Gold Level RW Meeting

Silver Level RW Meeting

Bronze Level RW Meeting

2021/22

2020/21

2018/19

2017/18

Irish Open 35km Race Walking Ch.

Camponeato Nacional Interclubes de Marcha Atletica

USA Open 35km Race Walking Ch.

Turkish Open 20km & 35km Race Walking Ch.

5° Circuito Nacional de Caminata Coatzacoalcos

Spanish Open 35km Race Walking Ch.

Oceania Open 20km Race Walking Championships

Spanish Open 20km Race Walking Ch.

46th All Japan Race Walking

Australian Open 10,000m Race Walking Ch.

Poděbrady Walking

Olomoucká Dvacítka

Dudinska 50

Polish Race Walking Ch.

USATF Race Walking Ch.

Grande Prémio Internacional de Rio Maior em Marcha Atlética

Polish 35km Race Walking Ch.

Oceania Open 35km Race Walking Championships

I Gran Premio Internacional Madrid Marcha LaLiga

XXXV Gran Premio Cantones de A Coruna de Marcha

Zahoracka Dvadsiatka

Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic

63ème Challenge Facoetti-Dahm

Zahoracka dvadsiatka

World Athletics Race Walking Tour

Valeria Ortuno wins at the Podebrady Walking meeting

Caio Bonfim celebrates his win at the Podebrady Walking meeting

Daisuke Matsunaga celebrates his win at the 46th All Japan Race Walking event in Nomi

Kimberly Garcia and Caio Bonfim, past winners of the Grande Premio Internacional de Rio Maior em Marcha Atletica, are among the leading athletes confirmed for the World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold meeting on Saturday (7).
Due to the pandemic, Portugal&rsquo;s top race walking competition hasn&rsquo;t been staged since 2019. But the event returns this weekend and features strong fields of South American and European athletes.
Bonfim, who won in the Portuguese town back in 2014, is fresh from a victory in Podebrady. His winning time there, 1:18:54, was just seven seconds shy of his PB and makes him the fastest men in this year&rsquo;s field. The 31-year-old was fourth in Rio Maior in 2019 but will be keen to make it back on to the podium.
Ecuador&rsquo;s Pan-American champion Brian Pintado was fourth in Podebrady last month, clocking a PB of 1:19:47. It followed on from a fourth-place finish at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat, Pintado&rsquo;s highest placing in a senior global event.
Pintado&rsquo;s compatriot David Hurtado, the 2018 world U20 silver medallist, was 12th in Muscat. He placed sixth in Rio Maior in 2019, and last month he clocked a swift 39:20.52 for 10,000m.
Peru&rsquo;s Cesar Rodrigues may not have the fastest PB of the field (1:22:11), but he beat Bonfim, Pintado and Hurtado at the South American Championships on home soil in Lima earlier this year, clocking a season&rsquo;s best of 1:23:01. He struggled in the heat of Muscat, though, and placed 21st.
Brazil&rsquo;s Matheus Correa, who placed fourth at the South American Championships, and Ecuador&rsquo;s Andres Chocho, twice a podium finisher in Rio Maior, will also be in action this weekend. Chocho has one of the fastest PBs of the field, but this is also his first 20km race of the year.
Marc Tur, the fourth-place finisher over 50km at last year&rsquo;s Olympics, will be competing below his preferred distance, but the Spaniard should still be competitive. He was second at the Spanish Championships earlier this year, setting a PB of 1:21:36.
Other contenders include Colombia&rsquo;s Manuel Soto, who was fourth in Rio Maior in 2017, and France&rsquo;s Kevin Campion.
Kimberly Garcia, winner of the 20km in Rio Maior in 2017, leads the women&rsquo;s field. The Peruvian race walker has achieved podium finishers in all three of her races this year, but will be seeking her first victory following her runner-up finishes at the South American Championships, the 35km in Dudince, and a third-place finish at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat.
The 28-year-old has a PB of 1:28:56 and a season&rsquo;s best of 1:32:00. But her 1:32:27 clocking in the heat of Muscat suggests Garcia is capable of a much quicker time in kinder conditions.
The vastly experienced Portuguese duo Ana Cabecinha and Ines Henriques look to be Garcia&rsquo;s strongest opponents. Cabecinha, who placed 20th at the Olympics last year, heads to Rio Maior off the back of winning the national title. She also has the quickest season&rsquo;s best of the field (1:31:21).
Henriques, the 2017 world 50km champion, will be contesting her first 20km of the year. She will be keen to atone for her performance in Muscat, where she was unable to finish the 35km.
Clemence Beretta is also one to look out for. The French race walker placed 17th in Muscat, but then rebounded with a PB of 1:32:02 in Podebrady one month later.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Past winners Kimberly Garcia and Caio Bonfim among the leading athletes for the World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold meeting

Close contests expected as top-level race walking returns to Rio Maior

China&rsquo;s Qieyang Shijie and Italy&rsquo;s Massimo Stano led a series of World Athletics Championships Oregon22 qualifying time performances to win on their 35km race walk debuts in Dudince on Saturday (23).
Multiple global medallist Qieyang clocked 2:43:06 and Olympic 20km race walk champion Stano recorded 2:29:09 at the Dudinska 50, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold event, where a number of area and national records were set.
Always in control in the women&rsquo;s 35km race, Qieyang broke away from Peru&rsquo;s Kimberly Garcia after the pair passed the 16km mark together in 1:14:31.
Qieyang, who claimed 2012 Olympic silver in the 20km race walk but is expected to be awarded gold following the disqualification of Yelena Lashmanova, built a five-second lead over the next kilometre and maintained it as she passed 20km in 1:32:51.
Garcia, who finished third in the 20km event at last month&rsquo;s World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat, was clear in second and reached the 20km point in 1:32:56.
Qieyang had extended her lead to 13 seconds by the finish, the two-time world medallist winning in an Asian record of 2:43:06 to Garcia&rsquo;s South American record of 2:43:19.
China&rsquo;s Li Maocuo followed her second-place finish in Muscat with third place this time, clocking a PB of 2:45:46. Brazil&rsquo;s Viviane Lyra was fourth in a PB of 2:49:12, while USA&rsquo;s Robyn Stevens achieved an area record of 2:49:29 in fifth. In total, 11 women were under the entry standard of 2:54:00 for the World Championships in July.
In the men&rsquo;s 35km race, Stano &ndash; who had clocked 2:35:03 as a 35km split during a 50km event in 2019 but was contesting his first race over the distance &ndash; was in third and 39 seconds behind Mexico&rsquo;s race leader Jose Luis Doctor at 30km, which they passed in 2:08:12 and 2:08:51 respectively. 
<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62645504eb053420b8f5b785.jpg" alt="Massimo Stano wins the 35km race walk at the Dudinska 50" />
Massimo Stano wins the 35km race walk at the Dudinska 50 (&copy; Milan Duroch)
</div>
But Stano continued to focus on his own race and had overtaken second-placed He Xianghong of China by 33km. Stano then took the lead with a kilometre to go and crossed the finish line in 2:29:09 to win by 15 seconds ahead of Doctor with an area record of 2:29:24. In third, He set a national record of 2:29:35.
Aurelien Quinion of France was fourth in a PB of 2:30:01 and Colombia&rsquo;s Jose Montana fifth in a South American record of 2:30:46 as a total of 15 athletes achieved the standard for Oregon.
The 20km races were won by Guatemala's Jose Alejandro Barrondo in 1:20:56 and Mexico&rsquo;s Sofia Ramos Rodriguez in 1:34:04.
Saturday's event was the 41st edition of the Dudinska 50, which returned with the same name but new distances as it featured 35km races for the first time due to changes in the international championships schedule.
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-tour/calendar-results/7174263/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a>
&nbsp;
Over at the Polish 20km Race Walking Championships in Sulejowek, Olympic 50km race walk champion Dawid Tomala claimed a win over the shorter distance, clocking 1:25:16 at the World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze event.
Artur Brzozowski was second in 1:25:27 and Rafal Augustyn third in 1:25:52.
The women&rsquo;s race was won by Katarzyna Zdzieblo in 1:30:11 from Olga Niedzialek in 1:30:34 &ndash; both under the qualifying standard for Oregon. Agnieszka Ellward was third in 1:37:08. 
&nbsp;

