The capital city of Chuvash Republic last night enthusiastically welcomed representatives from over 50 nations of the global athletics family in an impressive opening ceremony of the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May 2008.
Before this weekend most of the foreign guests who assembled in the spectator tribunes of the 20,000 capacity ‘Olympiysky’ stadium on Friday (9 May) would have been unable to have pin-pointed the location of the Chuvash Republic on a map of the world let alone possess an essence of its spirit or culture. 
A two-hour show of exuberant, enthusiastically performed musical and colourful visual displays by nearly 5000 Cheboksarians will have left all who were in attendance with pleasant indelible memories of this Republic and the warmth of its people.
Chuvashia which is situated in the centre of the European part of Russia in the heart of the Volga-Vyatka region is a part of the Russian Federation and has a population of 1,350,000 of which 458,000 inhabit the capital Cheboksary.
Anyone not appreciating the relative isolation of this beautiful city which is located on the southern bank of the Volga River some 600km from Moscow should fly into neighbouring Kazan and travel the 3 hours by road between these two cities (there are no regular international air connections to Cheboksary itself) which lie 120km (75miles) apart. The state of the roads, strewn with stones and&nbsp;littered with 100s of huge potentially axle breaking holes every few kilometres, makes the experience of travelling to Cheboksary something comparable I suppose to competing in a FIA Motor Rally! 
Yet the city boasts a rich history dating back to 1469 and along with several museums and galleries is exceptionally proud of its 25 orthodox churches and 4 monasteries.&nbsp; It is also known for its brewing company, which was founded almost 30 years ago, and its unique brewing museum.
It’s a quiet city by western European standards but a justifiably proud and happy place whose population of mainly Turkic descent, a characteristic which is physically exposed by their generally round central Asian looking shaped faces, seem genuinely intrigued to greet and welcome peoples from western Europe with their more angular visages.&nbsp;East meets west in Cheboksary, ethnically and culturally. Cheboksary's picturesque city centre is full of trees and small parks, and this lovely vista is bordered to the north by the Volga which also intrudes majestically into the&nbsp;town's heart&nbsp;via a wide bay on one side of which the race walking course is situated.
Last night, in the presence of Nikolay Fedorov, President of Chuvash Republic, Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF, and Valentin Balakhnichev, President of ARAF, the flags of all competing nations were unfurled and paraded with great gusto&nbsp;to the sounds of a varied array of 1970s and 80s pop, jazz and classical music. The show was delivered with the precision and passion of an Olympic opening, and it came as no surprise to learn that the hosts intend to bid for further global sporting events. 
The 1000s of locals who excitedly queued to enter the stadium for this all ticketed sell-out ceremony will have returned home happy that their contact with the wider world is only just beginning but then that’s what international sport is about at its best - bringing greater understanding between different cultures. Likewise, foreign visitors who depart the Chuvash Republic on Monday morning will certainly have gained positively from their experience this weekend.
Chris Turner for the IAAF&nbsp;

- The capital city of Chuvash Republic last night enthusiastically welcomed representatives from over 50 nations of the global athletics family in an impressive opening ceremony of the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May 2008.

Cheboksary welcomes the world 

Any doubts that Francisco Javier Fernandez was a spent global force was laid to rest in Cheboksary on Saturday afternoon (10 May) at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup.
After faltering at the World Championships in Osaka last year, the Spaniard appropriately took the bull by the horns to reclaim the 20km crown he won in La Coruna, Spain, two years ago.
But this win was a lot harder than 2006.
With only a kilometre left it was still a two-man race with Valeriy Borchin contesting the $30,000 first prize. Just before that, the Russian had put in a desperate spurt to shake off his shadow, only to find Fernandez had a shot left in his locker.
The five metres carved out by Borchin slowly became four, three, and then nothing, as the Spaniard drew alongside.
When Fernandez made his bolt for home, the pain on the Russian’s face betrayed the race’s outcome. The eventual winner controlled the final few hundred metres, even allowing himself the luxury of strolling across the finish line for the last five steps for a course and a World Cup record of 78:15.
An exhausted Borchin followed, and Eder Sanchez was duly rewarded by staying with the early pace after the Mexican had dug in when the pace shot up after half-way.
Ilya Markov may have missed the IAAF press conference the day before, but the former World champion showed no signs of missing out on a Russian team medal even at age 35.
The least known of the Russian team, Andrey Krivov, was a surprise fifth after leading the race for a kilometre just after half-way.
Australia were hoping for another team medal to go with the silver they won in La Coruna, and achieved their wish when a fast-finishing Luke Adams was seventh with Jared Tallent, 10th, having lost touch with the lead group around 13k.
Erik Tysse was the model of consistency in sixth. The Norwegian rarely disappoints, and his umpteenth top-ten finish in a major race belied the effort his buckling knees displayed as he crossed the line.
With Fernandez’s gold safely in the bag, Juan Molina (8th) and Benjamin Sanchez (13th) brought the winner a team silver to further brighten up the day.
Robert Heffernan became the first Irishman to sweep inside 80:00, and remark his own national rewrite his own national record with 79:22, a fitting reward for a country with less than three million inhabitants.
It offers hope when the smaller nations can also compete alongside those with populations of Russia’s 200 million-plus.
In that respect, lone Tunisian Hatem Ghoula once again kept the flag flying for his country when the Osaka bronze medallist got 11th, with Ecuador’s Roland Saquipay 46 seconds back forced into the limelight normally reserved for Jefferson Perez – ruled out through a lack of training.
It was fitting that a large portion of Cheboksary’s population showed up for a fabulous race, and cheered everyone regardless of the colour of their vest, reminding everybody why the Russian city had been granted the rights to the World Cup in the first place.
Paul Warburton for the IAAF

