Entry lists for the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 confirm that 893 athletes from 54 countries will descend on Nassau for the global event on 4-5 May.
<a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/662655e2724a353830a20cb2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries by event and country</a> <a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/662655fa724a353830a20cb5.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries by country and event</a>
A total of 32 teams are entered for the men&rsquo;s 4x100m and 30 are entered for the women&rsquo;s 4x100m. There&rsquo;ll also be 32 teams for the men&rsquo;s 4x400m, 27 for the women&rsquo;s 4x400m and 30 in the mixed 4x400m.
Noah Lyles, who anchored the USA to victory at last year&rsquo;s World Championships, features on his country&rsquo;s squad in the 4x100m alongside world 200m leader Courtney Lindsey and Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek.
Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, who featured on Italy&rsquo;s victorious teams at the Tokyo Olympic Games and at the last World Relays earlier in 2021, is also entered for the 4x100m.
In the women&rsquo;s 4x100m, four of the six women who featured on USA&rsquo;s triumphant squad at last year&rsquo;s World Championships &ndash; including world 200m silver medallist Gabby Thomas &ndash; have been named for the World Relays.
Jamaica and Great Britain &amp; Northern Ireland &ndash; who joined USA on the podium at the last World Championships and Olympic Games &ndash; have also fielded strong teams for the women&rsquo;s 4x100m.
The same is true of the women&rsquo;s 4x400m, but the Netherlands &ndash; who struck gold in Budapest last year and at the World Indoor Championships last month &ndash; will have the star power of Femke Bol in their squad.
The men&rsquo;s 4x400m could be one of the most open races of the entire event. World and Olympic champions USA have a strong team, but Olympic 400m champion Steven Gardiner will represent the host nation&rsquo;s team. Belgium, featuring world indoor champion Alexander Doom, will be coming off the back of their victory at the World Indoor Championships, while the likes of France, Netherlands, Botswana and Great Britain could also contend for victory.
The mixed 4x400m is also expected to be highly competitive. Gardiner and his fellow Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo feature on the host nation squad, but world record-holders USA and Olympic champions Poland both have formidable teams, as do the Netherlands, Olympic silver medallists Dominican Republic and world silver medallists Great Britain.
Olympic qualifying places will be up for grabs on both days of action in The Bahamas. On the first day, the top two teams in each heat will advance to the final on day two, while also securing their qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In the finals on day two, teams will compete for prize money and obtain Olympic lane seeding positions.
All other teams will compete on day two in the additional round where the top two teams in each heat will also qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Start lists will be published on Friday 3 May, while team line-ups will be confirmed nearer to the time of each race.
World Athletics

World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24

893 athletes from 54 countries will descend on Nassau from 4-5 May

Entry lists for World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24 published

<h3>&bull; Pioneering initiatives to be integrated to Glasgow's wider event portfolio</h3>
<h3>&bull; ABW Standard a core pillar of World Athletics&rsquo; Sustainability Strategy &ndash; second progress report released today</h3>
<h3>&bull; When fully adopted, World Athletics Standard will have widest reach of any sustainability evaluation system in the sport industry</h3>
&nbsp;
The World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 became the first event to be awarded platinum level recognition against the Athletics for a Better World (ABW) Standard, the evaluation system implemented by World Athletics this year that measures an event&rsquo;s achievements in sustainable delivery.
The recognition, announced to mark Earth Day, came after a comprehensive evaluation by a team of international sustainability experts of the local organising committee&rsquo;s approach to the event&rsquo;s environmental and social impacts. The announcement comes alongside the release of the <a href="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/662598b30013bfc99b9ca555.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Athletics Sustainability Report 2022-23</a>, which details the development and implementation of the Athletics for a Better World Standard, initiatives from World Championship and one-day events, the empowerment and views of athletes and progress against the six pillars of the World Athletics Sustainability Strategy.
Efforts to include social impact and environmental sustainability into the delivery and legacy of the championships was a strong focus for event organisers who delivered several pioneering initiatives.
<ul>
<li>More than 800 staff and volunteers received mental health training to help them deliver a mentally healthy event for themselves, athletes, officials and spectators. The project, developed by the event's partner Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH), was a first of its kind for an event in Scotland.</li>
<li>Organisers also partnered with a food bank in the city&rsquo;s east end to redistribute all excess food from the event &ndash; more than 1000 meals &ndash; to forge a positive partnership that has set the path for future events at the Glasgow Arena.</li>
<li>Efforts to reduce the event&rsquo;s carbon emissions included public transport partnerships, a catering menu with an extensive selection of plant-based options and awareness-raising events, panel discussions and activations in the months leading into and during the championships.</li>
<li>And, adding to the event&rsquo;s legacy, a dedicated social impact project manager, hired for the local organising committee, will stay on to continue this work with the Glasgow Life events team with plans already underway to integrate positive social impacts into Glasgow's wider event portfolio.</li>
</ul>
&ldquo;From the outset, the local organising committee made a strong commitment to maximising the social impact and reducing the environmental impact of this event,&rdquo; World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. &ldquo;They did so by having a strong vision and investing efficiently in resources to provide a textbook example of what sustainable athletics event looks like. The Glasgow team has set the highest bar.&rdquo;
Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: &ldquo;Glasgow is extremely proud to have been recognised by World Athletics for its approach to social responsibility when hosting the World Athletics Indoor Championships last month.
&ldquo;To achieve platinum level against the Athletics for a Better World Standard, the highest level ever awarded to an event host city, is a huge accolade. It&rsquo;s testament to the vision, commitment and ambition of the Local Organising Committee led by Glasgow Life and UK Athletics.
&ldquo;The team was committed to embedding sustainability into Glasgow&rsquo;s plans to deliver a successful world-class event, without compromising the needs of our planet. Glasgow is increasingly recognised as a global leader on sustainability and this award gives us strong foundations for hosting future events.&rdquo;
<h2>Second Sustainability Report released</h2>
The ABW Standard consists of 55 action areas that address all levels of event delivery, measured in terms of how they align with the six pillars of the World Athletics Sustainability Strategy, which was released in 2020. Those areas include procurement, waste management, energy, food and water management, travel and accommodation planning. Diversity, accessibility and inclusion of staff and volunteers is also addressed, as is ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of all participants.
The World Athletics Sustainability Report 2022-23, also released today, highlights the progress made on the ABW Standard since its unveiling in December 2021. Organisers of more than 300 one-day athletics competition series events and label road races have been introduced to the ABW Standard. Several dozen events piloted the Standard system in 2022 and more than 100 piloted elements of it in 2023, providing valuable input prior to its implementation on 1 January 2024 when sustainability reporting became a mandatory component of World Athletics&rsquo; broader event evaluation process.
When fully adopted, the ABW Standard will have the widest reach of any sustainability evaluation system in the sport industry.
While reporting against the ABW Standard was not mandatory for the Glasgow competition, all World Athletics Series (WAS) events whose bids opened in the latter half of 2023 will be contractually obligated to commit to a high level of delivery. The 2027 World Championships in Beijing will be the first WAS event that will be required to deliver to a gold level achievement. Glasgow scored 108 of the 120 available points in the tiered ABW Standard to meet the platinum level threshold.
World Athletics will <a href="https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/61a3cb99-d332-4b5f-82c6-9be160761299@e6fb2503-977b-4cb1-9c88-0fbeb9175db9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">host a webinar on 14 May</a> from 11-12am (CEST/GMT+2) to discuss the roll out and implementation of the standard, with Glasgow 24 organisers outlining their strategy and roadmap to their platinum level achievement. Registration is free.
Scottish Culture, Europe and International Development Minister Kaukab Stewart said: &ldquo;Following on from the success of hosting the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, news the event has achieved platinum level recognition in the Athletics for a Better World Standard for sustainability is a feat everyone can be proud of.
&ldquo;Moving forward, sustainability will play an increasingly important role in the organisation of major events and awards like this can help drive the continued effort towards achieving net zero targets and supporting the local economy.&rdquo;
Ian Beattie, Chair of UK Athletics and Co-chair of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 Steering Group, said: &ldquo;After staging an unforgettable World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24, it is fantastic news to hear the Championships has achieved platinum level against the Athletics for a Better World Standard with regards to sustainability. It is a credit to all the team working on the championships that they have achieved the highest standard possible and shown they are world-leading in this area.
&ldquo;Not only was it a superb event on the track and in the field in Glasgow, but this outstanding event has shown how it can be delivered sustainably and be used as a model for future championships. Congratulations to all involved in achieving this incredible feat.&rdquo;
Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland Director of Events, said: &ldquo;Glasgow and Scotland provided the perfect stage for the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, delivering a truly memorable event. The recognition by World Athletics for the event&rsquo;s work to deliver environmental and social impacts from the championships, awarding it platinum level against the Athletics for a Better World Standard, is an amazing outcome.
&ldquo;Events play an important role in our communities, giving us all the opportunity to come together and share memorable experiences. They are also a chance to leave a lasting positive impact and it is clear to see the championships has done this for Glasgow.&rdquo;
Esther Britten, Head of Major Events at UK Sport, said: &ldquo;We are delighted to have supported our event hosting partners to build and implement a robust sustainability plan which has led to this platinum accreditation. We are committed to ensuring all major events hosted in the UK are delivered with environmental sustainability at their heart.&rdquo;