A number of records were set and qualifying marks achieved at the Dudinska 50

Qieyang and Stano win 35km race walk debuts in Dudince

Italy&rsquo;s Olympic 20km race walk champion Massimo Stano and China&rsquo;s multiple global medallist Qieyang Shijie headline the 35km fields for the Dudinska 50, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold event, in the Slovakian spa town of Dudince on Saturday (23).
The event returns for its 41st edition with the same name but new distances, as for the first time 35km races will be staged due to changes in the international championships schedule.
Area and national records could be under threat, with athletes targeting qualifying standards and valuable World Rankings points. Six countries &ndash; Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mauritius, Romania and Slovakia &ndash; will also stage their national championships during the 35km events.
Prior to the Tokyo Games, Stano had never won a race outside of Italy, but in Japan he gained Olympic gold ahead of Koki Ikeda and Toshikazu Yamanishi. This time, his target is the entry standard of 2:33:00 for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in July, as the Italian contests his first serious 35km race. His only other outing over 35km came in 2019, when he clocked 2:35:03 as a split during a 50km event.
&ldquo;I am a lover of challenges, the 35km excites me a lot,&rdquo; Stano told the Italian Athletics Federation. As well as targeting the 35km event in Oregon, the 30-year-old also hopes to race the 20km at the European Championships in Munich the following month.
Another top name among the entries is Portugal&rsquo;s 2019 world silver medallist Joao Vieira, who was fifth in the 50km race walk at last year&rsquo;s Olympics. A former Dudinska 50 champion will also be on the start line, with 2013 50km winner Erick Barrondo &ndash; Guatemala&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic 20km silver medallist &ndash; making a return.
South American 50km race walk record-holder Andres Chocho of Ecuador and Mexico&rsquo;s Horacio Nava join them, as do Finland&rsquo;s Olympic 50km ninth-place finisher Veli-Matti Partanen and Germany&rsquo;s Karl Junghanns, who was sixth in the 35km at last month&rsquo;s World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat.
China&rsquo;s national 20km race walk record-holder Wang Kaihua and Zhang Jun, who placed seventh and eighth respectively at last year&rsquo;s Olympics, make their 35km debuts and line up alongside their compatriot Zhaxi Yangben, the ninth-place finisher in the 35km in Muscat.
Qieyang, who claimed silver in the 20km race walk at the London 2012 Olympic Games but is expected to be awarded the gold following the disqualification of Yelena Lashmanova, is the most interesting entry in the women&rsquo;s 35km event in Dudince.
The two-time world medallist is a 1:24:45 performer at 20km, achieved last year, and she will debut at the 35km distance. It is her first race of the year and follows her seventh-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics.
Her compatriot Li Maocuo will also compete, fresh from her runner-up finish in the 35km at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat, while her CV also includes world 50km silver from Doha in 2019.
The all-time hero at the longer distance for women, Portugal&rsquo;s Ines Henriques, is entered along with Muscat 20km third-place finisher Kimberly Garcia of Peru and Ecuador&rsquo;s Magaly Bonilla, who was sixth in the 35km race in Muscat.
Henriques, the 2017 world 50km race walk champion, set her 35km best of 2:45:51 in 2018.
The top women&rsquo;s 20km entry is Mayra Carolina Herrera Perez from Guatemala, who clocked her 1:30:27 PB last year in Dudince, while the leading entry in the men&rsquo;s race is 2017 world champion Eider Arevalo from Colombia.
More than 230 athletes from 28 countries are entered across all the events, with the 1km loop course in the city centre well situated and designed for ease of following the action and fast times.
The start of the 35km is at 8:30am local time for men and 8:31am for women, while the 20km action begins at 1:10pm. A live stream will be available on the <a href="https://dudinska50.sk/live" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event website</a> or YouTube.
Alfons Juck for World Athletics

Olympic 20km race walk champion Massimo Stano and multiple global medallist Qieyang Shijie headline the 35km fields for the Dudinska 50.