Any doubts that Francisco Javier Fernandez was a spent global force was laid to rest in Cheboksary on Saturday afternoon (10 May) at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup.

Men's 20km

Any doubts that Francisco Javier Fernandez was a spent global force was laid to rest in Cheboksary on Saturday afternoon (10 May) at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup.
Editor's note - Photos from today's racing will follow
After faltering at the World Championships in Osaka last year, the Spaniard appropriately took the bull by the horns to reclaim the 20km crown he won in La Coruna, Spain, two years ago.
But this win was a lot harder than 2006.
With only a kilometre left it was still a two-man race with Valeriy Borchin contesting the $30,000 first prize. Just before that, the Russian had put in a desperate spurt to shake off his shadow, only to find Fernandez had a shot left in his locker.
The five metres carved out by Borchin slowly became four, three, and then nothing, as the Spaniard drew alongside.
When Fernandez made his bolt for home, the pain on the Russian’s face betrayed the race’s outcome. The eventual winner controlled the final few hundred metres, even allowing himself the luxury of strolling across the finish line for the last five steps for a course and a World Cup record of 78:15.
An exhausted Borchin followed, and Eder Sanchez was duly rewarded by staying with the early pace after the Mexican had dug in when the pace shot up after half-way.
Ilya Markov may have missed the IAAF press conference the day before, but the former World champion showed no signs of missing out on a Russian team medal even at age 35.
The least known of the Russian team, Andrey Krivov, was a surprise fifth after leading the race for a kilometre just after half-way.
Australia were hoping for another team medal to go with the silver they won in La Coruna, and achieved their wish when a fast-finishing Luke Adams was seventh with Jared Tallent, 10th, having lost touch with the lead group around 13k.
Erik Tysse was the model of consistency in sixth. The Norwegian rarely disappoints, and his umpteenth top-ten finish in a major race belied the effort his buckling knees displayed as he crossed the line.
With Fernandez’s gold safely in the bag, Juan Molina (8th) and Benjamin Sanchez (13th) brought the winner a team silver to further brighten up the day.
Robert Heffernan became the first Irishman to sweep inside 80:00, and remark his own national rewrite his own national record with 79:22, a fitting reward for a country with less than three million inhabitants.
It offers hope when the smaller nations can also compete alongside those with populations of Russia’s 200 million-plus.
In that respect, lone Tunisian Hatem Ghoula once again kept the flag flying for his country when the Osaka bronze medallist got 11th, with Ecuador’s Roland Saquipay 46 seconds back forced into the limelight normally reserved for Jefferson Perez – ruled out through a lack of training.
It was fitting that a large portion of Cheboksary’s population showed up for a fabulous race, and cheered everyone regardless of the colour of their vest, reminding everybody why the Russian city had been granted the rights to the World Cup in the first place.
Fernandez admitted the race had been a tough slog.
He said: “The last lap was extremely difficult, and I did not look at Borchin’s face, but I’m happy for myself and the team. The only problem with the race was the first lap when the Russians went too fast.”
Borchin knew he was up against it the second he was left on his own with Fernandez. 
He said: “It was a difficult because I was up against a true champion. The plan was to be in the first five and not with the leader so early. At the end all I was thinking about was getting to the line.”
Paul Warburton for the IAAF 
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- Any doubts that Francisco Javier Fernandez was a spent global force was laid to rest in Cheboksary on Saturday afternoon (10 May) at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup.

