For my part there was a great desire to do well and confidence to be able to stand out in an event so important, something I had never been able to boast in previous international events.

But when we got to visit the race course, we considered, with Diego, it would be really hard to improve our PB.

 

In fact, the race was held around the auditorium of Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, on a lap course of 1 km, which provided 500 m downhill  and 500 m uphill: that combination, for 20 rounds, can be fatal. So we opted for a controlled race, saving energy in the first half, before recovering and second positions in the second: an interpretation, which, in races ended, turned out to our advantage.

During the race I had a good feeling, and I wanted to increase the pace after the first few kilometers, but, considering the advantage that the first now had taken, I decided to make a progression from mid-race, keeping the eighth posto.Invece, Despite the ninth km is left alone, I was able to earn the seventh position, as startlist.

 

This made me take additional awareness of the excellent work done during the year and the good physical and mental preparation with which I had come on the start  line.  I could get through my dedication and that of my coach Franco, but also thanks to the many opportunities for discussion that I had in rallies organized by the project carried out by Ruggero Sala, with the help of Massimo Magnani and the Italian federation.

 

Of great help to me were from the few coaches and my teammates which came to support us, as the race took place alongside other end and that there was no way to reach the course from the field, if not on foot (almost 2 km away) or with the only two shuttles by the organization, to transport the athletes from the hotel for housing, in time to compete.

However, the race was not only neglected by experts for organizational reasons, but also from an audience that probably had not been informed of the progress of the race, as evidenced by the fact that even many athletes did not even know where would compete the walkers.

 

This was the first thing we noticed arrived on site I and my partner Nicole. Nevertheless, the race boasted of names like Drahotova and Olyanovska, already protagonists of absolute level, both in Europe and globally, which have obtained, together with the first classified, times of high level, that has not occurred in the previous men's race, which ended with the times not so exciting.

 

At the end of the race I was able to confront with this Italian judge, who was glad to find technical improvements in athletes Italian and gave us an incentive to work and improve even more.

I can therefore say that these long-awaited European championships have been a positive experience, which may be contained in the image that I had at the peak of the last climb: a beautiful rainbow in the sky over Tallinn, remember that after a long hard there is always a great joy.

 

Mariavittoria Becchetti