Stano and Qieyang to make 35km race walk debuts in Dudince

Caio Bonfim and Valeria Ortuno took top honours and led a number of athletes under the World Athletics Championships qualifying standards at the Podebrady Walking meeting &ndash; the first Gold level event in this year&rsquo;s World Athletics Race Walking Tour &ndash; on Saturday (2).
Brazil&rsquo;s Bonfim, the 2017 world bronze medallist, moved away from his rivals in the closing kilometres to equal the meeting record of 1:18:54 and triumph ahead of Sweden&rsquo;s 2019 world bronze medallist Perseus Karlstrom &ndash; who had set that meeting record last year &ndash; and Ireland&rsquo;s European U23 silver medallist David Kenny in the men's 20km race.
Mexico&rsquo;s Ortuno made her break earlier on in the women&rsquo;s 20km race and maintained that momentum, recording 1:29:25 to finish half a minute clear of Germany&rsquo;s Saskia Feige and Ecuador&rsquo;s Johana Ordonez. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6248a4e62a7005ce53923e4b.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />(&copy; Czech Athletic Federation)
 As well as kicking off the Gold calendar in the 2022 World Athletics Race Walking Tour, Saturday&rsquo;s meeting also marked the 90th anniversary of the race walk competition in the Czech spa town.
Just four weeks after his 35km win at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Muscat 22, Karlstrom returned to Podebrady to defend his 20km title, with wins in 2020 and 2016 also featuring on his CV.
Bonfim, meanwhile, was looking to go one better than his runner-up spot at the South American Race Walking Championships in Lima in February, and build on his eighth-place finish over 35km in Muscat.
Karlstrom was part of the lead group that passed 5km in 19:52 and 10km in 39:40. Bonfim had been biding his time a few seconds back off the front of the pack but was to the fore as 7km was reached in 27:53. Four athletes forged ahead, with Bonfim and Karlstrom joined by Kenny and Ecuador&rsquo;s Brian Pintado through the 10km mark.
The group had split by 13km, with Kenny and Bonfim together ahead of Karlstrom, and Pintado just off the pace.
Karlstrom was the next to fall back but he battled on, determined not to let Kenny and Bonfim out of his sight &ndash; the leaders passing 15km in 59:24, seven seconds ahead of Karlstrom. As Bonfim moved away over the next kilometre, Karlstrom caught Kenny and they looked locked in battle for the runner-up spot. Bonfim was 18 seconds ahead at 17km &ndash; 1:07:13 to 1:07:31 &ndash; and had stretched his lead to 28 seconds with two kilometres to go, as Karlstrom made a bid to drop Kenny.
Bonfim was unchallenged as he secured success in 1:18:54, just seven seconds off his own national record recorded in La Coruna in 2019, while Karlstrom managed to hold off Kenny &ndash; 1:19:42 to 1:19:44 &ndash; with the Irish walker letting out a roar as he crossed the finish line and saw his time, having taken more than three minutes off his PB.
Pintado finished fourth in a PB of 1:19:47, while Spain&rsquo;s Alberto Amezcua joined them in dipping under 80 minutes with 1:19:58 for fifth. A total of 12 athletes finished under the 1:21:00 entry standard for July&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships Oregon22. 
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 In the women&rsquo;s race, Ortuno had been joined by Spain&rsquo;s Olympic fourth-place finisher Maria Perez at the front of a six-strong group that passed the 5km point in 22:16. But over the next few kilometres Perez&rsquo;s red cards resulted in a two-minute penalty and she was later disqualified.
That left Ortuno to do battle with her compatriot Alegna Gonzalez, the fourth-place finisher at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat who was fifth, one place behind Perez, in Tokyo.
They were side-by-side at the 10km mark, when the clock showed 44:23, with Ordonez and Feige a few seconds back. When Gonzalez dropped out a couple of kilometres later, Ortuno remained in control, although her closest challengers had closed the gap to five seconds.
Ortuno could not be caught, however, and was 10 seconds ahead of Ordonez at 15km (1:06:43), with Feige a further 15 seconds behind. While Ortuno, who placed 47th at the Olympics in Tokyo, remained ahead, Feige was fiercely giving chase and was four seconds off Ordonez with a kilometre to go.
Like Bonfim in the men&rsquo;s race, Ortuno had a clear path to victory with her win secured in 1:29:25, but half a minute back was a competitive clash for the runner up spot. Feige pipped Ordonez by just a single second as they clocked respective PBs of 1:29:57 and 1:29:58.
Italy&rsquo;s Valentina Trapletti finished fourth in 1:30:49, while Czech Republic&rsquo;s Eliska Martinkova (1:30:53 PB) and Tereza Durdiakova (1:31:09) were fifth and sixth on home soil &ndash; the top five all under the entry standard for Oregon.
After racing in Podebrady for the fourth time and claiming her first win, Ortuno said: &ldquo;I am very happy. First place and the time for the World Championships in Oregon. My first win here, it&rsquo;s amazing for me.&rdquo; Despite the cold conditions, she added: &ldquo;I like this weather, it&rsquo;s good for the race.&rdquo;
In the international team competition, Czech Republic claimed top spot ahead of France and Italy. In the men&rsquo;s match, Italy won ahead of Slovakia and France.
A number of athletes in the U20 races are targeting this year&rsquo;s World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22 and that resulted in some competitive action and fast times. Mexico&rsquo;s 16-year-old Angel Vazquez Montes improved his PB to 42:15 to win the U20 men&rsquo;s 10km race walk ahead of Czech Republic&rsquo;s Adam Zajicek (42:19) and Jaromir Moravek (42:36), while the U20 women&rsquo;s title was claimed by Mexico&rsquo;s 17-year-old Karla Ximena Serrano, who clocked 45:20 to take exactly two minutes off her previous best. Finland&rsquo;s Heta Veikkola was second in 46:02 and Costa Rica&rsquo;s Sharon Lisseth Herrera Soto third in 46:04.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics 
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-tour/calendar-results/7174264/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Results</a>

Caio Bonfim and Valeria Ortuno took top honours and led a number of athletes under the World Athletics Championships qualifying standards at the Podebrady Walking meeting.