Fernandez successfully bolts for home – Cheboksary 2008

The women’s 10km at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, 10 – 11 May 2008 was something of a Russian procession from first to last.
The only doubt was which one of the three juniors from the home nation was going to top the podium, and on which of the other two steps her two team-mates would stand.
Right from the gun the three Russian white vests showed at the front, but any pretence of admission to a very exclusive club was denied after a mere 500 metres.
By then the rest of the junior women’s walking world were fighting for the minor places, and by 4k reached in 8:19, Elmira Alembekova had come off the back, At 5k exactly, and almost as part of some re-arranged plan, Tatyana Kalmykova decided to push on and leave Irina Yumanova to ponder second place for a very long time going around the back end of the lakeside course. 
Jessica Rothwell made gains on fourth place Anamaria Greceanu from Romania, with the Australian then drawing level at a little after half-way, but just as quickly falling back when Greceanu realised the danger to her isolated spot.
Up front Kalmykova was untroubled for the rest of the race, and with her pony tail bouncing up and down in the summer sun, the 18-year-old with the fastest time of the year, had enough time to wave to the huge crowds over the last 400 metres and celebrate her win.
In fact, she had time to stop and order an ice-cream had she so chosen such was the dominance of her triumph, which was short of her own PB but still garnered her a European record by way of compensation.
Yumanova duly followed her home, and a long way behind - two minutes and counting – bronze medalist Alembekova completed the Russian trio to pose for pictures sometime before Greceanau claimed fourth, with a tiring Rothwell coming home fifth.
The team medals at least had an element of surprise.
Russia duly took gold; Romania second, but Colombia’s third with Maria del Pilar Rayo and Anlly Pineda taking the honours completing a first ever team medal for the south American country.
Kalmykova admitted the pleasure of coming first was compromised by her slightly slower-than-expected time.
Paul Warburton for the IAAF
 &nbsp;

The women’s 10km at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, 10 – 11 May 2008 was something of a Russian procession from first to last.

Junior Women's 10km

The junior men’s 10km, the first race of the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, went to form with Russia predictably opening the weekend with a win.
But the one blip, if you can call it that, was the home-gown athlete with the second-fastest time this year not only prevailed, but claimed a World junior record** while he was at it.
Aleksey Bartsaykin had team-mateEdikt Khaybullin beaten long before the end, even though the latter had the fastest time of the year going into the race.
In fact, 19-year-old Bartsaykin decided it was going to be his day with a lap-and-a-half to go when he snapped the string that joined him to a group of four.
The Russian then sprinted to open up a gap of 15 metres from team-mate Denis Strekov and Spaniard Luis Torla.
The lead doubled by the bell, but it then looked as if Bartsaykin was happy to settle for just a glorious win in front of thousands of his countrymen.
He drunk in the applause going into the final turn, but he was also travelling at a tremendous pace. With a 100 metres to go he turned on the afterburners to crash through the line just under the magical 40:00 and claim the vacant World record.
The Chinese, Ding Chen thundered past Strelkov for silver, who in turn, was too quick for the Spaniard Torla.
Early on, a group of eight enjoyed a relatively easy first 2km in around 8:02, with all the form walkers showing up front.
Indeed, such was the pushy pace, the field of 50-plus walkers was blown apart with large gaps from first to last.
Even though most walkers in the race had PBs not exceeding 50:00, by the last lap of five around the lakeside setting, the backmarkers were already being lapped.
It was no surprise that Khaybullin was suffering, despite his superfast time in the Russian Championships and disappeared on the last lap.
The only surprise to spectators was that Bartsaykin had time to wave to crowds, and still claim the fastest ratified time ever by a junior man.
The winner’s major concern wasn’t whether he would break the World record, but whether his pole position was in danger from a team-mate.
Paul Warburton for the IAAF
**subject to ratification

The junior men’s 10km, the first race of the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, went to form with Russia predictably opening the weekend with a win.