World Athletics Indoor Championships

The recognition came after a comprehensive evaluation by a team of international sustainability experts

World Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 earns platinum level recognition for sustainable delivery

Teams from Italy, Japan and Spain are among the 22 to have secured automatic qualification for the marathon race walk mixed relay at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games following their performances at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24 on Sunday (21).
The marathon race walk mixed relay makes its Olympic debut in Paris in August, with WRW Antalya 24 the main qualifying event for the new discipline.
The relay involves teams of one man and one woman who complete the marathon distance (42.195km) in four legs of approximately equal distance. Each athlete races two legs, alternating man, woman, man, woman.
A total of 22 teams in Antalya secured spots for Paris. Up to five of the first 22 teams could be a second team from the same country, and Japan, Spain, Australia, China and Colombia each qualified two teams.
Teams that missed out in Antalya still have the chance to qualify for Paris via their placing in the marathon race walk mixed relay top performance list. Three additional teams on the top performance list during the qualification period (31 December 2022 to 30 June 2024) &ndash; from events that comply with the race walking competition requirements &ndash; can qualify. These three additional teams cannot be from a country already qualified from the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24.
Teams qualified in Antalya: 1 Italy 2 Japan* 3 Spain* 4 Mexico 5 Brazil 6 Australia* 7 Spain 8 Ukraine 9 France 10 China* 11 China 12 Colombia* 13 Germany 14 Colombia 15 Australia 16 Japan 17 India 18 Turkiye 19 Slovak Republic 20 Poland 21 Canada 22 Hungary *qualified two teams
As well as the marathon race walk mixed relay, <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/news/report/antalya-24-marathon-race-walk-mixed-relay-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won by Italy's Francisco Fortunato and Valentina Trapletti</a>, there were senior 20km and U20 10km titles up for grabs at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24.
Australia&rsquo;s <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/news/report/antalya-24-u20-men-10km-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Isaac Beacroft became the first winner of the day</a>, using superb closing speed to overpower his rivals in a thrilling finish to the U20 men's 10km. At the age of 16, he is the youngest ever winner of an U20 title at these championships.
The <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/news/report/antalya-24-u20-women-10km-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women&rsquo;s U20 10km race was won by China&rsquo;s Yang Xizhen</a> as she strode to victory ahead of the Spanish duo of Aldara Meilan and Sofia Santacreu.
Peru&rsquo;s double 2022 world champion <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/news/report/antalya-24-senior-women-20km-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kimberly Garcia secured a dominant win in the senior women&rsquo;s 20km</a>, clocking 1:27:12 to prevail ahead of defending champion Ma Zhenxia of China.
Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom was another winner from the last edition of these championships in Muscat in 2022. On that occasion he won the 35km race <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/news/report/antalya-24-senior-men-20km-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">and in Antalya he claimed victory again</a>, this time winning the 20km in 1:18:49.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/timetable" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a>
At the Olympic Games in Paris, the marathon race walk mixed relay will be held on Wednesday 7 August, six days after the individual 20km race walking events launch the athletics programme on Thursday 1 August.
<h3>WRW Antalya 24 in numbers</h3>
RECORDS
1 championship record: Italy 2:56:45 in marathon race walk mixed relay. 1 area U20 record: Isaac Beacroft (AUS) 39:56 in U20 men&rsquo;s 10km race walk for Oceania. 2 national records: Misgana Wakuma Fekansa (ETH) 1:20:51 and Gabriel Alvarado (NCA) 1:27:29 in men&rsquo;s 20km race walk. 2 national U20 records: Isaac Beacroft (AUS) 39:56 and Seyhmus Capat (TUR) 40:42 in U20 men&rsquo;s 10km race walk. 105 personal bests (in individual events)
MEDALS
6 countries won gold medals 4 countries won silver medals 5 countries won bronze medals 8 countries won medals
Countries from four areas won gold medals: Asia &ndash; 3 golds from 1 country (China) Europe &ndash; 4 golds from 3 countries (Spain, Italy and Sweden) South America &ndash; 1 gold (Peru) Oceania &ndash; 1 gold (Australia)
World Athletics
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/662529dcb32a75aa7c8b1e9d" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66239dd4b047247b5cdfc923.jpg" alt="WRW Antalya 24 highlights" /></a>
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World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships

Teams from Italy, Japan and Spain are among the 22 to have secured automatic qualification for the marathon race walk mixed relay at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Teams book places for Paris at WRW Antalya 24

There was a dramatic finish to the inaugural&nbsp;marathon race walk mixed relay at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24 on Sunday (21).
The final race of the day came with a surprise win for Valentina Trapletti and Francisco Fortunato - nominated as the second team from Italy.
It looked as if Caio Bonfim and Viviane Lyra had race walked Brazil to a first team victory on a global level, but it was not to be.
As she heard the bell with 2km left, Lyra also heard the voice of the match referee calling her into the penalty zone. Brazil were forced to sit a three-minute penalty and seemingly hand Japan the title.
However, 38-year-old Trapletti had other ideas.
She betrayed taut neck muscles and gasped for air but passed Kumiko Okada over the final kilometre to make Italy stand proud at the top of the podium in 2:56:44 - four seconds inside the world lead.
Okada and Koki Ikeda played it safe to come home second. They were also on the limit with two red cards, but made sure of silver rather than lose all with a risky last sprint.
Spain finished third, with Alvaro Martin and Laura Garcia-Caro taking bronze.
Their country had effectively mixed and matched their best race walkers. On paper, the strongest pairing was Martin and his fellow double world gold medallist Maria Perez. But the latter also suffered a penalty in tandem with Miguel Angel Lopez.
The latter did finish 10th, but as the third team for their country, one of those pairings will not be at the Olympics.
The rules allow for the qualification of 22 teams, and up to five of those 22 teams can be a second team from the same country.
The other major surprise was a foot injury to Massimo Stano barely 4km into the first leg.
Although he struggled on and Olympic gold medallist teammate Antonella Palmisano took over, the changeover zone was empty when it came to leg three for Italy&rsquo;s first team.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K9J0afMRg5A?si=9wPMcnWE56cbExDD" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Sixty-seven teams lined up for the start in the hottest part of the day and 60 of those passed the first 1km barely five seconds apart.&nbsp;
Sensible was the watchword as hosts Turkiye made an early bid for two of the coveted Olympic spots with a pair of teams in the top four, but these were early days.
The pace was levelling at close to four minutes for each kilometre, which for athletes of this calibre, was close to strolling.
Even so, that five-second gap at 5km for the first leg (20:04) had been pruned to 29 teams. That got whittled down further, and by 10km in 39:45 it was an elite throng of 14 with a last kilometre in a telling 3:52.
It included two teams each from Australia and Spain, with China, Brazil, Canada, Japan and surprisingly Poland in the mix.
Act two was heralded by a sprint to the changeover by Ikeda.
He was followed by two others from his nation, and getting to the front made for a clean handover, something of a relief to officials marshalling the 20-metre zone.
Japan may have finished one and two on the first leg, but that wasn&rsquo;t to last. Lyra, on the back of a 1:28:25 PB from 6 April, and Yang Jiayu, the 2017 world champion and world record-holder, easily made up the distance to take over at the sharp end.
Okada recovered quickly to put one of the two Japanese teams back in the frame, after all she walked a 42:46 PB in January, but the rest were slipping behind.
Australia had moved into fourth, which was no surprise considering world silver medallist Jemima Montag was on second leg duties.
The second China team, however, with 2012 Olympic champion Qieyang Shijie, was hot on her heels. Making rapid inroads was a second Olympic champion, Palmisano, only to discover her fate at the end of her one and only stint.&nbsp;
In fact, Qieyang handed over barely four seconds behind Yang. Little did she know, but the fomer's sprint proved costly with three red cards and three minutes in the penalty zone.
The third sequel saw Bonfim pushing on, but not as quickly as Ikeda. After all, he walked a world lead of 1:16:51 in February. The Japanese athlete made up 21 seconds to not only take the lead but create a significant gap to Brazil and China.
It was 12 seconds at 25km and getting bigger.
Bonfim dug deep to remain in touch and with the handover came fireworks with not just one, but three winning bids.
The final effort saw Trapletti gain a first global honour.
Mexico, with Ever Jair and Alegna Gonzalez, walked a solid race for fourth behind Japan and Spain.
Bonfim and Lyra were rewarded with fifth, despite the time penalty. Australia&rsquo;s Montag and Rhydian Cowley claimed sixth.
Paul Warburton for World&nbsp;Athletics
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MARATHON RACE WALK MIXED RELAY RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Italy 2 (Francesco Fortunato and Valentina Trapletti)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">2:56:45</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Japan (Koki Ikeda and Kumiko Okada)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">2:57:04</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Spain (Alvaro Martin and Laura Garcia-Caro)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">2:57:47</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">4</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Mexico (Ever Jair Palma Olivares and Alegna Gonzalez)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">2:59:21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">5</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Brazil (Caio Bonfim and Viviane Lyra)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">2:59:55</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">6</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Australia (Rhydian Cowley and Jemima Montag)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">3:00:13</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">7</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Spain 2 (Alberto Amezcua and Cristina Montesinos)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">3:00:37</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">8</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Ukraine 3 (Ivan Banzeruk and Olena Sobchuk)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">3:01:03</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/mixed/marathon-race-walk-mixed-relay/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/662529dcb32a75aa7c8b1e9d" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66239dd4b047247b5cdfc923.jpg" alt="WRW Antalya 24 highlights" /></a>
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</div>