Bonfim and Ortuno prevail in Podebrady

Daisuke Matsunaga threw his hat into the ring for a World Athletics Championships Oregon22 place with a fine win at the&nbsp;46th All Japan Race Walking Tournament &ndash; a&nbsp;World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze event &ndash; in a chilly Nomi on Sunday (20).
The man who will be 27 on Thursday awarded himself an early birthday present when he finally shook off a dogged challenge to claim a fourth win in the city on Japan&rsquo;s southern isle of Honshu.
In fact, his winning 1:19:53 was testament to the threat posed first by Hiroto Jusho, who had already notched a PB this year in Kobe, and towards the end of the race by Yuta Koga, whose PB: 1:18:42 dates from 2020.
Both pushed hard to upset the favourite. But in the end the relentless Matsunaga won out.
Koga finished fast to come home second in 1:20:40, with the brave Jusho a couple of seconds back in 1:20:42 and Subaru Ishida right behind him in 1:20:43. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/623a034a2a6b62f5e182060c.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 It was a chilly, grey morning, and threatening to rain as walkers toed the line. Even so, many of the main contenders sported sunglasses for reasons known only to themselves.
A group of 10 went through the first kilometre in 3:53 including Matsanuga and Ryosuke Kondo. Both slowed slightly through the second lap, and unsurprisingly no one got shed from the leading pack.
It was fast, but not crushingly so, though still speedy enough to lay down a marker.
Coming up to 3km, Matsanuga started to move away with Jusho seemingly the only one offering a challenge 15 metres back.
The other eight were much the same difference in arrears. Jusho made up the difference to the leader as they went through 4km, and even took it on over the next kilometre passing 5km in 19:41, with the remains of the group 13 seconds in their wake.
They were now lapping the back markers in a classy field. And in a bid to shake off his one threat, Matsanuga walked as wide as the road would allow to stop Jusho getting a free ride. In fact, the eventual winner kept walking wide on a 1km loop that significantly curved at both ends. Had he taken the shortest route available, he would surely have saved several seconds on his finishing time.
The cap-wearing Jusho had to cut across to get back on the leader&rsquo;s shoulder, and again Matsanuga tried to shake off his shadow. He eventually managed to crevice a five-second gap over the next 2km, but the plucky pursuer refused to let go.
Those with pretensions of catching the leaders now consisted of Koga, Ishida, and Haruki Manju. Halfway was clocked in 39:34, with the hopeful trio 13 seconds back.&nbsp;
Manju fell just off the back at 11km, while up ahead, Matsunaga had a third attempt to walk solo to the finish, and the result was the same as the previous two: Jusho stubbornly closed the small gap.
Approaching 13km, a final gear change did for a brave challenge. In fact, sensing their chance, Koga and Ishida closed the gap on Jusho, with the three now vainly trying to catch the man up front.
With six 1km laps to go, the ebb and flow continued as Koga shed the other two and gave chase to Matsunaga.&nbsp;Jusho was having none of that and left Ishida, so that he and Koga closed the gap slightly to 12 seconds.
The leader hit the three-quarters mark in 59:40, and for the first time looked relatively comfortable.&nbsp; Koga also found a second wind to take control of second place, but right at the death, Jusho and Ishida tore up the final straight to make it a fight for the podium places.
Olympic and recent World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Muscat 22 medallists Toshikazu Yamanishi and Koki Ikeda gave the race a miss, but Matsanuga&rsquo;s solid race here will give the World Championships selectors a headache.
"I walked the race as part of training for the 35km Nationals at Wajima," he said. "I originally targeted 1:20:00 to 1:20:30, but I felt good so I challenged for the 20km World Championships nomination.
"I'm so happy to win today&rsquo;s race. I felt like I&rsquo;m back".
The depth of race walking in Japan was underlined by 20 finishing under 1:30:00 in an event still limited to just a domestic field as the country recovers from the pandemic.
&nbsp;
<h2>Success for Sonoda</h2>
If the men&rsquo;s race had been nip-and-tuck for all but the last few kilometres, Serena Sonoda made sure the women&rsquo;s 20km was shorn of drama. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/623a026cab038282b9d75021.JPG" alt="" width="100%" />
 The 25-year-old had a modest 1:35:21 PB going into the race but blew that out off the water with an easy 1:32:12 victory.
She had 3:39 to spare over Miyu Naito by the finish, more than one length of the 1km lap, as Naito crossed in 1:35:51.
Sonoda went from the gun and was already up by nine seconds by 5km. It was nearly a minute by halfway, but the hammer really came down over the next 5km.
Sonoda recorded 22:56 for the split in contrast to 24:23 by her pursuer.
Hitomi Shimoka was slightly ahead of Naito at halfway and on her shoulder going into the last quarter, but paid for a brave attempt as she slowed to 1:36:32, but still held on for third.
Sonoda, like&nbsp;Matsanuga, also has eyes on the 35km in Oregon.
"I raced today as part of my preparation for the 35km Nationals, hoping to build up my confidence," she said.
"The weather was perfect and my condition was good and I did go a bit faster than my target pace but having a big PB one month before my target race boots my confidence.&nbsp;
"Today&rsquo;s plan was to go at 4:45/km pace and gradually build up from there and keep it up during the latter part of the race. I&rsquo;ll train one notch higher and I hope to earn a spot in the Oregon national team for the 35km."
Paul Warburton for World Athletics

Daisuke Matsunaga threw his hat into the ring for a World Athletics Championships Oregon22 place.

Matsunaga and Sonoda secure 20km race walk success in Nomi

Commonwealth champion Jemima Montag chopped 17 seconds off the long-standing continental record when winning at the Oceania &amp; Australian 20km Race Walking Championships in Adelaide - a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze meeting - on Sunday (13).
The 23-year-old, who was contesting her first 20km since her sixth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, finished in 1:27:27, breaking the Oceanian record of 1:27:44 that had been set by fellow Australian Jane Saville back in 2004.
The title secures Montag&rsquo;s automatic selection for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 later this year.
&ldquo;It feels surreal at the moment, that national record is something I have been thinking about for a few years, but we&rsquo;ve had the pandemic and cancelled races,&rdquo; said Montag. &ldquo;Often at times it hasn&rsquo;t been the right weather or right conditions, it wasn&rsquo;t what I had in mind but I could feel it was on in the first 5km.
"Sometimes you have that fear of success where your coach is yelling out that the record is on today, which is scary because you have the feeling of not wanting to let anyone down.
&ldquo;It feels exciting to lock that spot in for Oregon, qualifying early and now we&rsquo;ve got the next four or five months to put our heads down and train smart,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve started an intense medical post-graduate course, so being efficient with times and qualifying is important. It feels good to do the three-peat and to have so many of the emerging senior boys to walk with was really lucky.&rdquo;
Montag won the event more than four minutes ahead of Olympic teammate Rebecca Henderson (1:31:44).
Declan Tingay won his first national and continental 20km race walk title in 1:20:44, also meeting the World Championships qualifying standard to secure his spot on the team for Oregon.
Tingay, who placed 17th in Tokyo, was strategic in his approach, tucking in behind Kyle Swan for the first 15km, but asserted his dominance to smash his PB by more than three minutes, finishing almost a minute ahead of Swan's 1:21:39.
New Zealand&rsquo;s Quentin Rew was third (1:22.23) and Olympic 20km race walker Rhydian Cowley was fourth in 1:23:29.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really plan on walking that fast this morning,&rdquo; said Tingay. &ldquo;I had planned on qualifying for World Champs via the points system. To find a few extra gears today and knock the time out this early in the season is awesome.
&ldquo;It might mean I try to walk a bit quicker at the World Championships, and it might mean a trip to Europe sometime soon to see if I can lower that time again.&rdquo;
Tingay's result has also secured the automatic selection spot for the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Muscat 22, with the discretionary selections taking place this week.
With assistance from Athletics Australia
&nbsp;
<h2>Perez and Amezcua victorious in Pamplona</h2>
Two weeks after winning the national 35km title in record time, European champion Maria Perez was victorious at the Spanish 20km Race Walking Championships in Pamplona - a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze meeting - on Saturday (12).
The 25-year-old won by almost three minutes in 1:27:40, the second-fastest time of her career after the Spanish record of 1:26:36 she set when winning the European title in 2018.
She got off to a steady start, passing 5km in 22:24 with a six-second lead over Rachelle de Oberta. By the half-way point, reached in 44:01, Perez&rsquo;s lead had grown to exactly one minute with Laura Garcia-Caro now in second place.
At 15km (1:05:47), Perez was away and clear, and had a lead of almost two minutes on the rest of the field. She covered the final 5km in 21:53, reaching the finish line in 1:27:40. Garcia-Caro finished second in 1:30:36, comfortably ahead of De Oberta, who held on for third place (1:33:41). 
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 The men&rsquo;s race was slightly closer, though Luis Alberto Amezcua ultimately emerged a comfortable winner in 1:20:29, earning his first national senior title.
Amezcua, the ninth-place finisher at the 2017 World Championships, made an early break in the opening kilometre and by 5km (20:31) had a 20-second lead over the chase pack, led by Jose Manuel Perez and including world bronze medallist Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden.
Amezcua increased his pace and reached 10km in 40:41, the eight-man chase pack now almost a minute adrift. He cranked up the pace yet again and the chasing group started to break up after about 12 kilometres. With a 19:52 5km section, Amezcua reached 15km in 1:00:33 with Marc Tur and European U20 champion Paul McGrath having broken away from the chase pack but still more than a minute in arrears of the leader.
After another sub-20-minute final 5km section, Amezcua crossed the finish line in 1:20:29, the third-fastest time of his career. Tur took second place in 1:21:36 with 19-year-old McGrath finishing third in a PB of 1:21:43. Karlstrom was sixth in 1:22:48.