Junior Men's 10km

Men’s 20km
This race should be the most open contest of the weekend – and the one real chance for everyone else to dent a Russian clean sweep.
There is no obvious favourite unlike the women’s event, and it wouldn’t be the biggest shock to see a dozen walkers still going hammer-and-tongs for first on the final lap.
The unknown factor is defending champion Francisco Fernandez. ‘Paquillo’ has so far kept his 2008 powder dry while opponents at the sharp end have already posted impressive times.
This time two years ago there was only going to be one winner. But if the Spaniard dominates again, it must only because the others have failed to recover from their exertions like reigning three-time World champion Jefferson Perez.
The Ecuadorean has a copper-bottomed pedigree when it comes to the big ones. But he walked a tough 20k last weekend in Italy to get away from Olympic champion Ivano Brugnetti at the Sesto San Giovanni Grand Prix. However, while Perez is travelling to Cheboksary he has already publicly confirmed that he does not intend to compete this weekend and is only here to support the Ecuadorian team.
Norway’s Erik Tysse was third in the same race, and Roland Saquipay, so long an understudy to Perez back in their home country, was fourth.
Can they all rise to the occasion seven days later?
Track sprinters might, but 20k at around 3:55mins pace so soon after will need all the stops pulled out.
Luke Adams won the 2007 IAAF Race Walking Challenge Series, but the Australian pulled out of the Beijing leg of the competition last month early on, fearful of aggravating an old injury. 
While question marks remain over Adams, the injury problems to another Australian Nathan Deakes, the World champion and world record holder for 50km, have already caused him to withdraw from the Cup earlier this week.
However, their compatriot Jared Tallent will certainly pose a real threat to the five Russian vests.
The aptly-named Tallent, has stepped up to the plate with an excellent win in Beijing, thus beating all the Chinese hoping to impress in the debut competition at the Olympic ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium.
His PB improvement by nearly two minutes in February to become only the fifth Aussie to go under 80 minutes offers, if nothing else, a return trip to the team podium for the second time to follow on from 2006’s splendid second.
But, and this weekend for every other name mentioned, there has to be a big ‘but’ in the shape of the Russian team.
All five of them top the 2008 world lists so far with Valeriy Borchin number one after his 77:55 in Adler at the Russian Winter Championships in February.
The other four recorded their superfast times there too. But, the consolation for the rest is that Adler historically produces the times – but not always the medallists when it matters.
Men’s 50km
The World record holder for 20km is going the extra mile and the rest at this weekend’s World Cup.
Perhaps the Russian selectors are worried Vladimir Kanaykin may attract judges’ attention in the relative sprint for the shorter distance.
Kanaykin may have knocked five seconds off Jefferson Perez’s superlative mark for 20km in the IAAF Race Walking Challenge Final in Saransk last September, but he’s suffered in the 50km event.
Disqualified in the last two World Cups, Kanaykin has still got more than enough to head the field at 50km. His 3:40:57 for the distance in the European Cup at Leamington last year was only 17 seconds outside his best.
But strange things happen once a walker gets past 30km.
Who would have thought then World champion Sergey Kirdyapkin would have been reduced to the fate of the walking dead at La Coruna last time out?
But the 2005 Helsinki winner wasn’t the first to experience the pain of energy levels gone awry requiring gritted teeth to crawl 33:00 for the final 5km.
It mattered little as far as the individual title’s destination was concerned. It went back to Russia for the third time in a row as Denis Nizhegorodov won by more than three minutes to create a new championship record.
With all three Russians toeing the line in Cheboksary, plus the insurance of two other strong team members, it’s difficult to look beyond the home nation both individually and team-wise.
But given the vagaries of judges and juice running out when least expected, Alex Schwazer is a surprise entry just a week after his 20km effort at the Sesto San Giovanni race.
The Italian has the second-fastest time in history and two World Championship bronze medals – and at 23 – time on his side.
If the thin red line shows signs of wilting, Schwazer should be there or thereabouts.
After him, the dependable Jesus Angel Garcia of Spain will be up in the lead pack at his sixth World Cup, no doubt showing few signs of slowing despite celebrating his 38th birthday last October, 11 years after he won in Podebrady.
Twins at this year’s World Cup are, as the well-known British joke goes, "like London buses, nothing for ages, and then two (sets) come along at once!"
The Torla brothers from Spain compete in the junior 10km, while Daniel and Dominic King make up the two Great Britain men at Cheboksary.
Daniel has already walked a ‘B’ standard qualifying time for the Olympics, and anything under four hours should see him collect the dubious reward of another go at 25x2k laps against top competition in August.
Hopefully, by then the lactic acid ringing in his ears will be a faded memory.
Junior Men’s 10km
Any hope of an upset to the Russian-Chinese charge at the front of the men’s junior 10km rests with the Spanish Torla twins.
For once, seeing double won’t need an eye test as 18-year-old Luis and Manel hope to mix it with the two powerful nations in a race where a cool head on young shoulders tends to pay dividends.
Frequently in the past, the gun has been the signal for the unwary to fly out of the traps only to catch the early attention of judges.
Vladimir Kanaykin has subsequently broken the senior 20k World record. But the Russian champion will remember he was a minute clear in the 2004 junior race at halfway before watching the rest of the race from the side of the road.
Luis’s 40:45 at Podebrady in April puts him ahead of his twin by 22 seconds. But statistically, Luis’s decent effort at the site of the 1997 World Cup still leaves him a lowly eighth in the 2008 lists. The other nine in the top ten are either Russian or Chinese, with the first four marks recorded at the Russian Winter Championships at Adler in February.
Newcomer Edikt Khaybullin took a huge chunk out of his PB to sprint first over the line in 39:13, with the next three a mere five seconds back. Interestingly, only one of the Chinese in the world lists has been selected for Cheboksary. But Rhui Zhang’s 39:50 in March makes him the obvious contender to break up the podium’s expected all-Russian look.
Paul Warburton for the IAAF
&nbsp;

