask Miguel Angel Lopez. The Spaniard knows the streets of Murcia like the back of his hand, and on Sunday evening he made them

Lopez golden at home in Murcia

Two cracking races should set pulses racing at the 11th European Cup Race Walking on Sunday in Murcia.
Both 20k competitions list a heel-and-toe elite that makes for intriguing battles around a 1km circuit right through the heart of the southern Spanish town.
Those turning out to cheer homegrown athletes won’t need to look hard for a local hero. 
Current European champion Miguel Angel Lopez will get out of his own bed and walk to the course where he hopes to claim top honours.
The 27-year-old is more used to window shopping on the street close to where he lives. But if form is anything to go by he will cash in on a tremendous year by heading a stellar field.
Lopez strolled to a national championship win in northern Spain just two months ago, and still recorded a third-gear 1:19.52.
Not far behind was 20-year-old Alvaro Martin who notched a 1:20:19 personal best to offer more than one reason for Murcians to cheer.
But the real challenge to Lopez will come from the men who also starred at the Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championship.
World champion Aleksandr Ivanov took silver; Denis Strelkov claimed bronze - and two seconds separated the three.
There again, there’s Yohann Diniz.
The Frenchman won 50k European gold for the third time last year, and for a single week was world record holder at the shorter distance until his superb 1:17:02 was bettered yet again by Japanese Yusuki Suzuki who shaved a further 26 seconds off the mark. 
Diniz has opted for the 20km in Murcia, and for the 2007 European Cup winner, it tends to be all or nothing. If it’s all, then no look further than Spain, France and Russia for the medals.
It’s tempting to suggest there a European Championship repeat for the women that climbed the podium 12 months ago. 
After all, Elmira Alembekova posted the fastest time ever when the Russian stopped the clock at 1:24:47 at Sochi in February. It hacked 15 seconds off the mark set by Elena Lashmanova in wining the 2012 Olympic title, but the mark has yet to be ratified.
European bronze medallist Ane&#133;¾ka Drahotová will be in the main group for the first half, but might need to go somewhere close to her personal best time of 1:28:08 to be in the final shake-up.
It would be terrific for athletics in general if Jesus Angel Garcia can prove yet again that age is no barrier.
The Spaniard will be 46 in October, but after notching 3:45:41 earlier in the year has to be a serious medal contender in the 50km race.
However, the three decade multi-medallist will be hard pushed by Russian pair Ivan Noskov and Mikhail Ryzhov who have yet to show in 2015, but whose pedigree is undoubted.
Dark horses should be Italian Marco De Luca, in the form of his life after a personal best 3:45:25, and Ivan Banzeruk from Ukraine, with a recent 3:44:49 best.
 One country yet to win a major race walk medal is Turkey.
 That could all change in the junior men’s 10k if Muratcan Karapinar gets anywhere close to his superb 41:36 set in March. There is the inevitable strong challenge from Russia, as there is in the women’s junior race.
 Klavdiya Afanasyeva is the fastest in the field with 45:31 but is only 14 seconds quicker than Lidia Sánchez-Puebla.
 The Spaniard has the upper hand knowing she is on home ground with her personal best also posted in February.
The 18-year-old clearly oozes confidence. Her Twitter slogan says she believes in herself - not in dreams. Reality should place her firmly on Sunday's podium.
The event will be streamed live <a target='_blank' href='http://www.rfea.es/competi/2015_ECRW_Murcia/streaming_endirecto.htm'>here</a>.
Check out the highlights from the 2013 European Cup Race Walking in Dudince:
 [VIDEO src='1268344' align='right']

  Two cracking races should set pulses racing at the 11th European Cup Race Walking on Sunday in Murcia. Both 20k competitions list a heel-and-toe elite that

Murcia set to host Europe's best walkers on Sunday

A total of 220 athletes, 139 men and 81 women, representing 27 Member Federations have been entered for the 11th European Cup Race Walking to be held in Murcia on 17 May.
The majority of athletes that placed well at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich last summer are back for more this time in Murcia. 
It will be an interesting battle in the men's 20km between both European champions from Zurich, Spain's Miguel Angel Lopez over 20km and world record holder over 50km, Yohann Diniz of France. 
On women's side it will be a rematch between the podium finishers in Zurich, with Elmira Alembekova, Lyudmila Olyanovska and Anezka Drahotova all aiming for gold.

  A total of 220 athletes, 139 men and 81 women, representing 27 Member Federations have been entered for the 11th European Cup Race Walking to be held in

Final entries confirmed for European Cup Race Walking 

Yohann Diniz has had a year to remember and now he will look to regain another title when he leads the French bid for gold at the European Cup Race Walking in Murcia on 17 May.
Diniz has been confirmed in the France team for the event in Spain where he will compete in the 20km race, with Antonin Boyez and Kevin Campion making up their squad over that distance.
Back in Royal Leamington Spa in 2007, Diniz, now 37, won this title in 1:18:58, before taking the 50km crown in 3:41:07 in Dudince two years ago.
And he has been on quite a roll since last summer’s European Athletics Championships where he broke the world record when he won the 50km in 3:32:33.
In March, he added the 20km world record to his list as he triumphed in Arles in 1:17:02, only for China’s Yusuke Suzuki to beat the time with 1:16:36 a week later.
Yet Diniz is determined to make 2015 as successful as 2014 where he won his third European Athletics gold.
He will go to the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August aiming to race at both distances and Murcia will give him the chance to send out an impressive warning.
France have entered only one walker in the 50km in Xavier Le Coz.
The women’s 20km team is Violaine Averous, Corinne Baudoin, Emilie Menuet and Ines Pastorino, their boys’ 10km team is Jean Blancheteau, Thibault Hypolite, Axel Mutter while Axelle Ham will compete in the girls’ 10km.

  Yohann Diniz has had a year to remember and now he will look to regain another title when he leads the French bid for gold at the European Cup Race Walking in

Diniz has cup glory on his mind

The last time Ruslan Dmytrenko was on a major European race walking stage he missed out on the podium by the smallest possible margin. Now he has the chance to put that right.
It is just over two weeks until the European Cup Race Walking in Murcia and Dmytrenko is at the helm of a strong Ukrainian team.
Dmytrenko is the defending World Cup champion, a triumph he achieved in Taicang last year when he won in a national record of 1:18:37.
But then came an agonising fourth place at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich last summer after he shared the same time as Russia’s Denis Strelkov in a brilliant finish to the race where only two seconds separated the first four.
It was so close.
And the men’s event in Murcia is building up to something spectacular as once more Dmytrenko will face Spain’s Miguel Angel Lopez, who took gold on that rainy morning at the European Athletics Championships, while France’s Yohann Diniz, the triple European 50km champion, is also due to compete in the 20km race.
<blockquote lang='en' class='twitter-tweet'>
Me hace muy feliz competir en <a href='https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mu?src=hash'>#Mu</a>&cia en la Copa de Europa de Marcha. Será el 17 de mayo y os espero ahí­ apoyando. <a href='http://t.co/1ExhH3JqEj'>pic.twitter.com/1ExhH3JqEj</a>
— Miguel &#129;ngel López (@MA_LopezNicolas) <a href='https://twitter.com/MA_LopezNicolas/status/589400136184369152'>April 18, 2015</a></blockquote>
Dmytrenko is joined in Ukraine's 20km squad by Andriy Kovenko, who was seventh in Zurich, Ihor Hlavan, who was fourth in the 50km at the last world championships, Nazar Kovalenko and Andriy Kovenko.
Ivan Banzeruk, Oleksiy Kazanin, Ihor Sakharuk and Sergiy Budza will compete in the 50km.
As Dmytrenko missed out on a medal in Zurich, his teammate Lyudmyla Olyanovska won silver in the women's 20km race in Zurich.
She is in the Ukrainian 20km team that includes Nadiya Borovska, Olena Shumkina and Inna Kashyna.
Olyanovska built on her seventh place at the World Cup in 2014 with a walk of 1:28:07 to hold off the challenge of the Czech Republic’s Anezka Drahotova by a second as Russian Elmira Alembekova won in 1:27:56.
This scene is set in Murcia for what could be a terrific rematch as both Drahotova and Alembekova will be contending for gold.