Winning time of 1:27:27 takes 17 seconds off previous continental record

Montag breaks Oceanian 20km race walk record in Adelaide

Maria Perez clocked 2:39:16 for the second-fastest ever women&rsquo;s 35km race walk, while Miguel Angel Lopez won the men&rsquo;s title in a national record time at the Spanish Open 35km Race Walking Championships &ndash; a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze event &ndash; in Lepe on Sunday (30).
European 20km race walk champion Perez, who went on to finish fourth in that event at the Tokyo Olympics last year, improved on her previous national record of 2:44:17 recorded at last year&rsquo;s Spanish Race Walking Championships. That time had placed her fifth on the world all-time list but her performance in Lepe has moved her up to second spot.
Laura Garcia-Caro was second in 2:48:05 and Maria Juarez third in 2:53:40. Portugal&rsquo;s 2017 world 50km race walk champion Ines Henriques was fourth in 2:54:46.
In the men&rsquo;s event, Spain&rsquo;s 2015 world 20km race walk champion Lopez clocked 2:27:54 to win by more than two minutes ahead of Alvaro Martin, who also dipped under 2:30, recording 2:29:59.
Manuel Bermudez was third in 2:32:06 and Alvaro Lopez fourth in 2:32:44.
The 35km event becomes a standard championship discipline from this year, with initial world records to be recognised after 1 January 2023, provided the marks improve on the standards of 2:22:00 for men and 2:38:00 for women.
At the Circuito Nacional de Caminata Coatzacoalcos &ndash; also a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze event &ndash; in Mexico on Sunday, the women&rsquo;s 35km race walk title was claimed by Ilse Guerrero in 2:53:48, while Ricardo Ortiz won the men&rsquo;s event in 2:30:07.
World Athletics

Maria Perez clocked 2:39:16 for the second-fastest ever women’s 35km race walk.

Perez and Lopez win 35km race walk titles in Lepe

The one-day series of the world&rsquo;s best cross country, combined events and race walking meetings will all move to a three-tier World Tour format from next month.
Adding the final pieces to the jigsaw of the restructuring of international athletics competitions, the World Athletics Cross Country Tour, Combined Events Tour and Race Walking Tour will replace the existing challenge and permit series with a more global spread of fixtures.
A combined amount of more than $400,000 in prize money will be on offer for the best tour performers, including a new pool of $75,000 for the best male and female cross country runners.
The development of these tours is part of a concerted effort by World Athletics to create a logical long-term global calendar of international events. It will also ensure more top-level competition opportunities and exposure for athletes in all areas of the sport.
As with the Continental Tour and World Indoor Tour, competitions within the new tours will be given either gold, silver or bronze status. The calendars for each tour &ndash; more details of which will be provided in the coming weeks &ndash; are already beginning to take shape.
The Cross Country Tour, for example, which gets underway later this month, is expected to have stops in North America, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Europe and will incorporate many of the world&rsquo;s biggest and most prestigious cross-country meetings that have been part of the Cross Country Permit series in recent years. Athletes who compete in Cross Country Tour meetings will also earn world cross country ranking points.
"One of our primary goals at World Athletics is to improve the competitive and earning opportunities for elite athletes around the world and these new tour formats are designed to do just that," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. "They will also create new avenues for fans to watch our leading athletes, either in person or via broadcast or livestream. My thanks goes to World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon and Competition Director, Jakob Larsen, for the work they have been doing on the global competition calendar and the one-day meetings and the team they have now put in place to drive this critical area forward."
All gold-level Cross Country Tour meetings will be shown on the World Athletics YouTube Channel, and World Athletics is working to ensure a similar level of coverage for next year&rsquo;s Combined Events and Race Walking Tours.
In order to support the restructure of the global one-day competition calendar, World Athletics has made the following staff appointments.
Pierce O&rsquo;Callaghan has been appointed as Head of Competition Management after working as a consultant to World Athletics to establish the Continental Tour, expand the World Athletics Indoor Tour and lead the Global Calendar Unit in recent years. He has also been an international referee at four World Athletics Championships and four Olympic Games and was Director of Operations for the 2017 World Championships in London and Director of Readiness for the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
Luca Verrascina has joined World Athletics as Competition Manager after serving as a Technical Delegate or International Technical Official at many World Athletics Series events. He was the Head of Competition at the 2016 World Race Walking Team Championships, the 2013 and 2017 European U20 Championships and the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome.
The Competition Department will continue to work on a number of key projects, including the integration of mass participation events into the World Athletics Series, the cohesion of one-day meetings and major championships, the development of the world rankings and qualification pathways for major championships, and a review of the competition rules.
Meeting and race organisers who are interested in having their events included in the new tours should send an email to <a href="mailto:competition@worldathletics.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">competition@worldathletics.org</a> for more information.
World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h3>Regulations</h3>
&bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=dbbd6f71-d7c5-490f-a061-64035433ec66.pdf&amp;urlslug=C1.7%20-%20Race%20Walking%20Tour%20Regulations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Race Walking Tour</a> &bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=8fc6e49c-7132-453d-abcb-91520f41681b.pdf&amp;urlslug=C1.8%20-%20Combined%20Events%20Tour%20Regulations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Combined Events Tour</a> &bull; <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=fd7d4bb1-8dae-40a7-84d9-8b4116f99957.pdf&amp;urlslug=C1.9%20-%20Cross%20Country%20Tour%20Regulations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cross Country Tour</a>

The one-day series of the world’s best cross country, combined events and race walking meetings will all move to a three-tier World Tour format from next month.