This race should be the most open contest of the weekend – and the one real chance for everyone else to dent a Russian clean sweep.

Men's races - PREVIEWS

The junior men’s 10km, the first race of the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, went to form with Russia predictably opening the weekend in front of over 20,000 spectators with a win.
But the one blip, if you can call it that, was the home-gown athlete with the second-fastest time this year not only prevailed, but claimed a World junior record** while he was at it.
Aleksey Bartsaykin had team-mateEdikt Khaybullin beaten long before the end, even though the latter had the fastest time of the year going into the race.
In fact, 19-year-old Bartsaykin decided it was going to be his day with a lap-and-a-half to go when he snapped the string that joined him to a group of four.
The Russian then sprinted to open up a gap of 15 metres from team-mate Denis Strekov and Spaniard Luis Torla.
The lead doubled by the bell, but it then looked as if Bartsaykin was happy to settle for just a glorious win in front of thousands of his countrymen.
He drunk in the applause going into the final turn, but he was also travelling at a tremendous pace. With a 100 metres to go he turned on the afterburners to crash through the line just under the magical 40:00 and claim the vacant World record.
The Chinese, Ding Chen thundered past Strelkov for silver, who in turn, was too quick for the Spaniard Torla.
Early on, a group of eight enjoyed a relatively easy first 2km in around 8:02, with all the form walkers showing up front.
Indeed, such was the pushy pace, the field of 50-plus walkers was blown apart with large gaps from first to last.
Even though most walkers in the race had PBs not exceeding 50:00, by the last lap of five around the lakeside setting, the backmarkers were already being lapped.
It was no surprise that Khaybullin was suffering, despite his superfast time in the Russian Championships and disappeared on the last lap.
The only surprise to spectators was that Bartsaykin had time to wave to crowds, and still claim the fastest ratified time ever by a junior man.
The winner’s major concern wasn’t whether he would break the World record, but whether his pole position was in danger from a team-mate. Bartsaykin said: “I didn’t think about the World record. However, I though another Russian might win. “I didn’t know which one, but certainly thought any threat would come from our team. “With 200m left, I realised there was no-one behind me. But it was only 50m from the line I realised the World record was on.” Paul Warburton for the IAAF
**subject to ratification
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– The junior men’s 10km, the first race of the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, went to form with Russia predictably opening the weekend in front of over 20,000 spectators with a win.

Bartsaykin’s World record sets the festival of Race Walking off on a high note - Cheboksary 2008