There was a dramatic finish to the inaugural marathon race walk mixed relay at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24

Trapletti and Fortunato win inaugural marathon mixed relay for Italy in Antalya

Two years after his 35km success in Muscat, Sweden&rsquo;s Perseus Karlstrom emerged as the 20km champion at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24, prevailing over the Spanish duo of Paul McGrath and Diego Garcia on Sunday (21).
Italy&rsquo;s Riccardo Orsoni was the early leader, going through the opening kilometre at a comfortable 4:10 cadence closely followed by the Chinese trio of Asian Games silver medallist Wang Zhaozhao, Wen Yongjie and Lu Ning.
The Italian continued to dictate the pace at 4:00 kilometre cadence to go through the fourth kilometre in 16:16. At that stage, 30 athletes remained in the lead pack.&nbsp;
The fifth kilometre became the first under the 4:00 barrier, courtesy of world silver medallist Karlstrom&rsquo;s change of speed, with Spain&rsquo;s European bronze medallist Garcia and Italy&rsquo;s Gianluca Picchiottino closest to the tall Swede.
The sixth kilometre also saw an exact 4:00 on the clock with new race walkers moving to the front. They included Ecuadorians Brian Pintado and David Hurtado plus Japan&rsquo;s Satoshi Maruo, while surprisingly Ethiopia&rsquo;s Misgana Wakuma Fekansa also race walked at the helm.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ePfhTzEPq8w?si=06i51u60RfXhSKsg" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Just before the halfway point the sun appeared on the scene and the temperature began to rise but that was not a barrier for the front race walkers who maintained their 4:00 rhythm for an overall 40:17 time. By then, 20 athletes remained in contention led by Karlstrom, Japan&rsquo;s Ryo Hamanishi and the Spanish duo of Garcia and European U23 champion McGrath. The heading group began to progressively lose units and by the 11th kilometre the pack had whittled down to eight race walkers.
The first serious movement came during the following kilometre when Karlstrom and McGrath ramped up their speed &ndash; 3:54 for the 12th kilometre &ndash; taking turns at the helm. Only three rivals managed to live with their pace: Japan&rsquo;s Yuta Koga, Hurtado and the surprise Rasulbek Dilmurodov of Uzbekistan. McGrath then decided to inject an even swifter rhythm and the rest of that quintet was forced to race walk in crocodile file following a 3:52km split for the 22-year-old rising Spaniard. McGrath seemed to have killed the race thanks to a 3:49 14th kilometre as he built a three-second margin on Karlstrom and Hurtado, while Koga travelled a lonesome fourth another 16 seconds behind. Surprisingly, the top Chinese athlete Lu ranked only 15th by then.
The 15th kilometre was even faster, McGrath clocking 3:46, but he had been reeled in by Karlstrom after a stunning 3:43 split for the Swede while Hurtado was disqualified as he tried to follow in McGrath and Karlstrom&rsquo;s footsteps. The leading pair slowed down a bit over the 16th kilometre, clocking 3:52, but Karlstrom put in a 3:48 kilometre to open a three-second advantage on the Spaniard.&nbsp;
At the bell the Swede had covered another kilometre in 3:48 and it became clear that he was not going to be caught by McGrath, who had already lost 13 seconds with one loop left.
Over the final lap, Karlstrom easily maintained his solid lead before slowing down in the closing 100m to celebrate his first World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships podium at 20km. His previous best performance was a 42nd spot back in 2010.
This time, 1:18:49 was his winning performance.&nbsp;
While McGrath confirmed his role as a rising star at the senior level courtesy of his silver medal in 1:19:14 &ndash; his second ever quickest time and the first individual medal for Spain at the distance since 2016 &ndash; the battle for bronze was thrilling. Koga led from Garcia and Germany&rsquo;s Christopher Linke at the bell but a charging Pintado overtook all of them to edge into third place inside the closing kilometre. Garcia then managed to get rid of Linke and pass Koga, and the 28-year-old witnessed how Pintado was disqualified just 300m before the finish line, taking advantage of that circumstance to secure his first individual medal at a global senior championships with a 1:19:51 performance.
In the team contest, Spain became a commanding winner thanks to a 13 point score to Japan&rsquo;s 26 and Italy&rsquo;s 33. That secured the nation its second team gold medal in this discipline at the championships, following the country&rsquo;s 2006 success.
&ldquo;Conditions were not as hot as I wanted, to take advantage of having spent two weeks here in Antalya, as last week we had 30 degrees,&rdquo; said Karlstrom. &ldquo;It was a very comfortable win today. I felt so strong.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I really smashed many of the top 10 list athletes from last year&rsquo;s World Championships in Budapest and the closest was 25 seconds behind; that&rsquo;s a big confidence booster. I did a couple of specific 20km training sessions before this race after my win in Podebrady.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was also great to see Mondo (Duplantis) jump a new world record yesterday. Sweden has a lot to show, competing with the best in the world.&rdquo;
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics 
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
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<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">SENIOR MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Perseus Karlstrom (SWE)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">1:18:49</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Paul McGrath (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">1:19:14</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Diego Garcia Carrera (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">1:19:51</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">4</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Yuta Koga (JPN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:19:54</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">5</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Christopher Linke (GER)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:19:57</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">6</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Jordy Rafael Jimenez Arrobo (ECU)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:20:04 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">7</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Riccardo Orsoni (ITA)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:20:11 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">8</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Alvaro Lopez (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:20:20 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">9</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Satoshi Maruo (JPN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:20:23</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">10</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Misgana Wakuma Fekansa (ETH)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:20:51 NR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/men/20-kilometres-race-walk/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid; height: 110px;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center; height: 22px;" colspan="3">SENIOR MEN'S TEAM RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center; height: 22px;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968; height: 22px;">Spain</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968; height: 22px;">13</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center; height: 22px;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9; height: 22px;">Japan</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9; height: 22px;">26</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center; height: 22px;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e; height: 22px;">Italy</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e; height: 22px;">33</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left; height: 22px;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/men/20-kilometres-race-walk/final/team" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/662529dcb32a75aa7c8b1e9d" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66239dd4b047247b5cdfc923.jpg" alt="WRW Antalya 24 highlights" /></a>
&nbsp;
</div>

Two years after his 35km success in Muscat, Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom emerged as the 20km champion at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24