World Tour competition structure announced for cross country, combined events and race walking

Spain's European bronze medallist Diego Garcia and Colombia's world fifth-placer Sandra Lorena Arenas were successful at the Gran Premio Cantones de La Coruna &shy;&ndash; the Spanish leg of this year&rsquo;s World Athletics Challenge - Race Walking&nbsp;series &ndash; on Saturday (5) over a flat and fast 1km circuit at sea level.
<h3>Garcia takes Podebrady revenge</h3>
The men&rsquo;s event started quite slowly, the opening kilometre being covered in 4:17 with Spain&rsquo;s Ivan Pajuelo in the lead. The pace increased slightly over the following laps thanks to Ecuador&rsquo;s Mauricio Arteaga who led at 4:05/km pace.
By the 5km point the Ecuadorian led in 20:31, five seconds ahead of Mexico&rsquo;s Jesus Vega and Germany&rsquo;s Hagen Pohle. At that early stage, the main favourites in the guise of Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom and Spain&rsquo;s Alvaro Martin plus Garcia did not feature in the top 10.
By halfway, which was crossed in 40:46,&nbsp;23 walkers still remained in the lead group led by Vega and Martin. Britain&rsquo;s Tom Bosworth led the then fastest lap in the 11th circuit with a 4:02 split, then Germany&rsquo;s Cristopher Linke took command and stepped up the pace to clock a brisk 3:56 in the 13th kilometre for an overall 42:45 time, as 14 walkers featured in the leading pack.
The clock read 1:00:44 with five laps remaining and the group was led by Ecuador&rsquo;s Andres Chocho, despite him having perfomed and won at the South American Championships six days before in Guayaquil.
A frantic 3:50 16th kilometre by Karlstrom reduced the lead group to just three &ndash; the Podebrady podium with the Swedish ace, Martin and Garcia. After another relentless lap timed at 3:49, Garcia moved to the front with Martin and Karlstrom was right behind him. With some 1750m left, the 25-year-old Garcia changed his speed to leave Martin behind and the race became a two-horse battle between the Swedish athlete and Garcia.
Midway through the closing lap, the Spaniard found another gear, much to the delight of the home crowd. He managed to build a sizeable gap on the powerful Karlstrom, who had defeated him twice this year.
A more than joyful Garcia romped home in 1:19:37 after a 3:42 final lap, while Karlstrom had to settle for the runner-up spot &ndash; as was the case in 2017 &ndash; seven seconds adrift, with Martin completing a classy podium in 1:19:59.
"I&rsquo;m over the moon as Cantones is the best race walking permit in the world," said&nbsp;Garcia. "My name will now be among the winners here, that&rsquo;s a dream come true.
"Until the last part of the event, there were a lot of walkers in the heading group, it made me uneasy as all of them were dangerous rivals but it was a relief when only Karsltrom and Martin remained with me. At that point I was not sure if I would win but the support from the local crowd was key as I found the extra energy I needed to leave them behind.
"It&rsquo;s true that the Asian walkers have not come this year to compete but anyway today&rsquo;s win is an enormous morale booster ahead of the Tokyo Olympics."
<h3>Third time lucky for Arenas</h3>
The women&rsquo;s race opened at a moderate pace, the first 2km being covered in 8:55 with 12 athletes in the leading group. Ecuador&rsquo;s Glenda Morejon and Karla Jaramillo, plus Brazil&rsquo;s Erica Sena, took charge of the race in those early stages. The pace increased in the following kilometres and by the 5km checkpoint (22:13) the leading group had whittled down to five members &ndash; Morejon, Sena, Arenas and the Mexican duo of Ilse Guerrero and the 2018 world 10,000m U20 champion Alegna Gonzalez. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/ab16d0a1-01b0-4db7-b4b5-c21c443a14d4.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="515" />
 Despite having performed barely one week before at the South American Championships where they took gold and silver, Morejon and Sena were in charge of the pacing duties to reach halfway in 44:20, only followed by Arenas and Gonzalez as Guerrero lost ground in the previous lap.
It was at that point that the 2017 winner Sena injected a brisker pace and only Arenas could live with her change of speed. The 36-year-old Brazilian clocked 4:18 for the 11th lap in the company of Arenas, while Morejon and Gonzalez walked six seconds behind. One kilometre later it became clear that the world U20 record-holder and defending champion Morejon wouldn&rsquo;t make the podium, likely hampered by her recent effort in Guayaquil, as she lost 13 seconds in fourth.
Sena and Arenas, who just missed the medals at the World Athletics Championships in Doha being fourth and fifth respectively, fought fiercely in the lead with the former always dictating the pace and Arenas tucked in behind her. By the 15km point reached in 1:06:12, Sena had managed to build a two-second advantage over Arenas, herself 16 seconds ahead of Morejon and 23 clear of Gonzalez.
The key movement came 1:12 into the race with 3600m remaining, when Arenas broke away easily from her rival to reach the 17th kilometre eight seconds ahead of the Brazilian. By the bell the 27-year-old Arenas had built a solid 21 seconds lead, while Sena still had 16 seconds over Gonzalez. While the Colombian crossed the finish line in 1:28:23, her third quickest ever time, a fading Rocha was finally overtaken by the Mexican who managed a huge lifetime best of 1:28:39 (previously 1:30:08) with Sena in third four seconds behind Gonzalez.
Ranked sixth in the world before this event, the winner is coached by Marcelino Pastrana and had finished ninth in&nbsp;La Coruna in 2014 before a DNF in 2018, so Saturday's result was third time lucky for Arenas.
<article>
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics 
&nbsp;
</article>
Leading results
Men 1 Diego Garcia (ESP) 1:19:37 2 Perseus Karlstrom (SWE) 1:19:44 3 Alvaro Martin (ESP) 1:19:59 4 Brian Daniel Pintado (ECU) 1:20:15 (PB) 5 Andres Olivas (MEX) 1:20:24 6 Callum Wilkinson (GBR) 1:20:32 (PB) 7 Jesus Tadeo Vega (MEX) 1:20:32 8 Jose Oswaldo Calel (GUA) 1:20:35 (PB) 9 David Hurtado (MEX) 1:20:37 (PB) 10 Jordy Jimenez (ECU) 1:20:47 (PB)
Women 1 Sandra Lorena Arenas (COL) 1:28:24 2 Alegna Gonzalez (MEX) 1:28:40 (PB) 3 Erica Sena (BRA) 1:28:44 4 Glenda Morejon (ECU) 1:29:50 5 Noelia Vargas (CRC) 1:30:44 (PB) 6 Mariavittoria Becchetti (ITA) 1:32:03 7 Kimberly Garcia (PER) 1:32:13 8 Nicole Colombi (ITA) 1:32:26 (PB) 9 Magaly Bonilla (ECU) 1:32:34 10 Ilse Guerrero (MEX) 1:33:07
&nbsp;
Photos by&nbsp;Almudena Miguez (FGA)

Spain's European bronze medallist Diego Garcia and Colombia's world fifth-placer Sandra Lorena Arenas were successful at the Gran Premio Cantones de La Coruna ­– the Spanish leg of this year’s World Athletics Challenge - Race Walking – on Saturday (5) over a flat and fast 1km circuit at sea level.