  The last&Acirc;&nbsp;time&Acirc;&nbsp;Ruslan Dmytrenko&Acirc;&nbsp;was on a major&Acirc;&nbsp;European race walking stage he missed out on the podium by the

Dmytrenko will plot a podium spot

Christopher Linke will spearhead Germany’s bid for glory at the European Cup Race Walking in Murcia in May.
Four years ago in Olhao, Portugal, Linke won bronze in the 50km event but now he will be part of the shorter distance where he has hit some fine form.
Linke won in Podebrady earlier this month in 1:20:37, to move to fifth in the European Athletics rankings and secure a qualifying time for this summer’s IAAF World Championships in Beijing.
In the same race his teammate Hagen Pohle was sixth in 1:22:40 and then eight days later was second in Naumburg in 1:21:34 and will join Linke for the event in Spain on 17 May.
Linke’s victory in the European Athletics Permit Meeting in Podebrady sets him brilliantly for the European Cup Race Walking where he has been a consistent competitor since 2007.
He was seventh then in the 10km walk at Royal Leamington Spa two years ago in Dudince, he was 10th in the 20km walk.
Last summer in Zurich, Linke finished fifth at the European Athletics Championships in 1:21:00 with Pohle in 15th with 1:24:00.
They are joined in the men’s 20km team for Murcia by Nils-Christopher Gloger and Carl Dohmann.
France’s Yohann Diniz tops the European Athletics rankings for the 20km walk this year with his 1:17:02, from Arles in March, which was a world record performance.

  Christopher Linke will spearhead Germany&acirc;&#128;&#153;s bid for glory at the European&Acirc;&nbsp;Cup&Acirc;&nbsp;Race Walking&Acirc;&nbsp;in Murcia in

Linke leads German bid for the Cup

Miguel Angel Lopez will no doubt have an extra desire to win the European Race Walking Cup in Murcia next month.
The Spanish European 20km champion will lead his country in the event that is taking place in the city where he was born.
Lopez produced a performance to remember last summer as he won the first major gold medal of his career with a thrilling victory in the rain of Zurich at the European Athletics Championships.
He is part of a strong Spanish squad for the competition on 17 May, an event where he has won silver twice, in Royal Leamington Spa in 2007, and two years ago in Dudince, when the Cup was last staged.
On the latter occasion, he was beaten by just eight seconds - 1:21:40 to 1:21:48 - by Denis Strelkov and Lopez gained a semblance of revenge in Zurich as the Russian was back in third.
Relive the final moments of the race below:
 [VIDEO src='1275757' align='right'] 
France’s Yohann Diniz triumphed in Dudince and in a year where has already broken the 20km record with 1:17:02 - before Japan’s Yusuke Suzuki took it down to 1:16:36 - it could be some race in Murcia if he decides to compete.
Alongside Lopez in the Spanish 20km team will be Alvaro Martin, Alberto Amezcua and Jose Ignacio Diaz.
It was some morning for Lopez back in August as his brilliant late surge saw him go in front of Russia’s Aleksandr Ivanov to take gold, 12 months after winning bronze at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow.
He knew the pressure on him. As he said afterwards: 'Spain has a great tradition in race walking and it is a big responsibility to keep that going.'
<blockquote lang='en' class='twitter-tweet'>
La página de la <a href='https://twitter.com/atletismoRFEA'>@atletismoRFEA</a> ya dedica un espacio a la Copa de Europa de Marcha que se disputará en Murcia en mayo. <a href='http://t.co/TkLE0eP6Ce'>http://t.co/TkLE0eP6Ce</a>
— Miguel &#129;ngel López (@MA_LopezNicolas) <a href='https://twitter.com/MA_LopezNicolas/status/582869327503843328'>March 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
Lopez’s teammate Jesus Angel Garcia might be 45 but he is still going strong and is in the 50km squad, almost 22 years after he won the world title in Stuttgart. He has won the European Race Walking Cup on three occasions - in 1996, 2000 and 2001.
The rest of the 50km squad is Marc Tur, Benjamin Sanchez and Luis Manuel Corchete.
Their women’s 20km squad is led by Beatriz Pascual and includes Raquel Gonzalez, Julia Takacs and Maria Jose Poves.

  Miguel Angel Lopez will no doubt have an extra desire to win the European Race Walking Cup in Murcia next month. The Spanish European 20km champion will lead

Lopez will chase a true home success

Considering the development of the political situation in Ukraine, European Athletics will host the 2015 European Cup Race Walking in Murcia, Spain. 
The competition, previously to be held in Ivano-Frankvisk, will take place on 17 May 2015.
The last time the European Cup Race Walking was held in 2013 in Dudince, Frenchman Yohann Diniz took the 50km as a prelude to his victory and world record at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich. 'I seem to be inspired by European Athletics competitions,' he said.

  Considering the development of the political situation in Ukraine, European Athletics will host the 2015 European Cup Race Walking in Murcia, Spain. The

Murcia to host 2015 European Cup Race Walking

When the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk stages the European Cup Race Walking in May, Lyudmyla Olyanovska knows she will have the spotlight on her - and her countdown could not have started better.
Olyanovska, 21, who had the finest summer of her career as she won silver in the 20km walk at the European Athletics Championships, has followed that up by taking the national 10km record to 41:42.5 at the Ukrainian Race Walk Cup at the start of this month in Mukachevo.
Now she is looking beyond for more glory.
In May, Olyanovska will be among the favourites at the 11th European Cup Race Walking as Ukraine hosts the event for the first time and she is determined to ensure it is a competition to remember for the home fans.
'This winter should be rich for training camps as we started preparation for Ivano-Frankivsk,' said Olyanovska. 'It’s very important for us to make strong team and individual performances at a major event in our native country.'
Olyanovska took silver by a second in a thrilling race in the 20km walk at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich in August as she crossed the line in 1:28:07 from Anezka Drahotova, who broke the Czech Republic national record for bronze, as Russia's Elmira Alembekova won in 1:27:56.
She was already top of the European Athletics rankings for the 10km walk after her 42:30 in Moscow in August, a time she has now eclipsed with her Mukachevo performance, as she looks to gain as much as possible from her winter's training.
Olyanovska, speaking to uaf.org.ua, said: 'I feel very good, I am satisfied with the result in Zurich, and indeed last season. But now all thoughts are focused on next year and preparing for it. I will try to develop the success which came in 2014.'
The IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August is one of her big targets but she has not ruled out competing in the European Athletics Under-23 Championships in Tallinn in July where she could face Drahotova once again, in what would be a thrilling race.

  When the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk stages the European Cup Race Walking in May,&Acirc;&nbsp;Lyudmyla Olyanovska&Acirc;&nbsp;knows she will have the

Olyanovska homes in on the good times

On 23-25 April 2014 a European Athletics delegation conducted an official visit to Ivano- Frankivsk, the host city of the 2015 European Cup Race Walking.                                  
During the kick-off meeting the delegation members, Vadim Zelichenok (Council Delegate), Luis Saladie (Technical Delegate) and Sandrine Glacier (Project Coordinator) reviewed the status of preparatory activities.
'It was very important for us that the local organising committee received first-hand instructions, answers and an outline of strategic direction,” said the President of the Ivano-Frankivsk Athletic Association Vitaly Mateshko.
They also met with the Deputy of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration Sergei Adamovich and First Deputy Mayor Zynoviy Fitel.  
The meetings were aimed at making sure that both parties were on the same page as far as co-financing of the event. 
The European Athletics delegation inspected hotels, track, opening and closing ceremony locations, discussed security issues, marketing, transportation, communications, and medical coverage.
It was decided to introduce some adjustments to the locations of the food corners and to one of the turns along the course. 
The most important task the organisers face is reconstructing parts of the road and competition track which they hope to complete by October 2014.
'I think it’s safe to say that both parties were satisfied. We discussed all the technical issues and the Ukrainian Athletics Federation (FLAU) provided a very informative presentation on marketing aspects.  We worked out all the possible options for further action to successfully organise the competitions,' Mateshko added.
The next visit is expected in October, during the annual Ivano-Frankivsk evening race walking event, which will serve as a test for the 2015 European Cup Race Walking.