Karlstrom reigns again, taking 20km title in Antalya

Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir smashed the women-only world record by 45 seconds at the TCS London Marathon, winning the World Athletics Platinum Label road race in 2:16:16* on Sunday (21).
In what was widely regarded as one of the deepest and highest-quality women&rsquo;s fields ever assembled, the three-time world half marathon champion sprinted away from world record-holder Tigist Assefa, 2021 London winner Joyciline Jepkosgei and last year&rsquo;s runner-up Megertu Alemu &ndash; all of whom finished inside 2:17 &ndash; to notch up her third victory in a World Marathon Majors race.
Jepchirchir&rsquo;s compatriot Alexander Mutiso Munyao made it a Kenyan double, winning the men&rsquo;s race in 2:04:01 to defeat Ethiopian distance legend Kenenisa Bekele by 14 seconds.
No secret had been made of the fact that breaking Mary Keitany&rsquo;s women-only world record of 2:17:01 was the big target for the women&rsquo;s race. With that at the forefront of their minds, a lead pack comprising all the big contenders soon detached themselves from the rest of the field and blazed through the first 5km in 15:44 &ndash; comfortably inside 2:13 pace.
They maintained that tempo through 10km, covered in 31:26, and at this point they were 67 seconds ahead of Ethiopia&rsquo;s Tsige Haileslase, the closest challenger to the lead pack.
The front group &ndash; which included Assefa alongside past London winners Jepkosgei, Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Brigid Kosgei &ndash; got to 15km in 47:37. Soon after, Sheila Chepkirui &ndash; the runner-up in Berlin last year &ndash; started to drift off the pack.
Not long after passing the drinks station at the 20km point, 2019 world champion Ruth Chepngetich lost contact with the leaders. It meant that just seven women remained in the pack as they reached the half-way point in 1:07:04 &ndash; the second-fastest half-way split ever recorded in London, and putting them on schedule to smash the women-only world record by almost three minutes.
Kosgei was the next to drift back, and with the pacemakers having done their job, it left six women out in front: Jepchirchir, Assefa, training partner and Dubai marathon champion Tigist Ketema, 2022 London winner Yehualaw, 2021 London champion Jepkosgei, and 2023 London runner-up Megertu Alemu.
The sextet ran together through 25km (1:19:38) and 17 miles, but Ketema and Yehualaw were unable to hold on for much further and started to lose contact, leaving four women &ndash; Assefa, Jepchirchir, Jepkosgei and Alemu &ndash; to battle it out for the three podium places.
The difference between 25km and 30km, 16:18, was the slowest 5km section of the race. The lead quartet was either starting to feel the effects of their early efforts, or they were starting to bide their team for an anticipated surge in the closing stages.
With 1:44 on the clock, the four leading women managed to navigate their way around the two lead vehicles that had been forced to stop due to a wheelchair racer who was experiencing some technical difficulties.
Assefa and Jepchirchir both took turns testing the waters by making subtle surges to see how their opponents would respond, but their overall pace continued to drop and they reached 35km in 1:52:48, putting them on course for a 2:16 finish.
They passed 40km in 2:09:13, still running side by side. It was clear that no one else other than these four would be claiming places on the podium, but predicting a winner &ndash; and, indeed, the athlete who&rsquo;d miss out on the podium &ndash; was still impossible with less than two kilometres to go.
As the clock ticked to 2:15, with little more than a minute of running left, Alemu was finally dropped. Seconds later, Jepchirchir unleashed her trademark finish to leave behind Jepkosgei and Assefa.
The diminutive Kenyan charged through the finish line in 2:16:16, finishing seven seconds ahead of Assefa. Jepkosgei (2:16:24) and Alemu (2:16:34) followed soon after, making this the first marathon in which four women have finished inside 2:17.
Jepchirchir will now turn her attention to defending her Olympic title in Paris in less than four months&rsquo; time where she&rsquo;ll aim to become the first ever back-to-back women&rsquo;s marathon gold medallist in the history of the Games.
The men&rsquo;s race played out in similar fashion with a surprisingly large group remaining together into the second half before the final few contenders were left to battle it out in the closing stages.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6624fb7d6e4435d843122bdd.jpg" alt="Alexander Mutiso Munyao wins the London Marathon" />
Alexander Mutiso Munyao wins the London Marathon (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
The late Kelvin Kiptum&rsquo;s world (2:00:35) and course (2:01:25) records were not being targeted by the elite men, but a lead pack of 12 nevertheless set off as a respectable pace, going through 5km in 14:35 and 10km in 29:03.
They remained together through 15km (58:20) with the likes of Munyao, Bekele, 2022 world champion Tamirat Tola and 2021 Chicago winner Seifu Tura all in the lead pack.
They reached half way in 1:01:29 with 10 men still running together, more than 80 seconds ahead of Britain&rsquo;s Emile Cairess, who was running alone in 13th place. France&rsquo;s Hassan Chahdi soon drifted off the lead pack, and eight men were in the pack at the 30km point (1:27:20).
With 1:30 on the clock, big changes started to happen. The lead pack was down to five men: Munyao, Bekele, Tola, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Dawit Wolde and compatriot Milkesa Mengesha. &nbsp;Less than 10 minutes later, Tola and Wolde had dropped back, leaving Bekele, Munyao and Mengesha as the lead trio. Mengesha lasted five more minutes before he, too, succumbed to the pace, unable to stick with Munyao and the 41-year-old Bekele.
Just before the clock ticked over to 1:55, Munyao finally dropped multiple world and Olympic gold medallist Bekele, who was visibly struggling to match the Kenyan&rsquo;s pace.
Munyao maintained his lead to the finish, eventually winning in 2:04:01 to Bekele&rsquo;s 2:04:15, the fastest time ever by an athlete over the age of 40.
With several of the leading contenders dropping out in the closing stages, Cairess came through to take third place in 2:06:46 ahead of fellow Briton Mahamed Mahamed, who clocked 2:07:05, both setting huge PBs.
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Women 1 Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) 2:16:16 2 Tigist Assefa (ETH) 2:16:23 3 Joyciline Jepkosgei (KEN) 2:16:24 4 Megertu Alemu (ETH) 2:16:34 5 Brigid Kosgei (KEN) 2:19:02 6 Sheila Chepkirui (KEN) 2:19:31 7 Tigist Ketema (ETH) 2:23:21 8 Yalemzerf Yehualaw (ETH) 2:23:26 9 Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) 2:24:36 10 Tsige Haileslase (ETH) 2:25:03
Men 1 Alexander Mutiso Munyao (KEN) 2:04:01 2 Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 2:04:15 3 Emile Cairess (GBR) 2:06:46 4 Mahamed Mahamed (GBR) 2:07:05 5 Hassan Chahdi (FRA) 2:07:30 6 Henok Tesfay (ERI) 2:09:22 7 Hendrik Pfeiffer (GER) 2:10:00 8 Kinde Atanaw (ETH) 2:10:03 9 Johannes Motschmann (GER) 2:10:39 10 Brian Schrader (USA) 2:10:50
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure

Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir smashed the women-only world record by 45 seconds