Garcia and Arenas win in La Coruna

After last year&rsquo;s cancellation because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gran Premio Cantones de La Coruna &shy;&ndash; the Spanish leg of this year&rsquo;s World Athletics Challenge - Race Walking &ndash; returns on Saturday (5) to confirm that the event is arguably one of the key 20km competitions of the season.
<h3>Podebrady podium will clash again</h3>
In the absence of the always powerful Asian armada, the top Europeans will kick off as the main favourites in the guise of Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom and the Spanish tandem of the European champion Alvaro Martin and silver medallist Diego Garcia. Authorised neutral athlete Vasiliy Mizinov was initially announced but due to visa problems the current world 20km silver medallist won&rsquo;t be competing.
As for the reigning world bronze medallist Karsltrom, the 31-year-old is fresh from a commanding win in 1:18:54 at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady 20 days ago. The Swede is enjoying a very solid season as he also won in Murcia in March &ndash; on the occasion of the Spanish Championships &ndash; in a season&rsquo;s best of 1:18:45, while his PB remains the 1:18:07 he set in La Coruna in 2019 when he placed fourth.
The local duo of Martin and Garcia should also be a factor on Saturday. The latter prevailed over Martin in Murcia &ndash; 1:19:40 and 1:19:54 their respective times &ndash; to take the Spanish title but the European champion bounced back in Podebrady when he defeated Garcia to finish second (PB of 1:19:14) and third (1:19:19) respectively.
Of this leading triumvirate, all among the top 10 in the world rankings, only Martin has previously won the event. He did so in 2017, when Karlstrom was runner-up, while Garcia also finished second in 2018.
Other notable entrants are Germany&rsquo;s world fourth-placer Christopher Linke, holder of a 1:18:42 PB, and Spain&rsquo;s Luis Alberto Amezcua, who recently clocked 1:19:54 in Murcia to claim national bronze. Watch out too for his fellow Spaniard Marc Tur, a convincing victor in Podebrady at the 50km event in a massive career best of 3:47.40, while a large Mexican squad will also be on show headed by Isaac Palma (1:20:54) and Carlos Sanchez (1:20:39).
<h3>Morejon to maintain momentum</h3>
The women&rsquo;s event will be held two hours before the men&rsquo;s competition gets under way.
Ecuador&rsquo;s Glenda Morejon should arguably be tipped as the marquee athlete; the still 21-year-old made a major breakthrough in La Coruna in 2019 when she won in style thanks to a 1:25:29 performance to set a still-standing world U20 record. The big question mark for Saturday is whether she will have recovered from the effort she made last Saturday at the South American Championships in Guayaquil where Morejon won gold in the 20,000m track event in 1:29:24, head and shoulders clear of Brazil&rsquo;s Erica Sena, runner-up in 1:30:51. The 36-year-old Brazilian will also be in contention in La Coruna. A creditable fourth at the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, she took the top spot La Coruna in 2017.
The Spanish charge will be led by Laura Garcia-Caro and Raquel Gonzalez. The former is fresh from a third place in Podebrady in a PB of 1:28:07, while Gonzalez also performed well in the Czech city as she claimed fourth with a 1:28:37 clocking, just one second off her 2014 career best. They both will be aiming for a podium place alongside the reigning European 50km bronze medallist Julia Takacs, holder of a 1:27:58 career best and twice second here back in 2013 and 2018.
Colombia&rsquo;s Sandra Lorena Arenas should also be in the hunt for victory. The 2012 world U20 bronze medallist finished fifth at the Doha World Championships and boasts a PB of 1:28:03. Since Doha, Arenas has only competed once, taking a comfortable 10km win timed at 44:40 in Olomouc.
The course records belong to Japan&rsquo;s Toshikazu Yamanishi, owner of an impressive clocking of 1:17:41 in 2019, and Liu Hong with a stunning performance of 1:24:38 six years ago, a world record then and still the third quickest ever athlete.
Venue of the 2006 World Cup, the list of past winners includes Olympic champions such as Italy&rsquo;s Maurizio Damilano, Mexico&rsquo;s Ernesto Canto, Poland&rsquo;s Robert Korzeniowski and Ecuador&rsquo;s Jefferson Perez in the men&rsquo;s event plus China&rsquo;s Liu Hong among women.
More than 160 race walkers will take part in the event, Mexico being the largest squad with 38 athletes.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe awarded a World Athletics Heritage Plaque to the organisers of the event in March 2019 to recognise the event&rsquo;s rich 34-year history.
Weather forecasters are predicting a sunny day with a light breeze and temperatures in the 16-18C range at race time.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics

After last year’s cancellation because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gran Premio Cantones de La Coruna ¬– the Spanish leg of this year’s World Athletics Challenge - Race Walking – returns on Saturday (5) to confirm that the event is arguably one of the key 20km competitions of the season.

Race Walking Challenge gets under way in La Coruna

Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom and China&rsquo;s Qieyang Shenjie have been confirmed as the overall winners in the 2019 IAAF Race Walking Challenge.
The scoring system takes each athlete&rsquo;s three best marks from the series with points being awarded to the top 10 finishers in category A and B races and the top six finishers in category C races. Prize money is awarded to the top eight finishers at the end of the challenge. The athlete with the highest score wins US$25,000.
The series concluded at the recent Around Taihu International Race Walking Competition, a three-day contest in which challenge points are awarded in the first stage of the competition, held over 20km.
Karlstrom was victorious in Suzhou, giving him enough points to move into the overall lead in the challenge with a tally of 32. Earlier in the season, the 29-year-old had won at the Adelaide, Lazaro Cardenas and Alytus legs of the challenge, as well as taking the bronze medal in the 20km race walk at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.
Japan&rsquo;s Toshikazu Yamanishi, the world 20km race walk champion, finished a close second on the leader board with 30 points while Spain&rsquo;s Diego Garcia was third.
The women&rsquo;s challenge contest was similarly close but ended with Qieyang Shenjie retaining her title.
Earlier in the year the 28-year-old won in Rio Maior and Taicang, bagging valuable points in the challenge standings. She pocketed another 10 points, bringing her 2019 tally to 34, when taking the silver medal in the 20km race walk at the World Championships in Doha.
Liu Hong, the world 20km race walk champion, capped her 2019 campaign with a victory in Suzhou, but it wasn&rsquo;t quite enough to move her ahead of her compatriot in the challenge standings and she had to settle for second place with 32 points. Brazil&rsquo;s Erica de Sena was third with 26 points.
<h3>Final standings</h3>
Men 1 Perseus Karlstrom (SWE) 32 2 Toshikazu Yamanishi (JPN) 30 3 Diego Garcia (ESP) 24 4 Yusuke Suzuki (JPN) 23 5 Caio Bonfim (BRA) 21
Women 1 Qieyang Shenjie (CHN) 34 2 Liu Hong (CHN) 32 3 Erica de Sena (BRA) 26 4 Li Maocuo (CHN) 26 5 Sandra Lorena Arenas (COL) 20
Complete standings: <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-race-walking-challenge/standings/2019/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Men</a> | <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-race-walking-challenge/standings/2019/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Women</a>
IAAF

Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom and China’s Qieyang Shenjie have been confirmed as the overall winners in the 2019 IAAF Race Walking Challenge.

