The choice of the athlete in April 2019 is almost entirely the result of competitions that took place in the first half of the month.
It started with Rio Maior (POR) where in the 20km men (of women we will talk later) five athletes, although on a difficult windy day, walked down the wall of 1:22:00.
In the same day the 20km of Podebrady (CZE) have seen athletes under 1:21:00.
For the nominations of the best athlete of the month we had set the threshold at 1.150 points.
Then the 50km of Wajima (JPN) disrupted all the cards in play.
Men category
We have limited our choice to the first three of the individual races
| Date | Event | Venue | Distance | Athlete | Result |
| | | | | | |
| 6.4.2019 | IAAF Challenge | Rio Maior | 20km | AREVALO Eider | 1:21:15 |
| 6.4.2019 | IAAF Challenge | Rio Maior | 20km | GARCIA Diego | 1:21:26 |
| 6.4.2019 | IAAF Challenge | Rio Maior | 20km | TAKAHASHI Eiki | 1:21:40 |
| 6.4.2019 | European Permit Meeting | Podebrady | 20km | MIZINOV Vasiliy | 1:20:14 |
| 6.4.2019 | European Permit Meeting | Podebrady | 20km | SNYMAN Wayne | 1:20:17 |
| 6.4.2019 | European Permit Meeting | Podebrady | 20km | LINKE Christopher | 1:20:33 |
| 14.4.2019 | Japan 50km Championships | Wajima | 50km | SUZUKI Yusuke | 3:39:07 |
| 14.4.2019 | Japan 50km Championships | Wajima | 50km | KAWANO Masatora | 3:39:24 |
| 14.4.2019 | Japan 50km Championships | Wajima | 50km | MARUO Satoshi | 3:40:04 |
| 21.4.2019 | Copa Panamericana | Lazaro Cardenas | 50km | PALMA Isaac | 3:49:39 |
Using the same system as always, we determined the best performance of April.
| Pos. | Athlete | Result | Score points |
| | | | |
| 1. | SUZUKI Yusuke | 3:39:07 | 1.228 |
| 2. | KAWANO Masatora | 3:39:24 | 1.227 |
| 3. | MARUO Satoshi | 3:40:04 | 1.223 |
| 4. | MIZINOV Vasiliy | 1:20:14 | 1.186 |
| 5. | SNYMAN Wayne | 1:20:17 | 1.185 |
| 6. | LINKE Christopher | 1:20:33 | 1.179 |
| 7. | PALMA Isaac | 3:40:39 | 1.165 |
| 8. | AREVALO Eider | 1:21:15 | 1.164 |
| 9. | GARCIA Diego | 1:21:16 | 1.160 |
| 10. | TAKAHASHI Eiki | 1:21:40 | 1.155 |
Interesting are the time differences corresponding to the scores between the winner of the 50km of Wajima and those of the two 20km of Podebrady and Rio Maior.
The following table tells us, for example, that to obtain a score higher than Suzuki (and therefore win the title of athlete in April), Mizinov should have obtained a mark of 1:18:16 lower then 1:58 than that obtained in Podebrady.
Similarly to overcome in second place Masatora Kawano he would have had to get a mark of 1:18:19 and to overcome in third place Satoshi Maruo would have had to get a mark of 1:18:32.
| Athlete | Result | To be 1st | To be 2nd | To be 3rd |
| | | | | |
| SUZUKI Yusuke | 3:39:07 | - | Kawano (3:39:24) | Maruo (3:40:04) |
| MIZINOV Vasiliy | 1:20:14 | (1:18:16; -1:58) | (1:18:19; -1:55) | (1:18:32; -1:42) |
| AREVALO Eider | 1:21:15 | (1:18:16; -2:59) | (1:18:19; -2:56) | (1:18:32; -2:43) |
Women category
For women, the entry threshold for nominations for the month of april was lowered by us to 1.130 points (20 points less than that of men).
| Date | Event | Venue | Distance | Athlete | Result |
| | | | | | |
| 6.4.2019 | IAAF Challenge | Rio Maior | 20km | QIEYANG Shenjie | 1:29:00 |
| 6.4.2019 | IAAF Challenge | Rio Maior | 20km | KASHINA Inna | 1:29:30 |
| 6.4.2019 | IAAF Challenge | Rio Maior | 20km | ARENAS Sandra | 1:30:00 |
| 6.4.2019 | European Permit Meeting | Podebrady | 20km | GIORGI Eleonora | 1:27:46 |
| 6.4.2019 | European Permit Meeting | Podebrady | 20km | GONZALEZ Alegna | 1:30:21 |
| 14.4.2019 | Japan 50km Championships | Wajima | 50km | FUCHISE Masumi | 4:19:56 |
| 20.4.2019 | Copa Panamericana | Lazaro Cardenas | 20km | DE SENA Erica | 1:29:22 |
| 20.4.2019 | Copa Panamericana | Lazaro Cardenas | 20km | GARCIA Kimberly | 1:29:33 |
| 21.4.2019 | Copa Panamericana | Lazaro Cardenas | 50km | INGA Evelyn | 4:22:57 |
Using the same system as always, we determined the best performance of April.
| Pos. | Athlete | Result | Score points |
| | | | |
| 1. | GIORGI Eleonora Anna | 1:27:46 | 1.177 |
| 2. | FUCHISE Masumi | 4:19:56 | 1.162 |
| 3. | QIEYANG Shenjie | 1:29:00 | 1.155 |
| 4. | DE SENA Erica | 1:29:22 | 1.148 |
| 5. | KASHINA Inna | 1:29:30 | 1.146 |
| 6. | GARCIA LEON Kimberly | 1:29:33 | 1.145 |
| 6. | INGA Evelyn | 4:22:57 | 1.145 |
| 8. | ARENAS Sandra Lorena | 1:30:00 | 1.137 |
| 9. | GONZALEZ Alegna | 1:30:21 | 1.131 |
There is no doubt that the result obtained by Eleonora Giorgi (ITA) is worth the title of athlete in April 2019.
Instead, what is not so easy to imagine is instead the mark that would have been necessary for Masumi Fuchise (JPN) in the 50km of Wajima to get a higher score.
To the athlete of Japan, to get 1.178 points, it would have taken a performace of 4:17:16 (-2:40) while Eleonora Giorgi would have had to finish her 20km, to get 1.161 points, in 1:28:40 (+0:54).
These considerations take us back to the reasoning repeatedly made on this site about the algorithm that calculates the score in the 50km women.
In our humble opinion, after having also heard some coaches, we consider this algorithm excessively rewarding for the long distance event.