The official IAAF Press conference for the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup held today at Government House in Cheboksary was attended by IAAF President Lamine Diack; Pierre Weiss – IAAF General Secretary; Sergey Gaplikov – Prime Minister of Chuvash Republic; Valentin Balakhnichev- ARAF President; Nikolay Emelyanov – Mayor of Cheboksary. 
Athletes present included Susana Feitor – 2005 World Championships 20k bronze medalist; Luke Adams – Winner of the 2007 Race Walking Challenge; Jefferson Perez – reigning three-time World 20k race walking champion.
If the conditions are right – there’s a World record on the cards at the IAAF World Walking Cup in Cheboksary this weekend.
So reckons World Championship bonze medallist Susana Feitor at the IAAF Press conference on Friday after she checked out the waterside course at the capital of the Chuvash Republic.
Feitor believes Russians will be tough to beat
The Portuguese veteran of eight World Cups was too diplomatic to say which athlete(s) might be in line for a $50,000 bonus for breaking an existing mark - but hinted the home nation stood a better chance than most.
“If all the (weather) conditions are correct, and there is no wind, the home supporters will make a big impact,” she said.
“The course is very good. I know from before when I was here in 1993, the crowds were very enthusiastic, and that makes a huge difference in a race like this.”
One of the best hopes for the title and a fat bank account was fighting illness on Friday.
Olga Kaniskina was meant to have attended the conference. But at the last minute the word came through the 20km World champion, and holder of the fastest time this year, was sick and back in the Russian team hotel.
If the 23-year-old has recovered, she and the rest of her team-mates can bank on a tough time from the Portugal quartet, according to Feitor.
Three of her compatriots are already selected for the Olympics at Beijing, and Feitor herself, claimed this weekend in the city 600km east of Moscow was all about making the podium as a unit rather than an individual.
She said: “Of course, Beijing is very important this year, and I hope to be ready for what could be my last Olympics.”
Feitor has suffered after her magnificent second in Rio Maior at the IAAF Challenge Series race last month, but unlike Jefferson Perez, has recovered to race this weekend.
The embodiment of walking success was out for three months after his first in Osaka at the World Championships, and has only been back to full training since January.
And therefore the man who has three World Cups to his name won’t be adding a fourth this weekend.
“Seventeen weeks training is not enough for a competition where you have to be at your best,” Perez said. “I won’t be competing, but I hope someone will break a World record anyway.”
Australians aiming at team podium
On the theme of absent friends, Luke Adams admitted Australia would be missing World champion Nathan Deakes after the record holder at 50km returned home this week to nurse a problem, rather than take up his ticket to Cheboksary.
But Adams, who admitted he has stepped out of the shadow of his team-mate to lift the 2007 Walking Series, believes the team from Down Under can make it to podium for the second time in a row.
He said: “We made a point of not talking about our chances because they could go wrong, and that’s what happened – they’ve gone wrong.
“But apart from Jared Tallent who’s also come through, we’ve got two other strong walkers and we plan to be competitive.”
With all eyes on the Olympics after this weekend there was media interest as to the strength of the Chinese team in Cheboksary.
Of all the platform party, Adams was best positioned to comment after a fleeting experience in the debut race at the Beijing IAAF Challenge Race last month.
The Aussie pulled out of the 20km after 4km to prevent further injury, and admitted he was surprised the race hadn’t been quicker.
“In the past, the Chinese leg of the series has produced some really fast times,” he said.
“The course itself was interesting. White as a colour for the surface will be something to think about, and because of the large concrete blocks, it will be a bit unforgiving for the 50km walkers.”
But at least at the 23rd version of the World Walking Cup, those embarking on the long march on Sunday are sure to be cheered from first to last if the expectant atmosphere around town is anything to go by.
Paul Warburton for the IAAF
 &nbsp;

The official IAAF Press conference for the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup held today at Government House in Cheboksary was attended by IAAF President Lamine Diack; Pierre Weiss – IAAF General Secretary; Sergey Gaplikov – Prime Minister of Chuvash Republic; Valentin Balakhnichev- ARAF President; Nikolay Emelyanov – Mayor of Cheboksary.