  On 23-25 April 2014 a European Athletics delegation conducted an official visit to Ivano- Frankivsk, the host city of the 2015 European Cup Race

European Athletics visits Ivano-Frankivsk

background

This was the best race of the day as far as a man versus man event. 
The title looked a foregone conclusion with two laps to go: Denis Strelkov from Russia was going to win. 
But having built up a substantial lead, the Russian suddenly appeared to slow. But the truth was Matej Toth and Miguel Angel Lopez was going faster. 
After a string of Russian victories throughout the day, it looked as if an upset was on the cards when a 35 second advantage earlier dwindled to just 10 with one more kilometre to race. 
Spurred on by a home crowd, Slovakia's Toth went after Lopez. The Spaniard went after the Russian, and the anguished face of Strelkov made it plain what the winning effort cost him as he crossed the line. 
It was all very different when a gang of many members went through 3km in 12:10. 
Ireland's Robbie Heffernan and Strelkov were marginal chiefs, but even when the group reached 5k (20:21) there were few willing to abdicate a grip on the top 15. 
Around 70 metres back three Poles and a Portuguese were straining to stare at the leaders backs. 
By 10k (40:49), the group had been thinned to 10. Spain's Ben Sanchez was a noticeable casualty after he called it a day, but the rest ploughed on, immune to the conditions. 
The two following from around 100m were former European Cup winner Giorgio Rubino and Ivan Losev from Ukraine. 
Any pretence of a truce was dead at 12k. 
Strelkov cut loose, and five metres back his three team-mates also cut the tow rope to an illustrious gathering including local favourite Toth, Norway's Eric Tysse, Christopher Linke (Germany) and Lopez. 
The rest of Europe including Heffernan was having none of that and soon dragged back the trio – but not Strelkov who was clearly going for broke. 
Having already recorded a personal best on home soil in February where it was also sunny down on the Black Coast, the Russian clearly has a penchant for warm walking. 
Even though he was 21 seconds up on Toth at 15k, Lopez and Ivanov (Russia), the trio were having a battle royale for the rest of the medals. 
With two laps to go Lopez pushed on followed by Toth, and the rest headed backwards. 
At the end, a happy Toth admitted adrenalin had kicked in. 
'Of course, there was pressure to do well at home,' he said. 'I got a second place (at 20k) two years ago, and have made progress since then as well. 
'I was thinking maybe we could catch Strelkov, but he had just enough.' 
The Russian winner reckoned he 'dared to dream' after posting his 1:19:53 PB only in February. 
He added: 'It was very hard during the race, too hot, too hard – but I felt in fantastic form.'

  This was the best race of the day as far as a man versus man event.  The title looked a foregone conclusion with two laps to go: Denis Strelkov from Russia

MEN'S 20KM: Sterlkov holds on in a tight finish at Dudince 2013

The race was so one-sided – a boxing trainer would have thrown the towel in at the equivalent of the first round. 
The Russians came out fighting, but Ekaterina Medvedeva and Nadezhda Leontyeva weren't even left to duel each other after the first two laps. 
Medvedeva won the world junior championships last year, and a 22-second reduction on her PB in February was enough to psych the rest of the field even before the gun. 
At 5km, she hit her own watch timer at 22:03, with Leontyeva 23 seconds back, only two seconds up on a spirited attempt by Ane&#133;¾ka Drahotová from next door in the Czech Republic. 
But just to make sure, Medvedeva powered on – and there was a lot bigger gap this time over her team-mate than in Barcelona. In fact, more than a minute when Medvedeva heard the bell. Her finishing time was pretty good in comparison with her 43:50 PB, considering heat and any lack of a challenge. 
A long way back, but still on the podium was Drahotová. 
The willowy walker from the Czech Republic had given it a spirited go earlier, and unlike Medvedeva, she will still be eligible for the European Cup in 2015. 
Oxana Golyatkina came in fourth, and Viktoryia Rashchupkina from Belarus looked a lot better than most by the finish. 
All the same, there were huge gaps between the first four: more than four minutes, and each around 30 seconds, apart from the one between the Czech and Leontyeva. 
In a race of attrition for teenage girls, the winner was getting a quickish massage and hugs from coaches and friends in the recovery tent when the last 15 in the race had yet to hear the bell. <a href='http://www.atletickevysledky.sk/online/index.html' target='_blank' style='color: #6c8ccd; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.5px; background-color: #e4edfd;'>Complete results.</a>

 The race was so one-sided – a boxing trainer would have thrown the towel in at the equivalent of the first round.  The Russians came out fighting, but

JUNIOR WOMEN'S 10KM: Medvedeva cruises to easy win

They tried to tie the race – but the two leading Russians forgot all about electronic recording. 
Nikolay Markov and Pavel Parshin held hands aloft as they crossed the finish line, but that pesky tenth of a second split them at last. 
The latter got the nod, but you can bet the room they share at the Saransk Walking Centre in Russia sees the two medals side by side on their table. 
The pair was exactly that from the gun, inseparable, save for a couple of minutes when Spaniard Alvaro Martin got in between them at the beginning. 
That lasted but half a lap and there on it was a just a question of how much they would win by – and in the end not as much they thought. 
Fast improving, Vito Minei tried to rein in the pair but even though the Italian claimed a brave bronze, after walking alone for the second half of the race, the few seconds' difference proved elusive. 
The two Russians and Martin hit the first kilometre at 4:05, with the next lap marginally quicker with a group of six including the welcome sight of a new nation – Turkey, challenging for top honours. 
The Russian double act then did a disappearing act down the road to hit 3k in 12:10, with Martin settling for safety in the next group. 
There was 15 seconds from Russia to a Spanish pairing, now Marc Tur and Menei had joined the chase. 
It was 20:28 at half way, with Martin paying for his early charge when shown the dreaded red disc that means disqualification. 
Minei was now a safe third, with Tur already 100m behind and tiring. In contrast, Marius Savelskis leapt ahead for fourth to get Lithuania a long-awaited mention at a major walk. 
There were plenty of personal bests, nine in the first 17, despite the fact it was high noon and blistering. 
Parshin was surprised he wasn't allowed to tie with his friend. 
'We are great friends in and out of training, and we wanted this to be a joint win,' he said. 'It doesn't matter, we know what wanted to do.' 
Minei is now looking forward to the European Junior Championships on home soil at Rieti in July. 
He added: 'It was hot, but I live in the south of Italy, and this', he said pointing to the sun, 'is normal for me.'