Jepchirchir breaks women-only world marathon record in London

Kimberly Garcia strode imperiously to the 20km title at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24 on Sunday (21).
It was only March when the Peruvian double 2022 World Championships gold medallist stepped off the road in Dudince, barely 2km into World Athletics Race Walking Tour Gold event, but the 30-year-old bounced back in style with a win at Podebrady at the beginning of the month, and now here thanks to her 1:27:12 performance.
The middle of the race saw the temperature rise both figuratively and literally.
Garcia and her teammate Evelyn Inga ramped up the pace to walk as a duo for just under half the remainder.
It looked as if gold and silver was decided, but disaster struck for Inga when on the last lap of 10 she suffered a two-minute penalty following three red cards.
Such was her lead, there was still a moment of drama when released out of the zone as she chased third place only to finish a desperate four seconds behind Brazil&rsquo;s Erica Sena, enjoying a splendid renaissance at the age of 38.
In front of both and claiming second was defending champion Ma Zhenxia.
The Chinese athlete had walked solo since 10km, but was rewarded for her effort when Inga got stalled.
The improving Paula Torres from Ecuador stepped out of the shadow of her more illustrious teammate Glenda Morejon to claim fifth in 1:29:47, only 15 seconds outside her PB, and on hot day on a shade-less course they were the only race walkers under 1:30:00.&nbsp;&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jvlyfKLyPfM?si=Fw3TfiVQU3of5yuE" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Early on, the field was stretched with a phalanx of leaders headed by Garcia going through the first kilometre in a modest 4:37.
By the end of the first 2km circuit, the group had been whittled down to a more realistic 14, including unknown Ethiopian Sintayehu Masire.
The trimmed bunch was no surprise considering the second kilometre was 14 seconds quicker than the first.&nbsp;
By another 2km lap, Garcia&rsquo;s pace had halved the group to seven including the defending champion, Morejon, Masire, Ji Haiying and Shi Yuxia from China, and Inga followed by another seven around 30 metres in arrears.
Just after 5km in 22:04, Garcia and Ma put the hammer down to distance themselves for a few seconds before Morejon and Inga got back on.
The last kilometre had been covered in 4:19, and as the pace like the weather got hotter, Morejon started to struggle.
The front three went even faster for a 4:18 lap to pass 8km in 35:00 exactly.
It was now a trio with the isolated Morejon and Shi also walking solo, with Torres giving chase to the Chinese.
Garcia swapped cooling towels for her neck approaching halfway as the clock showed 43:39.
Morejon notched 44:01 and was out of the medals, with Torres alongside Shi in 44:20.
Whatever is in those towels, the rest of the field could have done with one, because Peru to the power of two went through the gears to ease away from Ma, whose painful grimace was a giveaway.
The Chinese style was also becoming less smooth as she struggled to hold on to a 4:16 pace.&nbsp;
The 12km split was 52:15 for the leading pair, and although Ma was isolated, she was only nine seconds back and just about causing doubt to Garcia and Inga.
That doubt soon dissipated at three-quarter distance in 65:16; it was now 22 seconds back to third, and race done for gold and silver, or so it seemed.
Taking the next turn, Garcia decided now was the time to sort out top spot on the podium.&nbsp;
She put in yet another surge for a four-second advantage over the next kilometre.
In fact, with Torres now a lone fourth and Sena making ground and also walking without company, the first five places appeared settled.
However, fate dealt a cruel hand to Inga, and she was all but on a starting block as she raced out of the penalty zone to just miss out on a medal.
For all that, she too has had a good 2024 so far, winning in Podebrady when Garcia was a DNF.
Inga&rsquo;s game effort also produced a team silver medal to deny Peru first place by the slimmest of margins.
China triumphed with 15 points, the same as Peru, but only on count back.
Spain, packing well in eighth, ninth and 13th, claimed a distant third.
Paul Warburton&nbsp;for World Athletics 
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">SENIOR WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Kimberly Garcia Leon (PER)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">1:27:12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Ma Zhenxia (CHN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">1:27:55</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Erica Sena (BRA)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">1:29:22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">4</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Evelyn Inga (PER)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:29:26</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">5</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Paula Milena Torres (ECU)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:29:47</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">6</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Ji Haiying (CHN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:30:08</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">7</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Shi Yuxia (CHN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:30:21</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">8</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Lidia Sanchez-Puebla (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:30:24 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">9</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Antia Chamosa (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:30:32 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">10</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Mary Luz Andia (PER)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">1:31:05</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/women/20-kilometres-race-walk/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">SENIOR WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">China</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">15</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Peru</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">15</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Spain</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">31</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/women/20-kilometres-race-walk/final/team" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/662529dcb32a75aa7c8b1e9d" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66239dd4b047247b5cdfc923.jpg" alt="WRW Antalya 24 highlights" /></a>
&nbsp;
</div>

Kimberly Garcia strode imperiously to the 20km title at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24

Garcia gets gold, striding to 20km title in Antalya

A terrific last kilometre proved decisive for China&rsquo;s Yang Xizhen as she strode to victory in the U20 women's 10km at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24 on Sunday (21).
The race set off at a slower pace, with the first kilometre covered in 4:45 as athletes tried to get a feel for the course. The opening 2km loop was completed in 9:33, with the three Chinese athletes at the helm headed by Chen Meiling. She was closely followed by Duo Jiecuo and world U20 leader Yang, plus the three Spaniards: the European U20 champion Sofia Santacreu, Griselda Serret and Aldara Meilan.&nbsp;
It was the latter who took the lead just before the third kilometre, which was reached in 14:18 for another moderate 4:45 section. By then Spain led the team scoring ahead of China and Italy.
Meilan and Santacreu increased the pace in the fourth kilometre to clock 4:35, with the Chinese race walkers on their shoulders. By then, the leading group featured 19 athletes. The cadence heated up again in the fifth kilometre with a 4:27 split to reach halfway in 23:20, with the lead pack down to 10 athletes.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LAcapHuh7MU?si=JrKv9FvgD1BKy3UQ" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The relentless rhythm continued over the following kilometre and Duo surprisingly lost ground. Only six women remained at the front by the sixth kilometre checkpoint: the Spanish duo of Meilan and Santacreu, the Chinese pair of Chen and Yang, Serbia&rsquo;s Mina Stankovic and Italy&rsquo;s Giulia Gabriele. The Spanish champion Meilan led the race at the seventh kilometre &ndash; the quickest up to that point &ndash; following a 4:17 split, with her five chasers in close attendance.
By the bell, hit in 36:36, the leading group had whittled down to four athletes as first Gabriele and then Stankovic just couldn&rsquo;t keep with the frantic rhythm at the helm.&nbsp;
The final 2km loop became a thriller as Chen withdrew from the lead quartet before reaching the ninth kilometre and the race became a three-way battle between Yang and the two Spaniards. That trio clocked 40:56 with one kilometre remaining, while Chen travelled five seconds in arrears.&nbsp;
Yang made her decisive move some 700m from home when she unleashed a devastating kick to leave Meilan and Santacreu easily behind, cementing a solid lead in a matter of a few strides.&nbsp;
In the fight for second place, Meilan proved to be stronger than Santacreu, while Stankovic was disqualified with barely 150m remaining when she desperately tried to catch Santacreu in the fight for the final place on the podium. Gabriele overtook Chen in the closing stages to take fourth.
Yang&rsquo;s terrific closing kilometre was timed at 4:10 for a 45:06 winning performance. Meilan grabbed silver, six seconds in arrears, and Santacreu secured bronze in a lifetime best of 45:17.&nbsp;
The team title went to Spain for the first time, the gold medal having been taken by either Russia or China in the previous nine editions. They scored five points to China&rsquo;s six and Italy&rsquo;s 11. Meilan and Santacreu also won the first individual U20 women&rsquo;s medals for Spain in the history of the championships.
&ldquo;I felt comfortable over the last kilometre and managed to win,&rdquo; said Yang. &ldquo;This is a very important victory for me and a stepping stone for the World U20 Championships in Lima in August and hopefully some Olympics in the future.&rdquo;
As for Meilan, the 17-year-old said: &ldquo;We started slow into the race because this is our first World Race Walking Team Championships and we did not know how to manage it. Then I felt better and increased the speed. The team gold medal is even more valuable for us than the individual silver and bronze medals.&rdquo;
Santacreu said: &ldquo;We are really surprised having won the team title. Honestly, we thought China would be the winner, but this gold medal shows how high the standard in Spain is.&rdquo;
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics 
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">U20 WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Yang Xizhen (CHN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">45:06</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Aldara Meilan (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">45:12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Sofia Santacreu (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">45:17 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">4</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Giulia Gabriele (ITA)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">45:26 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">5</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Chen Meiling (CHN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">45:35</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">6</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Griselda Serret (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">46:12 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">7</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Serena Di Fabio (ITA)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">46:12 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">8</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Alessia Cristina Pop (ROU)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">46:16 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">9</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Michelle Canto (ITA)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">46:27 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">10</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Ema Klimentova (CZE)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">46:28 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/women/10-kilometres-race-walk/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">U20 WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Spain</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">China</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Italy</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/women/10-kilometres-race-walk/final/team" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/662529dcb32a75aa7c8b1e9d" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66239dd4b047247b5cdfc923.jpg" alt="WRW Antalya 24 highlights" /></a>
&nbsp;
</div>

A terrific last kilometre proved decisive for China’s Yang Xizhen as she strode to victory in the U20 women's 10km at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24 

