Jefferson Perez of Ecuador wins the 20km race walk gold medal in Helsinki (© Getty Images)
The 2006 IAAF Race Walking Challenge gets underway this weekend in Tlanepantla De Baz, north of the Mexican capital, the first of a five leg series that culminates with the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in La Coruña, Spain (13 – 14 May).
Spain’s Francisco Fernández and Belarussian Margaryta Turava, the 2005 Helsinki World Championship men’s and women’s silver medallists, will start as the IAAF World Race Walking Challenge defending champions.
Latin America’s assault is headed by Ecuador’s reigning two-time World 20km Race Walk champion, and 1996 Olympic gold medallist, Jefferson Perez, who is set to start his season in Mexico this weekend.
The Mexican hosts this weekend are hopeful that relative new names like 19-year old Eder Sanchez (20km), Omar Zepeda and Horacio Nava (50km), who were all placed among the top-10 in Helsinki, will show their continued progression.
However, Australia’s Olympic medallists Nathan Deakes and Jane Saville, who successfully defended their Commonwealth Games titles in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday (20), are expected to join the IAAF Challenge at one of the two meetings which take place in April.
Having secured two of the three World Championship titles last year in Helsinki, thanks to Olimpiada Ivanova (women’s 20km) and Sergey Kirdyapkin (men’s 50km), Russia is also expected to shine in the Challenge and the Cup in 2006. Other Russian names to note include Viktor Burayev (1:19:27) and Olga Kaniskina (1:26:02), who have posted the fastest times this season respectively in the men’s and women’s 20km.
Three Spanish athletes head the current world season list for the men’s 50km thanks to results from their nationals on 19 February 2006 - Mikel Odriozola 3:53:04, Juan Manuel Molina 3:55:12, and 3:56:44 José Alejandro Cambil, and are sure to show well this season. Juan Manuel Molina is a definite starter this weekend.
Hongjun Zhu, Zhide Cui, Yucheng Han, Yang Yawei in the 20km, Gadasu Alatan, Tianfeng Si in 50km will be the Chinese names to watch in both the Challenge and the Cup, while Africa´s top representative is likely to be Hatem Ghoula of Tunisia, who finished fifth in Helsinki over 20km.
Prize Money
There is substantial prize money on offer for the Challenge, with US $30,000 awarded to overall winner, $20,000 for second place and $15,000 for third…, graduating down to $5000 for an eighth place finish.
The point system is also straightforward - 10 for the winner, 9 for second place, 8 for third etc…which makes the challenge easy to follow, with the standings based upon the addition of the three best results achieved by athletes in any of the competitions.
The 2005 Challenge
The overall Challenge winners last year were Spain´s Francisco Fernández and Belarus’ Margaryta Turava, who took the 2005 titles with 30 and 29 points, respectively.
In the women’s division, Susana Feitor of Portugal, who was third in Helsinki, took second place overall (24pts), while Claudia Stef of Romania who was second in the 2004 Challenge finished overall third this time (22pts). Italy´s Elisa Rigaudo, the 2004 Challenge winner, finished in fourth (20pts).
In the men’s category, Francisco Javier Fernández of Spain had a perfect score of 30pts from three wins - Rio Maior, Sesto S. Giovanni and La Coruna – and came second at the World Championships. Australia’s Nathan Deakes (29) and Spain´s Juan Manuel Molina (19) were second and third, respectively.
The Helsinki World champions, Jefferson Pérez of Ecuador (20km), and Russia´s Olimpiada Ivanova (20km) and Sergey Kirdyapkin (50km) did not compete in a minimum three races and so did not feature in the final standings.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF
The 2006 IAAF Race Walking Challenge calendar:
25-26 March - Tlanepantla De Baz, (MEX)
1 April - 15° Grande Premio Internacional en Marcha Atletica, Rio Maior (POR)
22 April - Race Walking Grand Prix, Yangzhou (CHN)
1 May - Coppa Città di Sesto San Giovanni (ITA)
13-14 May - IAAF World Race Walking Cup in La Coruña (ESP)
IAAF World Rankings before the start of the Challenge:
Men:
1. Francisco Javier Fernández ESP 1345 points
2. Trond Nymark NOR 1297
3. Jefferson Pérez ECU 1293
4. Juan Manuel Molina ESP 1280
5. Nathan Deakes AUS 1278
6. Chengliang Zhao CHN 1274
7. Hongjun Zhu CHN 1272
8. Chaohong Yu CHN 1259
Women:
1. Margarita Turava 80 BLR 1330 points
2. Susana Feitor 75 POR 1296
3. Elisa Rigaudo 80 ITA 1254
4. Claudia Iovan-Stef 78 ROM 1252
5. María Vasco 75 ESP 1244
6. Hongjuan Song 84 CHN 1243
7. Barbora Dibelková 83 CZE 1234
8. Jing Jiang 85 CHN 1233
The 2005 Challenge standings:
Men:
1. Francisco Javier Fernández Spain 30 points
2. Nathan Deakes Australia 29
3. Juan Manuel Molina Spain 19
4. Ilya Markov Russia 18
5. Trond Nymark Norway 17
6. Hatem Ghoula Tunisia 17
7. Omar Zepeda Mexico 13
8. Hongjun Zhu China 11
Women:
1. Margaryta Turava Belarus 29
2. Susana Feitor Portugal 24
3. Claudia Stef Romania 22
4. Elisa Rigaudo Italy 20
5. Melanie Seeger Germany 17
6. Jane Saville Australia 15
7. Song Hongjuan China 11
8. Jiang Jing China 10