  They tried to tie the race – but the two leading Russians forgot all about electronic recording.  Nikolay Markov and Pavel Parshin held hands aloft as they

JUNIOR MEN'S 10KM: Russian duo of Parshin and Markov dominate

If it was down to Yohann Diniz all races would be held in Dudince – and all would have the word 'European' in front of them. 
The Frenchman had already recorded a sharp 3:49:00 in March in the Slovakian spa town, and on Sunday took the race by the scruff of the neck to record a second European Cup Race Walking triumph to go with two gold-lined European Championships. 
He was a sorry figure at last year's Olympics and World Championships, but on this particular stretch of road and with the Euro carrot dangling in front – Diniz consumed it whole. 
Niggling injury worries behind him, once he took the lead just before 15k, the rest were playing catch-up. 
Had he taken a little less time to high five fans on the last lap as well as an unscheduled pit-stop at 40k, he would have easily clawed back the 10 seconds that denied him the European Cup record held by Russia's Vladimir Kanaykin. 
Early on, it took only four laps before the leading Russian pair was lapping the back markers. 
Unsurprisingly, Alexey Bartsaykin and the little known Konstantin Maksimov were heading the charge joined at the 5k-mark by Diniz in 22:33. 
Mikhail Ryzhov and Ivan Noskov shadowed 20 yards behind, and in their wake, two Poles and two from Ukraine were also biding their time. 
But if there was ever a doubt about the task facing the recording table, nearly half the field of 49 had been lapped already. 
By 10k (45:04), all four Russians crowded the Frenchman with the equally divided Poland/Ukraine quartet 31 seconds back. 
However, the rest of the field were disparate ones and twos, except for the Portuguese team throng almost a minute behind at this point. 
Diniz opted for breathing space and eased forward eight seconds at 15k. He increased it by five at 20k (1:20:48) with the Russians a minute plus ahead of everyone else. 
Increasing the gap to almost a minute at 30k (2:14:05) the relentless pace set by Diniz as the sun rose took its toll on first Maksimov who drifted from his team-mates at this point, recovered, and then saw Bartsaykin lag as the Frenchman recorded a couple of quick laps at 4:24 each. 
As he turned the screw, the Russians were done team bonding. It was every man for himself, with Ryzhov forcing the split and the other two also showing gaps between each other. 
The first Russian held on for a seven-minute improvement, although he almost limped across the line in contrast to the sprightly Diniz who had time to kiss the mascot. 
Noskov came through for bronze. Ihor Hlaven was on two disqualification cards for more than 30k, but the walker from Ukraine defied the odds for fourth, and Poland's Grzegorz Sudol used his experience to claim fifth. 
Jesus Angel Garcia was a winner on this course an amazing 12 years ago. 
Where the 43-year-old gets his enthusiasm from is anyone's guess, but in a last 100m sprint, the Spaniard held off team-mate Claudio Villanueva, nine years his junior, by two seconds to claim 11th, and only a little over eight minutes slower than 2001. 
Diniz was delighted to have come back from a poor couple of years. 
He said: 'It's true I seem to be inspired by European competition, and I don't know why. 
'I like Dudince. It's a small town, but it has a big, big heart and it inspires me. The problems I had over the last two years are known, but I'm particularly pleased to have won here. 
'Because it was very, very hot, I think it gives me even more hope for the World Championships later this year.' <a href='http://www.atletickevysledky.sk/online/index.html' target='_blank'>Complete results.</a>

 If it was down to Yohann Diniz all races would be held in Dudince – and all would have the word 'European' in front of them.  The Frenchman had already

MEN'S 50KM: Diniz claims the European Cup Race Walking title for a second time

The 10th European Cup Race Walking takes place in the Slovakian spa town of Dudince on Sunday 19 May. The following are the previews of the five titles up for grabs: Men's 50km The longest race on Sunday is the hardest to call. 
Not because of the pedigree on show, but because conditions and other variables come into play. 
The weather prediction is 30 degrees Celsius and many a would-be champion has been reduced to the walking dead in the latter stages as heat and poor pace judgment gets to them. 
Yohann Diniz is the obvious favourite if only because the double European champion likes Dudince very much. 
He posted 3:49:52 there in March, but even that pales with his 3:38:45 PB set in the same place in 2009. 
However, injury niggles and a disqualification at the 2012 Olympics suggests the 35-year-old's form is not always a sure sign of success. 
The main challenge should come from Russia, of course, with Sergey Bakulin putting together two 3:38-plus 50ks last year, with team-mate Alexey Bartsaykin the dark horse for a medal. 
The former world junior record holder over 10k, sports a modest 4:08:45 from last year, but did post a quick 2:27:43 for 35k behind Bakulin at Sochi in February. Anything like the same form should see the 24-year-old erase huge numbers of his previous PB. 
Form also hints at Jarkko Kinnunen making the top five – if not higher. The Finn sliced more than six minutes off his best at last year's Olympics, and up there too should be Rafa Sikora from Poland whose 3:46:16 PB was set, guess where? Dudince, of course, two years ago. 
In the same vein as a 60-year-old competing at 20k, Jesus Angel Garcia defies age gravity at the longer race. 
There seems no end to the Spaniard's longevity. He has threatened retirement more times than Frank Sinatra, but is still singing memorable tunes on track and road. 
The man who won the European Cup when it was last held in Dudince, 12 years ago, continues to thrive, and at the right end of a race. 
The 43-year-old set a PB 35k only last year en route to 20th in the Olympics, and rarely disappoints at majors when he usually punches his way through the field on a mission in the second half. 
Men's 20km 
THE best race of the on Sunday looks set to be the men's 20km walk. 
For once, there is no obvious favourite although Matej Toth will be out to impress on home soil in Dudince. 
The former journalism student can write his own headlines if he triumphs in the Slovakian spa town and better a clutch of talented walkers straddling the start line. 
In Toth's favour is a 1:20:14 personal best in March, and the fact it was Dudince two years ago he dipped under the yardstick 3:40:00 for elite 50k walkers.
He clearly knows the course like the back of his hand. 
But it's been nearly three years since he won a major, and there will be plenty treading on the 30-year-old's heels. 
The fastest in the field for 2013 is Russian Andrey Ruzavin whose 1:19:06 was set in Sochi in February. 
Each year, times posted at the Black Sea resort make waves on the rankings with all five in red at Dudince posting their quickest marks in the winter sun. 
If it is not to be Slovakia or Russia breaking the tape, a man making the right sort of progress is French champion Kevin Campion. 
A PB 1:21:02 at Lugano in March, suggests the man who will be 25 next week is in the walking groove following a two-minute improvement on his 2012 best. 
Likewise, Ireland's Robbie Heffernan will be up there yet again as will be Giorgio Rubino, Italy, fully recovered from injury with Germany's Christopher Linke also in decent form. 
Although Toth is expected to spearhead his country's charge, full marks goes to a team-mate set to trail in walking's version of the grupetto. 
That's because Fabio Ruzzier was 60 in January and easily the oldest man at any distance to take on the European Cup – a truly remarkable feat at this level. Women's 20km 
Look no further than Russia for both team and individual honours in this one. 
If form is anything to go by all five could finish in that order. Anybody hoping to better the quintet only has to glance at the sobering statistics. 
Olympic and world record holder Yelena Lashmanova is here, and already in 2013 has displayed winning form. 
Hoping to keep close order will be double European Cup silver medallist Anisia Kirdiapkina, only 10 seconds down on Lashmanova's 1:25:49 recorded in February. 
Add to that former world record holder Vera Sokolova and two others under 1:28:00 and it's curtains for the rest – unless the heat and disqualification board get to work. 
And for those hoping for an upset, history has yet to see one country yet hogging the podium. The main threat to the mighty walking force comes from Italy, Portugal, Spain and the fast improving Poland. 
Motherly duties have yet to impede former European Cup medallist Elisa Rigaudo from a 1:30:49 in March, while Portugal's Ines Henriques and Ana Cabecinha are both under 1:30:00 for 2013. 
Poland has a pair either around the same mark or just under, with Katarzyna Kwoka the better at 1:29:21. 
Spain's Julia Takács went 1:28:44 for a PB in the March sun in Murcia, and the heat is likely to be a factor here too. Junior men's 10km 
IT'S Russia versus Spain versus Italy – unless disqualifications or heat gets to the main contenders. 
The big three all have walkers in good form, and all but one in the three teams sports a best under 44:00. 
Even given the expected 30 degrees, it will be a major surprise if the winner posts anything much over three minutes quicker. 
The Russians lead the way for 2013, as they invariably do after the Russian Winter Championships at Sochi in February. 
Fastest there was Nikolay Markov (41:17), who carries a famous walking name in the wake of former champion Ilya. But right behind is the experienced Damir Baybikov and Pavel Parshin who know this is a last chance for junior glory at the European Cup. 
Italy will look to Vito Minei and Francesco Fortunato, and Spain's best hope should be Alvaro Martin, although Diego Garcia and Marc Tur were right behind when the trio raced in March at Murcia. 
Solitary challenges could see Marius Avelskis from Lithuania in the top 10 for that country's first tilt at a major walking medal, whereas a former walking giant, Great Britain, will hope a stunning 42:42 in March from Jamie Higgins gets replicated in Dudince. Junior women 10km 
Timewise there is no one to touch the Russian quartet headed by Ekaterina Medvedeva. 
The world champion from 2012 was followed home in Barcelona by Nadezhda Leontyeva, and she along with Tatiana Kulinushkina and Oxana Golyatkina have nearly three minutes on the next-best walker. In Medvedeva's case make that four minutes – or around 900 metres going at her pace. 
However, who had heard of Kate Veale before the Irish girl's stunning performance in Olhao two years ago? 
Veale came from nowhere to challenge the best, and even with her red hair reflecting the Portuguese sun won herself a plucky and glorious European Cup bronze. 
Junior Russian girls have wilted in the heat at past majors, and if there is to be a major upset the next best on recorded times are Gintar Vaiciukeviči&#133;«t, supported by twin sisters Monika and Zivile, whose family affair make up the Lithuania team. 
Marlena Chojecka from Poland also recorded a 47:54 PB just last month in the neighbouring Czech Republic. 
For more information click <a target='_blank' href='http://www.european-athletics.org/events/european-cup-race-walking.html'>here</a>.  
Click <a target='_blank' href='http://tveso.sk/european-cup-race-walking/'>here</a> to watch the live stream of all the five races of the event.