Yang prevails over speedy Spaniards to win U20 women's 10km in Antalya

Australia&rsquo;s Isaac Beacroft became the first winner of the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24 on Sunday (21), using superb closing speed to overpower his rivals in a thrilling finish to the U20 men's 10km.
Aged just 16, Beacroft crossed the finish line at the Antalya Expo Centre in an Oceanian U20 record of 39:56 to deny China a fifth consecutive individual win in this event while also becoming the youngest ever winner of an U20 title at these championships. After being passed by Beacroft in the final stretch, Shi Shengji held on for silver in 39:57, while his Chinese teammate Luo Jiawei claimed bronze in 40:03 and together they gained team gold.
Japan, led by Sotaro Osaka in fourth, secured team silver, while Australia bagged the bronze.
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Racing on a cool and still morning after the previous day&rsquo;s storm, it was Germany&rsquo;s Frederick Weigel &ndash; the son of 1983 world champion Ronald Weigel &ndash; who initially took the race on, leading through the first kilometre in 4:06. He remained to the fore as the 3km mark was passed in 12:21, joined by Luo and Spain&rsquo;s Daniel Monfort.
Weigel dropped back as the field &ndash; led by Luo and Li &ndash; started to string out. As they reached 4km in 16:27, a stride ahead of Shi, the first red cards of the competition had been handed out for a loss of contact &ndash; one for world U20 leader Li included.
Luo and Li continued to control the race they hit halfway in 20:29, but Beacroft &ndash; contesting just the second road race of his career &ndash; was right up there with them.
Li decided it was time to make a move and he picked up the pace, the field in a line behind him. A 4:02 kilometre made an impact and only Shi could go with him, but the move didn&rsquo;t come without danger and Li received a second red card.
Shi was a stride ahead as 7km was reached in 28:14, with Luo nine seconds behind his teammates, walking alongside Beacroft.
But Li&rsquo;s individual medal hopes came to an end a short while later, as he was shown his third red card and left the course to serve a one-minute penalty. Shi received his first red card and then passed the 8km mark in 32:07.
That put the 17-year-old 12 seconds ahead of his closest challengers, but Beacroft was clearly waiting for the right moment to strike. He fought with Luo in what looked to be a battle for silver, but the Australian wasn&rsquo;t done.&nbsp;
By 9km, Shi&rsquo;s lead was down to three seconds and Beacroft closed the gap, timing his finish to perfection as he picked up the pace and stormed past Shi to make sure that Australia's first ever individual men's U20 medal in this event was a gold one.
&ldquo;I'm just amazed, I can't believe it. I'm so happy with what I just did,&rdquo; said the winner. &ldquo;I always knew I had it in me that I could be up there, ready to go, but winning is another level. It's unreal.
&ldquo;I'm just hoping that I set up the platform for the rest of the Australian team to tear it up.&rdquo;
Behind the individual medallists, Osaka clocked a PB of 40:30 for his fourth-place finish, with his compatriot Taisei Yoshizako sixth in 40:39, also a PB, to secure the team silver.
Finishing between them was Italy&rsquo;s Giuseppe Disabato, who managed a PB of 40:32 for fifth, while Turkiye&rsquo;s Seyhmus Capat had the race of his life on home soil, setting a national U20 record of 40:42 to finish seventh.
Jess Whittington for World&nbsp;Athletics 
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">U20 MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Isaac Beacroft (AUS)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">39:56 AU20R</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Shi Shengji (CHN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">39:57</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Luo Jiawei (CHN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">40:03</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">4</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Sotaro Osaka (JPN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">40:30 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">5</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Giuseppe Disabato (ITA)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">40:32 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">6</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Taisei Yoshizako (JPN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">40:39 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">7</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Seyhmus Capat (TUR)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">40:42 NU20R</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">8</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Daniel Monfort (ESP)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">40:43 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">9</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Frederick Weigel (GER)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">40:53 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; text-align: center;">10</td>
<td style="width: 60%;">Jesus Leonardo Ramirez (COL)</td>
<td style="width: 30%;">40:53 PB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/men/10-kilometres-race-walk/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #222222; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">U20 MEN'S TEAM RESULTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">China</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Japan</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Australia</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">14</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-race-walking-team-championshi/antalya-24/results/men/10-kilometres-race-walk/final/team" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/videos/playlist/latest-videos/662529dcb32a75aa7c8b1e9d" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66239dd4b047247b5cdfc923.jpg" alt="WRW Antalya 24 highlights" /></a></div>
&nbsp;

Australia’s Isaac Beacroft became the first winner of the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24, using superb closing speed to overpower his rivals in a thrilling finish

Beacroft blazes to U20 men's 10km title in Antalya

It seems that rains usually come to bless a successful day, and it was the case at the Kip Keino Classic &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Nairobi on Saturday (20). A warm day turned into a cool afternoon, and it only began to rain in the last event of the evening.
World champion Ethan Katzberg provided the highlight in the men&rsquo;s hammer, throwing 84.38m &ndash; the farthest mark since 2008 &ndash; to move to ninth on the world all-time list.
All five of his valid throws surpassed the previous PB of 81.25m that he set to win the world title in Budapest last year. The Canadian 22-year-old opened with 81.25m, improved to 82.06m in the second round and then fouled the third. His fourth throw was 81.50m and then he launched the implement 84.38m on his fifth try before completing his series with 83.26m.
Mykhaylo Kokhan also threw beyond 80 metres, his best of 80.76m securing him second place ahead of Wojciech Nowicki (79.14m) and Pawel Fajdek (75.82m).
In the women&rsquo;s hammer throw, USA&rsquo;s world silver medallist Janee Kassanavoid won with her fifth-round 75.99m. She had gone into the contest as the athlete to watch, and on her second attempt she threw 74.22m to take the lead, moving Romania&rsquo;s Bianca Ghelber to second place with her first throw of 73.38m. Beatrice Nedberge Llano of Norway was third after a 70.77m throw.
There was also great excitement in the 800m events, where winning performances by world champion Mary Moraa and world silver medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi delighted the home crowds.
There was dancing as usual after the women&rsquo;s 800m. Paced by her sister Sarah Moraa, Mary Moraa went through the first 400m in around 56 seconds. She held the inside lane on the second lap and controlled the race, surging away down the home straight to finish in a meeting record of 1:57.96, as the crowds remained on their feet. Vivian Chebet Kiprotich was second in 1:58.26 and Nelly Jepkosgei third in 1:58.93, both PBs.
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Also recording one of the many world-leading times of the day, Wanyonyi won a scintillating men&rsquo;s 800m. Timothy Cheruiyot and Abel Kipsang had dropped down to meet Wanyonyi at his specialist distance and the latter showed them dust. He ran 1:43.57 to win ahead of Aaron Cheminingwa, the recently crowned African Games champion, who ran a personal best of 1:44.10. Ferguson Rotich ran 1:44.90 to complete the podium.
There was a fierce battle in the men&rsquo;s 200m. USA&rsquo;s Courtney Lindsey led off the bend but Botswana&rsquo;s double world medallist Letsile Tebogo was determined to chase him down. He almost managed it but Lindsey had saved just enough to dip for the victory, winning in a world lead of 19.71 (-1.5m/s), a time matched by Tebogo.
It had just started raining as the 100m men were introduced to the expectant crowd. USA&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek won the shortest race of the day in 9.91 (2.2m/s) ahead of Emmanuel Matadi of Liberia (9.99) and Jeremiah Azu of Great Britain (10.00).&nbsp;
The Gambia&rsquo;s Gina Mariam Bass Bittaye won the women&rsquo;s 100m in 11.33 (-1.6m/s) ahead of Egypt&rsquo;s Bassant Hemida (11.51) and USA&rsquo;s Shannon Ray (11.53).
Botswana's Bayapo Ndori ran a world leading 44.10 to win the men&rsquo;s 400m. USA&rsquo;s Bryce Deadmon was second in 44.41 ahead of Botswana's Leungo Scotch in a personal best of 44.54. In fourth place, Kenya's Zablon Ekhal Ekwam was beside himself with an Olympic qualifying time and personal best of 44.69.
The men&rsquo;s javelin marked the beginning of the main programme. A first throw of 81.74m put Latvia&rsquo;s Gatis Cakss in the lead. Thomas Rohler&rsquo;s 80.62m from his second attempt placed him second and Timothy Herman moved into third place with his fifth throw of 79.94m.
Before the track events began, a minute of silence was observed for Kenya&rsquo;s Chief of the Defence Forces, General Francis Ogolla, who died on Thursday in a helicopter crash in the North Rift of Kenya.
The men&rsquo;s 10,000m followed. During an exciting final lap, Edwin Seko and Amos Lagat battled it out to the finish line, with Seko winning in 28:30.43 to Lagat&rsquo;s 28:30.91.
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Ethiopia&rsquo;s Marta Alemayo followed her world U20 cross country title win from last month with another victory, running 15:14.54 to win the 5000m. During the last two laps, the 16-year-old began to stretch the gap ahead of her compatriot Lemlem Nibret.
As Alemayo strode to the finish line, Kenya&rsquo;s Margaret Kipkemboi overtook Nibret to finish second - 15:19.76 to 15:20.99.&nbsp;
In the last lap of the men&rsquo;s 5000m, the duo of Kenya&rsquo;s Levy Kibet and Charles Rotich could not match Ethiopia&rsquo;s Abdisa Fayisa&rsquo;s strong finishing kick when the latter bolted away with about 200m to go. He won in a personal best of 13:34.77 as Kibet and Rotich followed in 13:38.39 and 13:39.16, respectively.
Kenya&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwot ran 8:20.54 at the high altitude to emerge victorious in the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase. With two laps go, Amos Serem &ndash; the 2021 world U20 champion &ndash; overtook Kibiwot but the eventual winner hung just behind him and responded with a strong finishing kick. Serem was second in 8:21.40.
Stella Rutto of Romania won the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase in 9:39.57, ahead of Kenya&rsquo;s Leah Jeruto in 9:39.94.
The men&rsquo;s 1500m was topped by Reynold Cheruiyot, who ran 3:31.96. Brian Komen, who had fought shoulder to shoulder with Cheruiyot for the last 300m, finished second in a personal best time of 3:32.29.
Mary Ekiru took the women&rsquo;s 1500m win in 4:06.26.
Amalie Iuel of Norway registered a world-leading time of 54.89 in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles after overtaking Paulien Couckuyt of Belgium at the last hurdle. USA&rsquo;s Bianca Stubler was third.
Kenya&rsquo;s Wiseman Were Mukhobe set a meeting record of 48.57 to comfortably win the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, a national event.
Michaela Hruba of Czechia jumped 1.90m to win the women&rsquo;s high jump, beating Maja Nilsson of Sweden, who succeeded at the same height on her third attempt and was runner-up on countback. Elena Vallortigara jumped 1.86m for third place.
Justin Lagat for World Athletics