Karlstrom and Qieyang win 2019 IAAF Race Walking Challenge

Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom confirmed his favourite status to dominate the men&rsquo;s race with three straight victories at the Around Taihu International Race Walking competition while Brazil&rsquo;s Erica de Sena rallied to take the women&rsquo;s individual title at the last leg of this year&rsquo;s IAAF Race Walking Challenge that concluded in the Chinese city of Suzhou on Tuesday (22).
World bronze medallist Karlstrom, who finished fifth last year in the three-day event, set a combined time of 3:01:41 to wrap up his convincing victory, 2:20 ahead of the second-placed Manuel Soto of Colombia. Australia&rsquo;s Rhydian Cowley finished third in 3:05:56.
In the first-day competition, a 20km race staged in the Taihu Lake holiday resort, Karlstrom clocked 1:22:43 to finish first, opening up a lead of 28 seconds. Karlstrom&rsquo;s winning streak continued on Monday when he clocked 50:30 to win the 12km race in Taihu New Town to extend his advantage to 1:28, and the in-form Swedish went on to win the 12km race at Mudu town in 48:28 on Tuesday.
Although Karlstrom earned the team title in 2017 and 2018, this was the 29-year-old&rsquo;s first individual overall win at this competition, which was launched in 2013 and added to the IAAF Race Walking Challenge calendar last year.
Thanks to his 20km victory in Suzhou, Karlstrom overtook Japan&rsquo;s newly crowned world 20km champion Toshikazu Yamanishi, who did not compete this time, to finish at the top of the Race Walking Challenge standings.
Karlstrom was also victorious in the team contest, picking up his third consecutive title. He teamed up with his brother Ato Ibanez, Jhon Alexander Castaneda of Colombia and Ecuadorian duo Andres Chocho and David Hurtado, who finished second and third in the 20km race, as the &lsquo;Umara Racing Team&rsquo; won in 9:15:34.
&lsquo;Red Caciente&rsquo;, consisting of Soto, Mexico&rsquo;s Isaac Palma, Wayne Snyman of South Africa, Ukrainian Ivan Losev and Subra Maniam of Singapore, finished second, followed by China&rsquo;s &lsquo;A&rsquo; team, spearheaded by 2012 Olympic champion Chen Ding.
De Sena shrugged off a 1:28 deficit after the first day&rsquo;s race and rallied to beat China&rsquo;s world 50km silver medallist Li Maocuo to take the individual win. The Brazilian&rsquo;s winning mark was 3:19:00 (1:31:52, 54:43, 52:25), 13 seconds ahead of Li, who finished third in Suzhou last year, while China&rsquo;s world U20 champion Ma Zhenxia finished third in 3:20:40
Just three weeks after winning her third world 20km race walk title in Doha, Liu Hong maintained her momentum as the 32-year-old clocked 1:29:53 to win the 20km first-day competition.
Li finished second on that stage in 1:30:24, followed by Ma in 1:31:25 and De Sena in 1:31:52.
Liu did not start in the following two 12km races as the Olympic champion was focused only on the IAAF Race Walking Challenge standings. Meanwhile, De Sena scored two 12km victories in a row to earn the individual title.
World silver medallist Qieyang Shijie, who led the Race Walking Challenge standings ahead of Suzhou, was a last-minute withdrawal.
Although Li conceded the individual title to De Sena, she got the upper hand on the Brazilian in the team contest. The Chinese team consisting of Li, Ma, defending individual champion Wang Yingliu, 2015 world silver medallist Lu Xiuzhi and Qiji Zhuoma took the team title in 10:02:05.
&lsquo;The Dreamers&rsquo;, comprising De Sena, Inna Kashyna of Ukraine and Hungary&rsquo;s Viktoria Madarasz, trailed nearly six minutes to finish second in 10:07:58. &lsquo;Brave Warmis&rsquo;, which included three Ecuadorian athletes and Stevens Robyn Sierra of the United States, finished third in 10:29:01.
Vincent Wu for the IAAF

Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom confirmed his favourite status to dominate the men’s race with three straight victories at the Around Taihu International Race Walking competition while Brazil’s Erica de Sena rallied to take the women’s individual title at the last leg of this year’s IAAF Race Walking Challenge that concluded in the Chinese city of Suzhou on Tuesday (22).

Calendar
Date	Meeting	Venue	Country
19 DEC 2021	Irish Open 35km Race Walking Ch.	Dublin	IRL
08 JAN 2022	Camponeato Nacional Interclubes de Marcha Atletica	Machala	ECU
16 JAN 2022	USA Open 35km Race Walking Ch.	Santee, CA	USA
22 JAN 2022	Turkish Open 20km & 35km Race Walking Ch.	Antalya	TUR
30 JAN 2022	5° Circuito Nacional de Caminata Coatzacoalcos	Coatzacoalcos	MEX
30 JAN 2022	Spanish Open 35km Race Walking Ch.	Lepe	ESP
13 FEB 2022	Oceania Open 20km Race Walking Championships	Adelaide	AUS
13 FEB 2022	Spanish Open 20km Race Walking Ch.	Pamplona	ESP
20 MAR 2022	46th All Japan Race Walking	Nomi	JPN
30 MAR 2022	Australian Open 10,000m Race Walking Ch.	SOPAC, Sydney	AUS
02 APR 2022	Poděbrady Walking	Poděbrady	CZE
15 APR 2022	Olomoucká Dvacítka	Olomouc	CZE
23 APR 2022	Dudinska 50	Dudince	SVK
23 APR 2022	Polish Race Walking Ch.	Sulejówek	POL
24 APR 2022	USATF Race Walking Ch.	Hauppauge, NY	USA
07 MAY 2022	Grande Prémio Internacional de Rio Maior em Marcha Atlética	Rio Maior	POR
14 MAY 2022	Polish 35km Race Walking Ch.	Opole	POL
15 MAY 2022	Oceania Open 35km Race Walking Championships	Melbourne	AUS
16 MAY 2022	I Gran Premio Internacional Madrid Marcha LaLiga	Madrid	ESP
28 MAY 2022	XXXV Gran Premio Cantones de A Coruna de Marcha	La Coruña	ESP
04 JUN 2022	Zahoracka Dvadsiatka	Borsky Mikulás	SVK
13–14 JUN 2022	Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby	CAN
25 SEP 2022	63ème Challenge Facoetti-Dahm	Montreuil	FRA

RACE WALKING PERMIT MEETING

Strong fields prepare for Podebrady, kicking off World Race Walking Tour Gold calendar - GB test

World’s best race walkers gather in La Coruña

Karlstrom and Qieyang shine in Madrid

Thrilling 10km race walk contests set for Madrid

Pintado and Garcia victorious in Rio Maior

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