  The 10th European Cup Race Walking takes place in the Slovakian spa town of Dudince on Sunday 19 May. The following are the previews of the five titles up for

Preview: The best of Europe line up for continental glory

A brilliant finish to the women's 20km walk at the Olympics in London last summer brought gold again to Russia, as Yelena Lashmanova beat defending champion Olga Kaniskina. 
Not only did she overtake her teammate in the dramatic, final moments of the race, her win came in 1:25:02, a world record time. 
It confirmed Lashmanova as the greatest of women athletes, making it five wins out of five in the big events she has competed in. 
This Sunday in Dudince, Slovakia, she has the opportunity to make it six as the star name as the head of the big fields in the European Cup Race Walking. 
A total of 283 athletes have entered this European Athletics event, just one short of the record from this same venue in 2001. Click here for the <a class='wf_file' target='_blank' href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/7f4b1ee5-2474-49be-947c-28bfa89fa6a0.pdf'>final entries</a>. 
They are made up from 29 countries and in the women's 20km, Russia will be the dominant force. 
Lashmanova will face Yelena Sokolova, the former world record-holder, and Anisya Kirdyapkina, who won silver at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona in 2010. 
At only just 21 Lashmanova has started 2013 off in style, winning all three races she has entered this year and leading the European rankings with 1:25:49 from the Russian championships in Sochi in February when Kirdyapkina was only 10 seconds behind her. 
The biggest entry is for the men's 20km race where there will be great home support for Slovakia's No 1 Matej Toth. 
But it should be a superb race in a field of outstanding quality. 
It includes Spain's Miguel Angel Lopez, fifth in London, Robert Heffernan, of Ireland, who was ninth in the 20km and fourth in the 50km at those Olympics, Italy's Giorgia Rubino, the 2009 European Cup Race Walking champion from Metz, and Russian Piotr Trofimov, who leads the world rankings with 1:18:28 at 20km track. 
The full list of numbers for each event is: 20km 
Men: 75 athletes and 18 teams. 
Women: 58 athletes and12 teams. 50km 
Men: 50 athletes and 10 teams. 10km (Juniors) 
Men: 54 athletes and 18 teams. 
Women: 46 athletes and 15 teams. 
Click on the link for a complete list of the <a class='wf_file' target='_blank' href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/7f4b1ee5-2474-49be-947c-28bfa89fa6a0.pdf'>final entries</a>.

 A brilliant finish to the women's 20km walk at the Olympics in London last summer brought gold again to Russia, as Yelena Lashmanova beat defending champion

Lashmanova looks for six of the best

The strength of the Russian women's team at the European Cup Race Walking in Dudince on May 19 will be immense. 
In the 20km event they will be led by Anisya Kirdyapkina, the 2010 European silver medallist and 2011 world bronze medallist, and she will be joined by Vera Sokolova, who finished in third behind her at those European Athletics Championships in Barcelona almost three years ago. 
Kirdyapkina is among the biggest names, who will be in Slovakia in a season where the Russian national championships have brought the best times so far in this discipline. 
As Yelena Lashmanova, the Olympic champion, took gold in 1:25:49 in Sochi in February, Kirdyapkina was second in 1:25:59 with Sokolova third in 1:26:00. 
Turning back the clock to London last summer, Kirdyapkina's 1:26:26 saw her cross the line in fifth, 1:24 behind her teammate whose victory came in a world record performance. 
At 23, Kirdyapkina, is one of Europe's most consistent walkers at the major events, and now she has a chance to stamp that authority on the European Race Walking Cup. 
It was an ability she first demonstrated at the European Athletics Junior Championships in Hengelo in 2007 when she triumphed in 10,000m track walk in 43:27.20. 
Moving to the 20km, two years later she was fourth at the World Championships in Berlin before another brilliant display in Barcelona. 
It was a race that was very much an all-Russian affair. 
Olga Kaniskina won gold in 1:27:44 with Kirdyapkina second in 1:28:55, 37 seconds ahead of Sokolova. 
But 12 months later as Kaniskina won the world title, Kirdyapkina was third and on Sunday week will be par of a European Cup Race Walking where 30 countries, comprising of 292 athletes, have entered teams. 
The German squad for Dudince will be made up of five senior and five juniors. 
Hagen Pohle, Christopher Linke, Carl Dohmann and Nils Brembach will compete in the 20km and Nils Gloger in the 50km. 
In the junior 10km, Jonathan Hilbert, Karl Junghannss and Nathaniel Seiler make up their team and in the girls event, Maxi Woelke and Janine Bandt. 
For more information click <a href='http://www.dudinskaatletika.sk/' target='_blank'>here</a>.

  The strength of the Russian women's team at the European Cup Race Walking in Dudince on May 19 will be immense.  In the 20km event they will be led by Anisya

Kirdyapkina to show her strength in Dudince

Matej Toth will lead Slovakia's bid for home success when they country stages the 10th European Race Walking Cup in Dudince on 19 May. 
Toth, 30, a double Olympian, is in outstanding form having won over 20km in Sesto San Giovanni on Wednesday. 
Two years ago he finished second in the European Cup and now has the chance to go one place higher at this European Athletics event staged in this southern spa town. 
In Olhao in 2011, Toth missed out on gold by 26 seconds when he finished second in 1:23:53 behind Russian Stanislav Emelyanov with Jakub Jelonek, of Poland, third in 1:23:59. 
Toth is joined by fellow Slovak Olympians Anton Kucmin, Dusan Majdan and Zdeno Babik in a strong 20km line-up named by head coach Roman Bencik who has selected full teams also for the other four events: the men´s 50 km, women´s 20 km, and junior men and women 10 km. 
Toth, who competes for Dukla B. Bystrica, won in 1:22:02 in Italy in the Race Walking Challenge event two days ago and was delighted how his hard work has paid off. 
Speaking to the Slovak information agency SITA, he said: 'I was competing from the full training, so it is a very nice feeling to win the race.' 
He has proved this year he can go even quicker with a time of 1:20:14 in Podébrady last month and it is those sort of speeds he will need to be aiming towards as he bids to make the podium in Dudince. 
That time has put him fifth on the European Athletics rankings which are led by Russians Pyotr Trofimov with 1:18:28 and Andrey Ruzavin with 1:19:06. 
Earlier this week, Britain named a team of six for Dudince and they include Tom Bosworth, the national champion who has a personal best of 1:24:44 from last month, and Alex Wright, who achieved 1:23:05 in Lugano in March.