World champion Ethan Katzberg threw 84.38m – the farthest mark since 2008 – to move to ninth on the world all-time list

Katzberg throws 84.38m to highlight hammer in Nairobi

Athletes and dignitaries highlighted how history will be made at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24, on the eve of the competition taking place in Turkiye on Sunday (21 April).
The marathon race walk mixed relay makes its Olympic debut in Paris in August and WRW Antalya 24 is a qualifying event for the new discipline.
As well as the mixed relay, the programme in Antalya features senior 20km and U20 10km races, and there is star quality across the board.
&ldquo;This world-class competition has always been important to the race walking community, but this edition is particularly significant because of course it is an Olympic qualifying event, with the Paris Games just three months away,&rdquo; said World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon at the pre-event press conference held at the Dokumapark Modern Art Gallery in Antalya.
&ldquo;That significance is further heightened because we are making a bit of history tomorrow. For the first time ever in a major championship event, we have the marathon race walk mixed relay event that will be staged as a precursor to its introduction into the Olympic Games in Paris. I am really looking forward to seeing this new event live in action.
&ldquo;I am also delighted that pretty much all of the top international race walkers from around the world are here in Antalya for this weekend&rsquo;s action. Race walking is certainly an element of the sport where nobody hides from head-to-head competition. It will be a truly top-tier competition.&rdquo;
Turkish Athletic Federation President Fatih Cintimar reinforced the event&rsquo;s importance.
&ldquo;We are very honoured to have this competition in Turkiye. This is history for us, and history for race walking,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Seeing that 22 marathon race walk mixed relay teams will qualify for the Olympics is very important for us, too. Organising this big event with the Governor of Antalya, we are so honoured. Good luck to all the athletes competing tomorrow.&rdquo;
Governor Hulusi Sahin said: &ldquo;Both for Antalya and for Turkiye, this is a huge event. We are very honoured.
&ldquo;Today is rainy and windy but tomorrow we expect good weather with a beautiful atmosphere.&rdquo;
Polish race walking great Robert Korzeniowski was also in attendance as the World Athletics ambassador for the event.
Sharing his expectations for the competition, the four-time Olympic and three-time world gold medallist said: &ldquo;Twenty years after I stopped my high-performance career, I have a chance to see my dear athletics event in very good shape &ndash; progressing into a new formula of competition. I am very excited to see tomorrow&rsquo;s qualification for Paris.
&ldquo;We also have the 20km races and the U20 categories. Be focused on the Olympic qualification but also look at the future champions. This is the future of our discipline.&rdquo;
Among the current global champions in Antalya is Spain&rsquo;s Alvaro Martin and after his double world title win in the 20km and 35km in Budapest, Martin will contest the mixed relay on Sunday.
&ldquo;The main target is to qualify for the Paris Olympics. We have entered three strong teams and we&rsquo;ll be aiming for the two spots per country on offer,&rdquo; he said.
Sunday&rsquo;s competition will mark his second experience in the relay as Spain held a dress rehearsal on 10 March in Valencia where Martin and Laura Garcia-Caro clocked 2:57:04 &ndash; the second-quickest ever time only bettered by the Ecuadorian duo of Brian Pintado and Glenda Morejon.
&ldquo;I hope that opening experience means an advantage over the majority of the countries,&rdquo; Martin added. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll only race 20km tomorrow but in terms of effort, I think the mixed relay event is closer to the 35km than to the 20km because at the beginning of the second leg you already feel tiredness.&rdquo;
Australia&rsquo;s Jemima Montag was only headed by Spain&rsquo;s Maria Perez in the 20km event last year in Budapest and has since improved her lifetime best to 1:27:09. She too has opted for the mixed relay in Antalya where she will line up&nbsp;alongside Rhydian Cowley.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited ahead of tomorrow&rsquo;s competition. Australia has entered a 20-athlete team in the different events, and we look forward to performing well here,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;As for Rhydian, we have been training partners for the last 16 years, so we know each other well. I think this added team element, it lifts your energy.&rdquo;
Morejon, who won the 35km at the last edition of the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships, said: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honour to be here. Alongside my coach, we have decided to focus solely on the 20km event to give a chance to my teammates for the mixed relay, but my plan is to double at the Paris Olympic Games where I&rsquo;ll be contesting the 20km and the relay.&rdquo;
Her compatriot Jefferson Perez, the 1996 Olympic 20km champion, is also in Antalya and asked about his presence at the event, she replied: &ldquo;He is a big inspiration for the team and it will be very motivating to have him cheering us on tomorrow.&rdquo;
Sweden&rsquo;s world 20km silver medallist Perseus Karlstrom will also compete in the individual 20km event on Sunday after taking 35km gold in Muscat two years ago.
&ldquo;Race walkers form a big family. We meet up several times every year and it&rsquo;s always great to see each other,&rdquo; he said. Asked about his favourites for the mixed relay, he replied: &ldquo;I think the Mexican team have a very solid technique, so they could have a surprise medal tomorrow. When it comes to the best technician, I would team up with Antonella Palmisano from Italy.&rdquo;
Palmisano will form part of one of the two Italian teams which will also feature Olympic champion Massimo Stano. Asked which event, the 20km or mixed relay, he considers tougher, Stano was adamant: &ldquo;The relay, for two reasons. First, it&rsquo;s a longer distance overall, and secondly, because it&rsquo;s not easy to know what you should do between the two relay legs.&rdquo;
For Salih Korkmaz, the event is a chance to race on home soil.
&ldquo;We are a very strong team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I am pretty sure that we will be among those 22 teams (to qualify for Paris). I hope to have great results tomorrow."

Athletes and dignitaries highlighted how history will be made at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24, on the eve of the competition taking place in Turkiye on Sunday

