A quite annoying wind disturbs the two races, while the temperature is very acceptable and the humidity has fallen appreciably.
20km women
The race was really wonderful with constant changes of scene.
We summarize the most interesting parts
- First 5 km: 23:41
The pace is very slow (4:49, 4:43, 4:45, 4:44 and 4:40).
They are in the top group: Ines Henriques (POR), Ana Cabecinha (POR), Emilie Menuet (FRA), Sandra Lorena Arenas (COL), Kimberly Garcia (PER) and Antigone Drispioti (GRE).
- At 10 km: 46:24
A lap in 4:40, then another faster in 4:33 and comes off Emilie Menuet (FRA) who then seeks to recover through the 10km to three meters from the first group.
- At 15 km: 1:08:34
The key moment is at 12km when Sandra Lorena Arenas (COL) takes the initiative and force the pace gaining twenty meters.
With a subsequent km in 4:19 and then another in 4:18 she gains on the other, and the race it seems over for victory. It will not be so.
- Latest 5 km
Around 16 km Kimberly Garcia (PER) with a very nice walk manages to close the gap that separated from Colombian and then detach from ten meters.
Sandra Arenas still gives in and tries to recover, but the meters that separate from Garcia does not decrease.
Instead are off Ana Cabecinha and Ines Henriques, who apparently suffers a lot of pressure groped the home win.
At the 17km the order is: Garcia (1:17:32), Arenas (1:17:38), Cabecinha (1:18:05)
It does not change the situation for the last 3 km.
Victory to Kimberly Garcia (PER) in 1:31:00
Second place to Sandra Lorena Arenas (COL) in 1:31:13
Third place to Ana Cabecinha (POR) in 1:31:54
Fourth place to Ines Henriques (POR) in 1:32:15
So it vanishes the dream of Ines Henriques to celebrate with a win her 100th race with a time less than 1:40:00 on the 20km, but the performance, however, remains unchanged and is of high level.
20km men
The race is less exciting than women.
- First 5 km: 20:50
They are in a dozen in the head group led by Tom Bosworth (GBR) with Alex Wright (IRL), Eider Arevalo (COL), Hassanine Sbei (TUN), Esteban Soto (COL) and Perseus Karlstrom (SWE) in the first positions.
- At 10 km: 41:15
Perseus Karlstrom (SWE) is leading the pack, and the others with him.
Meanwhile was disqualified Zacharias Tsamoudakis (GRE).
Shortly after Karlstrom (41:46) arrives the first U20 competing in 10km Zhang Yao (CHN), who won the race with a beautiful walk, while the teammate Xin Liu (CHN) can not say the same as it was stopped in the Pit Lane area and abandons the race .
- At 15 km: 1:05:15
Between 10km and 15km the try to force the pace before Karlstrom, then Wright, then again Bosworth.
But the others recover and at 15km the order is: Arevalo (COL), Bosworth (GBR), Sbei (TUN), Wright (IRL), Soto (COL) and Karlstrom (SWE).
- Latest 5 km
Again Tom Bosworth force the pace.
Resists only Eider Arevalo, and they gained about twenty meters.
The race looks set for the top two positions.
Two laps to go Eider Arevalo decides it's time to try to win and force the pace. It will be the right time. Tom Bosworth gives way in turn twenty meters.
The last two rounds Arevalo monitors and won in 1:20:40
Second place to Tom Bosworth in 1:20:58
Third place to Hassanine Sbei (TUN) in 1:21:12
Fourth Esteban Soto (COL) in 1:21:13 and fifth Alex Wright (IRL) in 1:21:17
(From IAAF web-site by Antonio Manuel Fernandes)
Colombia’s Eider Arevalo regained his title at the Race Walking Grand Prix in Rio Maior, while Peru’s Kimberly Garcia dashed hopes of a Portuguese win in the women’s race at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge meeting on Saturday.
20km Men
Led by British record-holder Tom Bosworth, a large group passed through the first 5km of the men’s race in 20:50. Ten men were still in contention at the half-way mark, which was reached in 41:15. Ireland’s Alex Wright, the recent winner in Lugano, led the pack at 15km. Having covered the previous 5km segment in 20:03, just five other men – including Arevalo and Bosworth – were left at the front. Arevalo then upped the pace in the closing stages and, after covering the final 5km in 19:21, went on to cross the finish line in 1:20:40. His time was the second-fastest performance of his career, 55 seconds shy of the PB he set in Podebrady in 2013. It was also one second faster than his winning time in Rio Maior in 2015.
“I was looking for a good result here,” said Arevalo, who won at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge meeting in Ciudad Juarez three weeks ago. “I think this is the result of the work we have been doing until now. I didn’t have a specific time in mind; I simply tried go faster than my winning time in Juarez.”
Following his win in Rio Maior two years ago, Arevalo went on to finish seventh at that year’s IAAF World Championships. After a similarly strong start to his 2017 season, the 24-year-old now hopes to perform even better at the IAAF World Championships London 2017.
Bosworth finished second in a season’s best of 1:20:58 while Tunisia’s Hassanine Sebei placed third in 1:21:12, his highest finish from his six appearances in Rio Maior.
20km Women
Local supporters had hoped that this would be the year when one of Portugal’s leading race walkers would win the women’s race, but Peru’s Kimberly Garcia pulled off a surprise victory. In a bid to shelter from the strong winds in Rio Maior, all of the pre-race favourites bunched together during the opening kilometres, passing 5km in 23:41 and 10km in 46:24. With the men’s and women’s races taking place at the same time, Colombia’s Sandra Arenas was passed by compatriot Jorge Ruiz, competing in the men’s race, at about 11km and she tried to go with him, a move which broke up the lead pack in the women’s race. Arenas had a five-second lead over Garcia at 15km, reached in 1:08:36, but the Peruvian gradually closed in on Arenas and eventually passed her before going on to win in a season’s best of 1:31:00.
"I’m very happy with this victory,” said Garcia, who finished 14th at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “It shows the work I’ve made until now. I came here with a season’s best of 1:35 and I’ve improved to 1:31.”
Arenas finished 13 seconds in arrears to take the runner-up spot. After finishing third at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge meetings in Ciudad Juarez and Monterrey, Portugal’s Ana Cabecinha once again finished third, this time clocking 1:31:54. Ines Henriques, who was contesting her 100th 20km race, was fourth in 1:32:15.
“I’m very happy with this year’s performances,” said the 36-year-old, who earlier this year set a world record (pending ratification) of 4:08:26 over 50km. “After 18 years in this sport, it is really good to see the support from people. I feel really tired because in the past month-and-a-half I have covered 130 kilometres in competition!”