 Matej Toth will lead Slovakia's bid for home success when they country stages the 10th European Race Walking Cup in Dudince on 19 May.  Toth, 30, a double

Toth homes in on a big date in Dudince

The Slovakian spa town of Dudince, which boasts a rich tradition of race walking, will host the 2013 edition of the biennial European Cup Race Walking event. The European Athletics Council awarded the event to the Slovakian town during its autumn meeting on 3-5 November in Helsinki, the host city of the 2012 European Athletics Championships.

 The Slovakian spa town of Dudince, which boasts a rich tradition of race walking, will host the 2013 edition of the biennial European Cup Race Walking event. 

European Athletics awards 2013 European Cup Race Walking to Dudince

<table cellspacing='2' cellpadding='0' border='0' align='left'><tbody><tr><td valign='top' align='left'><img width='300' height='655' src='http://www.european-athletics.ch/images/Athletes/I_to_H/Heffernan_Robert.jpg' alt='Heffernan_Robert'></td>
 </tr><tr><td valign='top' align='left'>Robert Heffernan of Ireland will start as the favourite 
 in the men's 20km walk at the European Athletics Race 
 Walking Permit Meeting in Lugano on Sunday. </td>
 </tr></tbody></table>Ireland’s Robert Heffernan is the men’s star attraction for the opening European Athletics Race Walking Permit Meeting of 2011, the 9th Memorial Mario Albisetti, in the picturesque Swiss city of Lugano on Sunday.
Heffernan, a top eight finisher at both the 2007 World Championships and 2008 Olympic Games, had the hugely creditable but ultimately heartbreaking achievement of finishing fourth in both the 20km and 50km walks at the last summer’s European Athletics Championships in Barcelona
However, he believes that he has now finally ready to get among the medals at a major championship.
“On a personal level, 2010 was a huge breakthrough year for me by twice breaking the Irish record over 50km and clocking one of the 10 fastest times in the world over 20km,” said Heffernan, who has just returned from a training camp at altitude on Johannesburg, South Africa.
“However, I realise that the sporting public only really understand medals at major championship level but after twice finishing fourth in the European Cup of Race Walking (in 2007 and 2009) along with my two fourth place finishes in Barcelona, I really believe I am ready to take the next step onto the podium at the European Cup  Race Walking in Portugal in May (in Olhí¤o on 22 May) and, of course, the World Championships in Daegu (South Korea) in August,” he added.
The 33-year-old from the city of Cork finished second in the men’s 20km event at this event 12 months ago, coming home behind Italy’s 2008 Olympic Games 50km champion Alex Schwarzer, who raced to a national record of 1:18.24.
This time, Heffernan will be up against a formidable squad of Chinese walkers, who have chosen the nearby town of Saluzzo across the border in Italy as their training base for the 2012 Olympics Games in London.
China will have a world class team of six walkers in the senior men’s 20km and, along with Russia’s Petr Trofimov and Belarus’ Ivan Trotski, they will pose the biggest threat to the Irishman’s ambitions of coming home in front.
Meeting organiser Daniele Albisetti has also assembled a world class field in the senior women’s 20km, with the leading name being Ukraine’s Olena Shumkina, who has a personal best of 1.25.32 set in 2009, one of the leading times in history.
However, the 23-year old, who won the gold medal at the 2009 European Athletics U23 Championships, could be pushed by Russia’s 2008 World Race Walking Cup silver medallist Tatiana Sibileva as well as the outstanding Chinese walker Hong Liu.
Portugal’s Ana Cabecinha and Great Britain’s 2010 Commonwealth Games champion Jo Jackson will also be hoping to get close to their own national records.
Another interesting entry in the women’s field is Sylvia Korzeniowska, the sister of Poland’s four-time Olympic Games gold medallist Robert Korzeniowski, who holds the Polish record for the women’s 20km walk but who now competes in the colours of her adopted France.
Around 230 walkers from over 30 nations are expected to take part in the Lugano event, which is becoming more popular every year. The next European Athletics Race Walking Permit Meeting of 2011 will be in the Slovakian town of Dudince on 26 March.

                                                           Robert Heffernan of Ireland will start as the favourite              in the men's 20km walk at the

Heffernan and Shumkina highlight for Lugano walking meeting

<table cellspacing='2' cellpadding='0' border='0' align='right' class='picture'><tbody><tr><td valign='top' align='left'><img width='300' height='450' title='rubino.jpg' alt='rubino.jpg' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/dcc8b1b6-c5fc-4202-ac79-d1b549643f65.jpeg' style='float: left; width: 300px; height: 450px;'></td>
 </tr><tr><td valign='top' align='left'>A delighted Giorgio Runinho leads Italy to a clean 
 sweep in the men's 20km in Metz. </td>
 </tr></tbody></table>There was a day of shock results at the European Cup Race Walking inscorching temperatures in Metz, France, on Sunday which climaxed in a cleansweep for the Italians in the men's 20km. 
20km Men: 
THERE IS nothing like a personal best to boost an athlete's confidence - and Gorgio Rubinho is not about to argue.
<div> 
A month after the 23-year-old Italian sailed under 1:20:00 for the first time he played a waiting game in the heat of Metz, and then set the course on fire to win by a proverbial street to bring joy to new coach, the legendary Sandro Damilano. 
One of the Roman's previous best marks was set at the European Cup two years ago in Leamington. 
But this was no day for re-writing record books. 
The kind of heat hated by fair-headed endurance athletes was always going to have a major say on the streets of Metz.</div>
<div> 
But along with Rubinho and the familiar face of former Olympic champion Ivano Brugnetti in second, the third man on the podium came out of an Italian blue. 
Jean-Jacques Nkouloukidi has been one of the journeymen of Italian walking for the last four years - but the 27-year-old came of age here. 
The walker born of a mixture of Congolese and Italian parents was never in contention for a medal until the last 2k lap from 10, and then sped past a tiring Robert Heffernan to steal the bronze medal. 
It was the second time in a row the Irishman has suffered the fate after a final charge from others in 2007 also cost him dearly. 
But what Yohann Diniz was attempting when he set off at 77:50 pace in searing heat, only the Frenchman will know. 
If it was to impress his countryman, the glory lasted a mere 26 minutes before a group of three that had been 23 seconds back on the first lap caught up with the 2006 European champion. 
Heffernan, Brugnetti and Pyotr Trofimov from Russia shot through 8km in 32:18, with Diniz labouring but still some way ahead of Rubinho in fourth. 
But a further 3km along the blistering road and the Italian reversed the position with some ease - and then as if to show Diniz what even pacing was all about, sped past the leading three just after the 13km mark. 
While Rubinho opened up the gap with ease, the following trio tracked each other barely out of step all the way to 16k.</div>
<div> 
And Trofimov was surely keeping an eye on the DQ board to notice his fellow travellers were living dangerously with only one life left each. 
The Russian made a break for home and was quickly checked by Brugnetti, and in turn Heffernan reacted to move into third place. 
Nkouloukidi had other ideas and a one-sided team victory was equally secure. 
Rubinho said: 'I have a completely new team of physio, psychologist, osteopath - and of course a new coach, the legendary Sandro Damilano.' <a class='jce_file' title='metz_res_20k_men' target='_blank' href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/d3134264-2d0e-49f3-abe8-c9e41ba31c5e.pdf'><img title='pdf' alt='pdf' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/3c320cf6-7f9a-4586-b1c2-e6b5a1e41ba8.png' style='border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;'> 20km men results</a>   <a class='jce_file' title='metz_res_20k_men_eq' target='_blank' href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/29d41f62-c79a-423c-9d02-7f0ac51aca7c.pdf'><img title='pdf' alt='pdf' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/3c320cf6-7f9a-4586-b1c2-e6b5a1e41ba8.png' style='border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;'> 20km Team results</a> 20km women <table cellspacing='2' cellpadding='0' border='0' align='right' class='picture'><tbody><tr></tr></tbody></table></div>