History in the making at WRW Antalya 24

The 2024 Wanda Diamond League season kicked off in Xiamen just as the 2023 campaign concluded in Eugene: with Mondo Duplantis taking the men&rsquo;s pole vault world record to new heights.
In the Diamond League Final in Oregon last September, the peerless Swede soared to 6.23m, his seventh world record. In Xiamen on Saturday (20), during his first trip to China, the 24-year-old Olympic, world outdoor and world indoor champion surprised even himself as he shot cleanly over 6.24m* at the first attempt at the start of an outdoor season in which he still has more than three months to build towards the pinnacle of the Paris Olympics.
Asked whether he had an eighth world record in mind, Duplantis replied: &ldquo;Kinda not really.&rdquo; But then came the rider that the disappointment of not having ventured beyond 6.05m in the indoor season &ndash; the height with which he retained the world indoor title in Glasgow last month &ndash; had left him going into the great outdoors with something of a personal point to prove.
&ldquo;The indoor season was sloppier than I would have liked, so I had some fire in me today,&rdquo; Duplantis confessed. &ldquo;I really wanted to show what I could do.&rdquo;
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He did that &ndash; adding Xiamen to the expanding map on which he has made his global mark, after Torun, Glasgow, Belgrade (twice), Eugene (twice) and Clermont-Ferrand.
After first-time successes at 5.62m, 5.82m and 6.00m, Duplantis had the bar raised straight to 6.24m, 7cm higher than his maiden world record height in Torun four years ago.
&ldquo;The conditions were good and there was a great energy from the crowd,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The six metre jump felt really smooth and I was thinking 6.24m was in reach.
&ldquo;I just thought I&rsquo;d put in my best jump, and it happened. I think there are still higher heights in me.&rdquo;
Just once before has he opened his outdoor season with a six metre clearance &ndash; a 6.02m success at the Doha Diamond League meeting in 2022.&nbsp;
His winning margin in Xiamen was 42cm, USA&rsquo;s two-time world champion Sam Kendricks taking second place with 5.82m and China&rsquo;s Huang Bokai finishing third with 5.72m.
On the track, Gudaf Tsegay also picked up where she left off at the end of the last outdoor season. Or thereabouts.&nbsp;
The Ethiopian who landed the world 10,000m title in Budapest last August could not quite reach the world record high she produced in the Diamond League Final 5000m, but she underlined the range of her talent with the third fastest outdoor 1500m of all time.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6623e8d86a47ee8f50283379.jpg" alt="Gudaf Tsegay celebrates her 1500m run in Xiamen" />
Gudaf Tsegay celebrates her 1500m run in Xiamen (&copy; Matthew Quine / Diamond League AG)
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Still smarting from her loss to Elle St Pierre of the US in the 3000m final at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Tsegay looked like a woman with a point to prove as she pulled clear of her 18-year-old training partner Birke Haylom with 300m remaining, powering home in 3:50.30.
That elevated the world indoor 1500m record-holder from ninth to third on the world all-time outdoor list, a 2.79 improvement on her previous best. Only her Kenyan rival Faith Kipyegon (3:49.11) and her compatriot Genzebe Dibaba (3:49.11) have gone quicker. &ldquo;That was a big surprise for me in my first outdoor race of the season,&rdquo; Tsegay confessed.
Behind Tsegay&rsquo;s PB, world lead and meeting record, eight other women ducked under four minutes. The plucky Haylom lowered her lifetime best from 3:54.93 to 3:53.22 &ndash; a clear second ahead of fellow Ethiopians Worknesh Mesele (3:57.61) and 2023 world silver medallist Diribe Welteji (3:57.62).
Then came Ethiopia&rsquo;s world indoor 1500m champion Frewenyi Hailu, fifth in 3:58.18 &ndash; followed by four new members of the sub-four club: Australia&rsquo;s Georgia Griffith (3:59.04), Ethiopians Habitam Alemu (3:59.06) and Saron Berhe (3:59.21) and Sarah Billings (3:59.59), also of Australia.
At the third time of asking, Lamecha Girma not only managed to complete a 5000m race but did so inside 13 minutes.&nbsp;
On his most recent attempt, at the 2023 Diamond League meeting in Zurich, the 3000m steeplechase world record-holder dropped out with two laps to go. This time he saved his strength for the last two laps, tracking fellow Ethiopian Addisu Yihune when the 2022 world U20 champion hit the front with 650m to go before pulling clear over the final 300m.
Girma finished a clear winner in 12:58.96, with Kenya&rsquo;s 2022 Diamond League champion Nicholas Kipkorir coming through for second in 12:59.78 and Birhanu Balew of Bahrain snatching third in 13:00.47.
World record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech produced a dominant performance in the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase, powering to victory in 8:55.40, the 11th fastest time in history.&nbsp;
Faith Cherotich, the Kenyan teammate who took world bronze behind Chepkoech&rsquo;s silver in Budapest last August, finished second in 9:05.49, with Uganda&rsquo;s Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai third in 9:12.99.
Australian teenager Torrie Lewis lined up with the slowest lifetime best in the women&rsquo;s 200m, 22.94, but produced the shock of the night to claim a maiden Diamond League victory and a clutch of notable scalps.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6623ea956a47ee8f5028337c.jpg" alt="Torrie Lewis wins the 200m in Xiamen" />
Torrie Lewis wins the 200m in Xiamen (&copy; Matthew Quine / Diamond League AG)
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Drawn out in lane nine, the 19-year-old stole through to win in 22.96 (-0.4m/s) while Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson, the world 100m champion and 200m bronze medallist, dug deep to claim second place in 22.99 ahead of fellow US sprinters Tamara Clark (23.02) and Anavia Battle (23.02).&nbsp;
&ldquo;I honestly didn&rsquo;t notice I&rsquo;d won until I saw the replay,&rdquo; said Lewis.
Canada&rsquo;s Marco Arop had to dig deep and show his world champion pedigree to get the better of Kenya&rsquo;s Wyclife Kinyamal in a ding-dong home straight battle in the men&rsquo;s 800m. Arop&rsquo;s reward was a world lead of 1:43.61, with Kinyamal 0.05 down in second place and Botswana&rsquo;s Tshepiso Masalela third in 1:43.88, a PB.
There was also a world lead in the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, 2023 world bronze medallist Daniel Roberts taking the victory in 13.11 (-0.3) ahead of US compatriot Cordell Tinch (13.16) and Japan&rsquo;s Shunsuke Izumiya (13.17). Jamaica&rsquo;s Olympic champion Hansle Parchment finished down in sixth in 13.33.
Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico finished strongly to edge the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles in 12.45 (0.2), overhauling world indoor 60m hurdles champion and world record-holder Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas by 0.01.
The 2022 world indoor champion Cyrena Samba-Mayela clocked a French record 12.55 in third, with the most recent two world outdoor champions Danielle Williams of Jamaica (12.56) and Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan (12.58) fourth and fifth respectively.
The opening race on the track, the women&rsquo;s 400m, replicated the one-two from last year&rsquo;s world final in Budapest, Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic (50.08) proving too strong for Poland&rsquo;s Natalia Kaczmarek (50.29).
In the final track race, the men&rsquo;s 100m, world indoor 60m champion Christian Coleman overhauled Fred Kerley, the 2022 world champion at 100m, clocking 10.13 (-0.6) ahead of his compatriot&rsquo;s 10.17. World indoor bronze medallist Ackeem Blake finished third in 10.20.
Olympic champion Mutaz Barshim showed signs of rust in the men&rsquo;s high jump. Understandably so, given the fact that the 32-year-old Qatari was taking part in his first competition since taking a six-month break with back and hip problems.
The three-time world champion nailed first-time clearances at 2.15m, 2.20m and 2.24m but then needed all three tries to make it over 2.27m. He tried once at 2.29m and twice at 2.31m, without success.
World indoor silver medallist Shelby McEwen needed just one try to make it over 2.27m. That first-time clearance was sufficient to earn the US jumper the victory ahead of Barshim on countback, with New Zealand&rsquo;s world indoor champion Hamish Kerr in third with 2.24m.
Portugal&rsquo;s Olympic triple jump champion Pedro Pichardo emerged from his injury-enforced break in winning style, a 17.51m meeting record securing victory ahead of world champion Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso (17.12m). Su Wen won the Chinese battle for third place, jumping 16.82, with Fang Yaoqing fourth (16.73m) and Olympic silver medallist Zhu Yaming fifth (16.55m).
China&rsquo;s Gong Lijiao emerged a popular winner from the women&rsquo;s shot put. The Olympic champion and two-time world champion&rsquo;s best effort of 19.72m came in round two.
World champion Chase Jackson of USA was her closest pursuer with 19.62m until Maddison-Lee Wesche edged into second with the final throw of the competition, a 19.63m PB on the day her place in the New Zealand Olympic team was confirmed. Canada&rsquo;s world indoor champion Sarah Mitton had to settle for fourth place with 19.35m
Olympic champion Valarie Allman of the US took the women&rsquo;s discus with a meeting record 69.80m. Cuba&rsquo;s Yaime Perez had to settle for second with 68.33m &ndash; a week after the monster 73.09m effort in Oklahoma that eclipsed Allman&rsquo;s North American record. Feng Bin of China, the 2022 world champion, finished third with 67.07m.
There was just the one throw beyond 60m in the non-Diamond League women&rsquo;s javelin, Dai Qianqian providing a home victory with a fourth round throw of 61.25m. Latvia&rsquo;s Lina Muze-Sirma took second with 58.91m, ahead of Colombia&rsquo;s 2023 world silver medallist Flor Ruiz Hurtado, third with 58.50m.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure

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