Talk of World records in Cheboksary – Official IAAF Press Conference

For a long time Robert (Robbie) Heffernan showed potential for honours at highest level - but injuries and disqualifications halted his progress for much of the time since his first IAAF Race Walking Cup in 1999. Now the guidance of Robert Korzeniowski and the environment of his training group seems to have turned round the career of the affable Cork man - meaning he is, perhaps, Ireland's top hope for an athletics medal in Beijing.
“I’m going well and you can’t write anything off”, said Heffernan in confident mood the day before traveling from his training base in Poland to Cheboksary, Russia&nbsp;for the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup (10-11 May 2008). He was buoyant for other reasons too as he planning a walk down the aisle with 400m runner and fellow Togher AC member Marian Andrews.
“Yeah, I got engaged a couple of weeks ago. It was about time for me now being thirty years of age. I’m delighted - it’s all good! I’m getting married in October (after the Olympics).” 
Marian Andrews has a chance of an Olympics spot for Ireland too. “She ran 55.44 in her first race of the season, so hopefully she’ll make the team for the Europa Cup, so she has an outside chance of getting on the relay team. So, it’ll save us a bit of money if we both go off to the Olympics together!”
Robbie Heffernan’s World Cup record goes back to Mézidon-Canon, France, but features just one other start in Naumburg, for 27th place, in 2004. Apart from an eighth place in the 2002 European Championships his fast times weren’t translated into major honours.
Steady progress
However, since joining Korzeniowski’s squad after the Athens Olympics, Heffernan has seen steady progress, resulting in fifth place in a national record 1:20:15 at the European Cup in Leamington Spa, Great Britain, last May (just losing out in a final sprint for medal to Igor Erokhin of Russian and Ivan Trotski of Belarus). He further enhanced his status with sixth place in the Osaka World Championships, defeating Trotski, Erokhin and the two other Russians Ilya Markov and Valeriy Borchin in the process.
“I look back over my career now I was so, so, raw.&nbsp; But with the professionalism of Robert ... it took a couple of years of walking with him to get it right. Just by staying injury free for a year meant being able to train properly for the whole year. What I achieved was a direct result of that.”
“It’s just about doing things right and being smart about it.”
They’re all training sessions for the Olympic Games
So far this year Heffernan’s has set an Irish 5000m indoor record (the second fastest in the world this year only to Olympic champion Ivano Brugnetti) and he gained another sixth placing in 1:23:45 for his 20km season opener at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Mexico.
“Everything’s going well” said Heffernan on his preparations. “After Mexico we were in South Africa for a month, then I came back to Ireland for a few days, then came here to Spala in Poland to train for the last ten days, and am getting ready to go to Moscow tomorrow (Thursday).”
“This year I’ve come up another level. I walked an Irish record indoors, and some of my training sessions this year have been a lot stronger.”
“I actually got a bit sick in the week of Mexico so it was a very good performance considering I wasn’t 100%.”
“My base level this year is just a lot stronger so my minimum performance is at a higher level. If I can hit it right and everything is going well hopefully I can cause another surprise.”
So are we likely to see a similar tussle to that at Leamington Spa with Robbie challenging for a medal in Cheboksary?
“Hopefully, hopefully, Chebosary, in the bigger picture, is another test. I’m also going to do Krakow (two weeks after the World Cup), and maybe La Coruña (7 June). At the end of the day they’re all training sessions for the Olympic Games.”
“They all offer little things to take on board for the Olympics in Beijing. Even racing in Mexico I came away learning something and, hopefully, it’ll be the same this weekend.” 
Heffernan has some experience of racing in Cheboksary, in the European Cup of 2003 - although he’d prefer not to be reminded of a DNF.
“I had a stress fracture that year so my season finished after that and I never went to Paris. I injured myself for a year - I ended up with a double stress fracture in my metatarsals. On both sides. So that’s wiped from the memory!”
Even after returning from injury Heffernan suffered the strain of disqualification in Helsinki in 2005 but last year seems to show he has turned a corner.
“I train with Paco (Francisco Fernández) the whole year and for him it’s normal to be 100% professional. It’s the environment I’m in - training with Paco he’ll have his own people always with him; he’ll have a physio available full-time and Robert telling us what to do - you just have to look back and think ‘my God!’ this is the way it’s actually done, and it’s normal for them to be doing that even at a young age. It’s natural to them which is why certain countries produce such great results.”
“With the likes of Ireland and England we may talk about training but it’s not fully practical but over in Spain and Poland there’s a lot of theory but it’s very practical as well.”
This time last year it seemed a surprise for Heffernan to be challenging the leading Russians right to the final few metres. From now on it may, indeed, be a realistic proposal that Ireland has a chance of a medal at world level in the 20km.
Tim Watt for the IAAF

- For a long time Robert (Robbie) Heffernan showed potential for honours at highest level - but injuries and disqualifications halted his progress for much of the time since his first IAAF Race Walking Cup in 1999. Now the guidance of Robert Korzeniowski and the environment of his training group seems to have turned round the career of the affable Cork man - meaning he is, perhaps, Ireland's top hope for an athletics medal in Beijing.