           A delighted Giorgio Runinho leads Italy to a clean              sweep in the men's 20km in Metz.         There was a day of shock results at the

Rubinho leads Italian clean sweep in day of shocks in Metz

<table cellspacing='2' cellpadding='0' border='0' align='right' class='picture'><tbody><tr><td valign='top' align='left'><img width='266' height='399' title='diniz1.jpg' alt='diniz1.jpg' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/f0acacd6-f890-4aba-9be8-2f6e14f3e34b.jpeg' style='float: left; width: 266px; height: 399px;'></td>
 </tr><tr><td valign='top' align='left'>Defending 20km champion Yohann Diniz (FRA) </td>
 </tr></tbody></table>The 8th European Cup Race Walking takes place in the French city of Metz on Sunday May 24. The following are the previews of the five titles up for grabs: Men's 20km 
CUE the loudest cheer of the day when Yohann Diniz is announced to the crowd before the start of the 20k in Metz. 
Actually, that might be the second-loudest if the native from Reims can repeat the heroics that saw him first over the line in Leamington two years ago. 
Back then, Diniz also set his PB of 1:18:58 around the English spa town's course. The perfect tonic for France and the Frenchman would be a defence of his title after a disappointing DNF in the Olympic 50k last year. 
Diniz has been little seen since he climbed over a Beijing barrier and disappeared into the crowd. And the man who chased him all the way in Leamington is also likely to give him a hard time up and down the loop besides Metz's railway station. 
Ivano Brugnetti posted his PB at Leamington too, and the former world champion and Olympic gold medallist knows when to turn on the style. 
However, he also posts his fair share of roadside drop-outs, and the 32-year-old didn't get past 6k at the Sesto San Giovanni Challenge on home turf at the beginning of the month. 
If neither is in top shape, there's always a Russian who will be. 
The giant in world racewalking hasn't sent its front-line attack to France, but the slowest of the four in has a PB only seven seconds outside 1:20:00. 
As that's Andrey Ruzavin, who was third in the 35k at Adler in the Russian Winter Championships in February, you can bet he too will form part of a throng of red vests at the front. 
Germany's Andre Hohne will be there or thereabouts after showing early season form, while presumably hoping to peak for the World Championships in Berlin later this year. 
Right behind, and forming the backbone of the top 10 will be Spain's Juan Manuel Molina alongside Ireland's Rob Heffernan, who came agonisingly close to a medal in Leamington after a last lap sprint separated third to sixth place by just six seconds. <a class='jce_file' title='mens_20km_entry_list' target='_blank' href='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/0fe4f792-b2e7-46c9-82e5-7d1e3f3e0456.pdf'><img title='pdf' alt='pdf' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/3c320cf6-7f9a-4586-b1c2-e6b5a1e41ba8.png' style='border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;'> Mens 20km entry list</a> 
  Men's 50 km <table cellspacing='2' cellpadding='0' border='0' align='right' class='picture'><tbody><tr><td valign='top' align='left'><img width='500' height='317' title='garcia_j.jpg' alt='garcia_j.jpg' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/3fc74344-d6e1-4c94-9535-c82050e04148.jpeg' style='float: left; width: 500px; height: 317px;'></td>
 </tr><tr><td valign='top' align='left'>Jesus Garcia (ESP) </td>
 </tr></tbody></table>
THE WORLD record holder would have to be favourite for any event - and that most certainly applies to Denis Nizhegorodov at the European Cup of Race Walking in Metz on Sunday morning. 
The Russian, who smashed the existing 50k mark on home turf in the World Walking Cup just over a year ago to record a blistering 3:34:14, hasn't competed at the distance since he won bronze in the Olympics last August. 
But he has posted a nippy 2:24:56 for 35k at the Russian Winter Championships in Adler in February. 
The races at the resort on the Black Sea have traditionally been denied th

           Defending 20km champion Yohann Diniz (FRA)         The 8th European Cup Race Walking takes place in the French city of Metz on Sunday May 24. The

Diniz to star at European Cup Race Walking in Metz on Sunday - Event Previews

<img width='278' height='400' align='right' title='brugnetti' alt='brugnetti' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/f8c8b4b3-6d2e-41f2-beea-b232d688aaad.jpeg' style='float: right; margin: 10px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;'>The packed schedule gets underway at 8am on
Sunday with the longest race in athletics - the mens' 50km walk, while
a Junior 10km for Men and Women will precede the hightlights of the
events, the 20km for Men and Women. 
Men's 20km 
Russia
dominate the men's 20km rankings with three having already walked under 1:20:00
this year. 
Valeriy Borchin is fastest ranked this year
in the field, which is missing the world number one Francisco Fernández, who is
concentrating on World Championships preparations. 
Borchin finished second to Fernández in the
European Championships in Gothenburg last August where he walked exactly
1:20:00 - 18 seconds inside Fernández's UK
all-comers record set on the same course here in Leamington
in April 2000. 
Italy's
Olympic Champion Ivano Brugnetti, right, has shown erratic form after recovering from
injury. His best time so far this year of 1:20:21 in Portugal is the fastest non-Russian
performance of any in the field but he faded badly after 15km in the ‘Coppa
Citta Sesto San Giovanni' two weeks ago. 
Norway's Erik Tysse maybe only ranked sixth fastest, but is familiar with Leamington and in form having claimed victory in the
Italian round of the IAAF Challenge. Men 50km 
The packed schedule gets underway at 8am on
Sunday with the longest race in athletics - the mens' 50km walk. 
The strongest team is likely to be Russia. In Miskolc, they dominated -
with Alexei Voyevodin heading a team that made a clean sweep of all the podium
places. 
Three of the same team are set to compete,
and should be victorious again despite missing World champion Sergey Kirdyapkin
and World Cup winner Denis Nizhegorodov. Voyevodin, below right, claimed the World
championship silver medal in 2005 despite injury and did not finish in La Coruí±a last year. 
Russia
face strong opposition from a maximum strength Spanish team that includes
former world champion and European silver medalist last year Jesús &#129;ngel Garcí­a
and a previous Leamington Gran<img width='300' height='198' align='right' title='voyevodin' alt='voyevodin' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/ceda386c-5fdd-4612-a2eb-3645f8285348.jpeg' style='float: right; margin: 10px; border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;'>d Prix winner - José Alesandro Gambil. 
Garcia has already produced two world level
times this year and is one of two walkers, along with Voyevodin, to have beaten
the 3:40:00 barrier in his long career. 
However, form counts less than months of
tough training and arrival in peak condition, as shown by Robert Korzeniowski
who late in his illustrious career chose to contest just one 50km race each
year. 
Norway's
Trond Nymark has made steady progress over the last decade to be a serious
challenger at the highest level and has targeted the European Cup. Just back
from altitude training in South
Africa the European Championship fourth
placer has said 'I plan to be the favourite'. 
He is determined to learn from the
experience of narrowly failing to win a medal last summer to Russia's Yuriy
Andronov. 'In Gothenburg I should have kept to my own pace rather than to try
to react to what competitors did. That was a big mistake.' 
Nymark is only ranked fifth fastest on
personal best times - with his national record 3:41:30 good enough for second
place in the World Cup. 'On average since 2000 I've been improving about two
and a half minutes per year so I think I should be capable of beating the 3:40
barrier given the same conditions as at La
Coru&n

