The year 2015 closes with the smile of marriage between Eder Sanchez and Zudikey Rodriguez.

It started not so well with the sensational news of the participation of Elena Lashmanova on Dec.30, 2014 in a race in Saransk, (the news remains up today the news that has had the maximum number of visit ever (1.989 on Jan. 13, 2015).

But the year that is closing has been also very intense as regards the results.

Key events

The week that changed the history of the 20 km men was the one that started the March 8 with the result of 1:17:02 obtained by Yohann Diniz during 20 km of National Championships in Arles, France with a new world record on the distance. At that time Diniz also held records on 50 km (3:32:33 - Zurich 2014) and on 50.000m track walk (3:35:27.20 - Reims 2011).

It took seven days when in Nomi, Japan in the morning of March 15, Yusuke Suzuki won the Asian Championships in 20 km, valid also for the IAAF Challenge, with the new world record on the distance: 1:16:36.

This result also put an end to the doubts that had accompanied the time obtained in Saransk from Sergey Morozov (on June 8, 2008: 1:16:43) never ratified as a world record.

The news reached Europe at the end of the night, just before the start in Lugano of Memorial Albisetti that also saw the participation of Yohann Diniz.

It is not hard to imagine that the French had tried to regain possession of the records that had been on his back for just seven days. He finished the race in 1:17:23, his second-ever performance.

But the season of world records was not over.

After a quiet victory in Rio Maior in 1:27:22, the Chinese Liu Hong was at the the start on June 6 in La Coruna the leg of Challenge where she wanted to honor the memory of Anna Rita Sidoti, died prematurely on May 21.

The perfect day, the perfect motivation for the memory of a beloved champion (the “tiny gold women”) and Liu Hong goes to lead fastly, pass to 10km in 42:38 and covers the second half of the race in 42:00.

Deleted again the World record obtained in London in 2012 by Elena Lashmanova, but again canceled the performance not ratified of 1:24:50 and 1:24:54 of Russian Olimpiada Ivanova and Olga Kaniskina.

Beijing 2015

A beautiful Miguel Angel Lopez cooks Wang Zhen’s goose in front of his home crowd: 1:19:29 for the silver of Chinese and 1:19:14 for the gold of Spanish. Unexpected but wonderful the bronze of Canadian Benjamin Thorne in 1:19:57

The year of Liu Hong is consolidated with the victory at the World Championships, in a routine time, next to teammate Lu Xiuzhi: 1:27:45 for both.

Third the young Ukrainian Liudmyla Olyanovska (1:28:13)

In this race our two Italian athletes Anna Eleonora Giorgi and Elisa Rigaudo had medals ambitions.

Anna Eleonora Giorgi arrived from the victory with the performance of 1:26:46 in Dudunce (in front of Olyanovska) and above the second place in the European Cup in Murcia (behind Elmira Alembekova - 1:26:15) with the new Italian record of 1:26: 17.

Elisa Rigaudo came from 1:28:01 at the European Cup in Murcia (behind Liudmyla Olyanovska in 1:27:09), from the third place in Rio Maior (1:29:15) but even more from the result of the Italian Championships in Turin where she covered the distance of 10 km in 43:08.

We all know how that turned out!

We also know, however, the satisfaction that gave us the fifth place of Antonella Palmisano (1:29:34)

In 50 km we have seen the monologue of Matej Toth, who won in 3:40:32, in front of Jared Tallent (3:42:17) and the Japanese Takayuki Tanii (3:42:55) first medal to Japan a major race walking event.

We can continue in rattling off the facts and the results of this 2015, but we stop here with a unique souvenir: the first medal in race walking of an Ethiopian athlete Youth World Championships in Cali: Ayalnesh Dejene bronze in 22:48.25

Is approaching a new future?

Happy New Year to our readers.