Heffernan is asking the right questions ahead of Cheboksary 

Cheboksary, RussiaOne of the main favourites for victory in the men’s 20km at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, 10 – 11 May 2008 will be Spaniard Francisco Javier “Paquillo” Fernández, the defending titleholder following his the magnificent display two years ago in La Coruña in front of an enthusiastic home crowd . 
The current European champion and World silver medallist in Osaka in the 20km is full of confidence for Cheboksary: “after my performance some days ago in Madrid where I clocked the season’s best in 10km with 38:27 I’m very confident for Cheboksary but I don’t want to become obsessed with victory. I look at this event as an important test ahead of the Olympics in August.”
Fernández has contested four races during this season, with three victories over 10km and only one competition over 20km in the Race Walking Challenge meet in Chihuahua, Mexico, from which he was forced to retire due to stomach problems.
“Paquillo” will be the leader of the Spanish challenge in Cheboksary, a men’s team that two years ago obtained near complete success in La Coruña with two team victories in the men’s 20km and 50km men and a bronze medal in the Junior 10km.
Fernández evaluated the chances of the team for this year’s edition: “It will be difficult because the Russian team will be very strong taking into account that they are competing at home.” 
“But I consider that our team is even stronger than the one in La Coruña and we have chances of being on the medal podiums but the victories will depend on the performance of the Russians.”
“In the 20km we will count on Juan Manuel Molina, who is in very good condition at this moment, Benjamín Sánchez who is another valuable member of the team, and the young walkers Francisco Arcilla and Miguel Ángel López.”
Fernandez has taken part in three editions of the IAAF Race Walking Cup: “In my first participations it seemed to be very difficult. In Podebrady 1997 I was only 47th with 1:22:40 and in Mezidon, two years later, I progressed to the 12th place. My first memories of this competition were a little bitter but with the passing of the years I finally managed to get the victory in this competition two years ago in La Coruña”. 
The Spaniard recognised the importance of this competition: “despite not having a big repercussion in the media, the Race Walking Cup is very important for international walkers and it is an even challenge more than a World Championships or an Olympic Games because in the Cup each country can enter five athletes while in the other competitions there are only three athletes per country.” 
Looking for his seventh medal in a row in Beijing, Paquillo’s mind is thinking obviously about the Beijing Olympics where he will try to get his seventh medal in a row in international competitions. 
Since he was proclaimed European champion in Munich 2002, Fernandez has been on the podium in every Olympics, Worlds and Europeans, showing that he is one of the most consistent walkers in the world of 20 kilometres. 
In Beijing he will fight for gold but “it will be very difficult because I will have strongest rivals. The main favourite there will be Ecuadorian Jefferson Pérez, but we will have to take in mind also Mexican Eder Sánchez, the Chinese walkers, who are very strong this year, Tunisian Hatem Ghoula, Italian Ivano Brugnetti, the current Olympic champion or my mate Juan Manuel Molina. Other factors to take into consideration will be the difficult climate with the humid and hot weather.”
Before the Olympics Fernández will compete in Krakow, Poland (24 May) and then in the Spanish Championships in July in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He will train in Font Romeu, France and during the last few weeks before Beijing’s competition in Matsue, Japan, the same place in which he prepared for last year’s World Championships in Osaka.
Ignacio Mansilla for the IAAF

ssia - One of the main favourites for victory in the men’s 20km at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, 10 – 11 May 2008 will be Spaniard Francisco Javier “Paquillo” Fernández, the defending titleholder following his the magnificent display two years ago in La Coruña in front of an enthusiastic home crowd .

“Paquillo” Fernández is confident about Cheboksary title defence

In an exciting new initiative all the action from the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary, Russia, 10-11 May will be broadcast via a LIVE audio/visual stream during the two days of competition.
This is the first time that video coverage of an IAAF World Athletics Series event has been broadcast LIVE over the internet. This new project forms part of the IAAF’s development policy for its website and the obvious desire to enhance the coverage of its premier series of competitions. For this first experiment the stream will ONLY be available to European territories and will be geo-blocked to the rest of the world.
The audio/visual stream will be provided with an English Language commentary and will be accessible during competition times by clicking on the banner on the <A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/WRW08/index.html" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/WRW08/index.html">home page of the Cheboksary 2008 website</A> - 
Format: Windows Media, so it can be accessed with a standard Windows Media Player
<A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/WRW08/results/eventCode=3657/index.html" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/WRW08/results/eventCode=3657/index.html">Competition Timetable</A> (Cheboksary is GMT +4hrs) 
<A class="" href="http://www.iaaf.org/WRW08/index.html" mce_href="http://www.iaaf.org/WRW08/index.html">Access to stream</A> (During competition times only) IAAF

– In an exciting new initiative all the action from the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary, Russia, 10-11 May will be broadcast via a LIVE audio/visual stream during the two days of competition.

LIVE video streaming of all the action in Cheboksary available in Europe

The Provisional Entry List for the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, 10 – 11 May 2008 is now available.
The Entry List details competitors as at 7 May, and is available for download in pdf format from the right-hand-side of this page.
The List is ordered by Event.
NB. The START LIST will become available after the Technical Meeting which takes place at 16:00hrs local time (GMT +4hrs)
IAAF

ssia - The Provisional Entry List for the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup, Cheboksary, Russia, 10 – 11 May 2008 is now available.

WORLD ATHLETICS RACE WALKING TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Women's 20km report - 2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup

Men's 50km

Kaniskina supreme – Cheboksary 2008

Olympic champions honoured - Cheboksary 2008

Super-human Nizhegorodov hammers Deakes’ World record into history – Cheboksary 2008