  The packed schedule gets underway at 8am on Sunday with the longest race in athletics - the mens' 50km walk, while a Junior 10km for Men and Women will

European Cup Race Walking - Leamington Race Preview

The final entries for the 7th European Cup Race Walking, which will take place in Royal Leamington-Spa, in the United Kingdom are enclosed. <a title='leamington_entries' target='_blank' href='/files/leamington_entries.xls' id='fm_file'><img width='16' height='16' title='xls' alt='xls' src='https://directus.european-athletics.com/public/uploads/european-athletics/originals/14ee25f4-06ca-4dcb-adb8-071d81764e50.png' style='border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;'> Leamington Entries</a>

  The final entries for the 7th European Cup Race Walking, which will take place in Royal Leamington-Spa, in the United Kingdom are enclosed. Leamington Entries

Final entries for European Cup Race Walking

Plenty are headed back to the town 50km east of Prague for the second time in just over a month to compete on the same park course in the European Race Walking Cup on Sunday.
The European Athletics Permit Meeting on 8 April acted as a useful warm-up – for athletes and organisers alike – and on a fast 1km-loop there’s a fair chance those who did well will repeat the feat.
On the team front, Ukraine have pedigree and experience all round but other walking powers are generally looking to the next generation with a host of first timers at a major competition.
Spain and Italy will account for more than a fifth of the 243 athletes on the final entry lists but, for example, the Spanish 20km women’s team has Julia Tacacs as the only established walker in a red and yellow vest.
Likewise, Italy has included former European Cup winner Giorgio Rubino for the men's 20km, but that was eight years ago in Metz.
Saying that, on current form, compatriot Antonella Palmisano should be a distant blue speck to the rest in the women’s 20km by the finish.
A sharp 41:57.29 for 10,000m back home in Orvieto towards the end of last month suggests the former IAAF World Cup U20 winner is in good shape to back up her excellent fourth place at the Rio 2016 Olympics Games and has a 1:27:51 personal best from 2014 to her name.
But, if there are to be a challengers, then Portugal, Ukraine and, perhaps surprisingly, Lithuania are the likely bets. 
With little walking success as such, the Baltic state now has three who can challenge for team honours, and two of them literally form a twin spearhead.
ÅÂ½ivilé and Monika VaiciukevičiÅÂ«té, both born April 3 1996, finished third and fifth in the April Podebrady meeting and both posted personal bests. 
Supported up by Brigita Virbalytė-DimÅ¡ienė and her second place in February at the Adelaide IAAF Challenge race only 33 seconds outside her top seven placing in the 2015 World Cup, a country of under three million could be about to make a senior team podium for the first time.
Ines Henriques and Ana Cabecinha rarely disappoint for Portugal and the Ukraine quartet headed by Nadiya Borovska could be up there, at least in the early stages.
In the men’s 20km, Great Britain’s Tom Bosworth has been hard at work at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he has been building endurance to go with his prodigious speed and also notched a comfortable 1:20:58 in Portugal at the beginning of April, having also finished sixth atb this distance in Rio.
If form again has anything to do with it, Christopher Linke and Kevin Campion will probably be Bosworth’s shadows.
Linke removed 20 seconds from his personal best to breeze home in a fast 1:18:59 in the April Podebrady meeting, his first race of the year, and the German has also been to Flagstaff. 
France’s Campion has also returned to form after a disappointing 49th in Rio and has improved to, 1:20:28. 
Spain’s Alvaro Martin and Miguel Angel Lopez, the latter the 2014 European and 2015 world champion, will add to the clamour at the front while Ukraine again also have a strong quartet.
For the first time at a major race walk championshipsm, the words ‘Authorised Neutral Athlete’ gets added to a name on the start list.
Sergei Shirobokov is the one Russian cleared to compete in the 20km, and after an unratified 1:18:26 in his Winter Championships in Sochi in February, can boast of the fastest time this year. 
However, Shirobokov can point to previous success to back up his fast time.
Now 18, he was the boy’s 10,000m winner at the 2015 IAAF U18 Championships, and although something of a dark horse, that background could see him easily gallop up on the inside in the final straight.
The men’s 50km starts the weekend and, as is usually the case with the long one, there are only three in the 32 field who have completed the distance so far this year. 
Once again, Ukraine has good depth with Ihor Hlavan having a 3:40:39 best while Ivan Banzeruk was fifth in the 2014 European Championships.
Finland's Aleksi Ojala sports an impressive 3:46:25 best from last year, but after those three, it will need an unknown to upset the odds.
The U20 races could be Sunday's highlight. 
As said, this town with its terrific walking history – which dates back to the late 19th century – already put on a fine show in April. 
Men’s U20 star then was Germany’s Leo Kopp, who is returning to the scene of his win where he set a 10km best of 41:19 after a dazzling turn of speed in the last kilometre to win from David Kuster, who finished 11 seconds back for France.
Å&#129;ukasz NiedziaÅ&#130;ek was third for Poland, Justin Bournier, France, was fourth, and all four are back to do battle again.
Turkey will fancy its chances with Abdulaziz DaniÅ&#159; and Abdulselum Imuk rewriting their personal nest marks in February, as will Giacomo Brandi, who has a 41:44 best from Podebrady last year. 
If Great Britain’s Chris Snook needs further advice after his personal best in seventh place on the same course in April, his mother Verity should prove to be a good mentor.
Not only is she a British team coach and in attendance, but she herself competed on the same course 20 years ago in what was then the IAAF World Cup.
Turkey are team favourites to lift the women’s U20 10km title although form suggests Germany’s Teresa Zurek will contest the individual title. 
Her 45:09 in Naumberg less than a month ago is not far behind the mark set by Turkey’s Meryem Bekmez on home soil in February. 
Others potentially in contention for the podium are Turkey’s Ayse Tekdal and the second ANA (Authorised Neutral Athlete) of the weekend, Yana Smerdova. A 45:48 best suggests she too could provide a surprise, like Shirobokov in the men’s 20km.

Poděbrady 2017

SPAR has been the principal sponsor of European Athletics since 1996, becoming synonymous with the sport during this period. Athletics is a sport where personal endeavour is combined with team participation to achieve success, and SPAR identifies with this principle through its national partners by ensuring that consumers enjoy shopping at SPAR. SPAR retailers continue to develop the brand through sponsorship awareness and through the critical link with individual athletes who are also customers of independent retailers. SPAR is proud to be involved with European Athletics, an organisation which strives to bring passion and enthusiasm for their sport to viewers, spectators and participants.

Spar

Le Gruyère AOP Switzerland began its partnership with European Athletics in 2008 as a top-tier sponsor of all Major Events and the European Athletics U23 and U20  Championships. Le Gruyère is a very high quality natural cheese that has been produced for many centuries in an artisanal method without any additives. VIP guests, athletes and fans have the opportunity to taste this magnificent cheese at European Athletics events sponsored by Le Gruyère AOP Switzerland. 

Le Gruyere

Toyo Tires is one of the world's largest tire manufacturers. Toyo Tire Corporation was founded in 1945 in Osaka, Japan. In 1975, the manufacturer opened its European headquarters in Germany. The product range includes winter, summer and all-season tyres for motor vehicles as well as van tyres and special off-road products. The philosophy of Toyo Tires is to combine driving pleasure with top performance. This is reflected in each of the products, as well as in its close partnership with European Athletics.

European Race Walking Team Championships

Related content

Related links