The Motonet Gran d Prix in athletics is an interesting series of meetings that takes place between the months of May and August in various cities in Finland.
This year it started in Lahti on 25 May and then continued in Tampere, Espoo, Kuortane, Jyvaskyla and ended in Lappeenranta on 24 August.
Today we deal with the Espoo test which took place on Wednesday 8 June at the Leppavaara stadium starting at 17:00
There were two walking races. A 10,000m track walk reserved to men and a 5,000m track walk reserved to women.
10,000m track walk men
The star of the test was undoubtedly Tom Bosworth (GBR) who did not wait too long and scored a brilliant victory in 40:45.38.
This time for the 32-year-old British athlete also represents the new personal best on distance. The previous was dated 16.6.2013 and was obtained in Bedford (GBR) with a mark of 42:33.82. A notable improvement for Bosworth (1:48.44) even if nine years later we are talking about a completely different and much more experienced athlete.
But for the local public the most important result was the one obtained by Sajan Irincheev just 18 years old being born in Tapio (FIN) on 10.4.2004
Irincheev lowered his record of 10,000m at the Espoo Motonet GP to 42:10.93 (the previous was obtained on 3.7.2021 in Lahti)
With his record, Irincheev rose to third place in the all-time statistics of Finland headed by that sacred monster who goes by the name of Valentin Kononen.
Irincheev, who is aiming for the U20 World Championships, made the following statement: "Today it has been a really tough day. I started with a fairly steady pace and drove three kilometers. Then I went a little fast. Even though I thought I wasn't able to. to continue like this"
Third place went to Joni Hava in 42:37.64
Aleksi Ojala, the race favorite, received three red cards within a minute and was then disqualified after finishing the fourth.
All the athletes who completed the race established their personal best: a very important statistic.
5.000m track walk women
Enni Nurmi (FIN) won the women's 5,000 meters walk with the new personal of 22.29.74. The previous one dates back to last season (23: 52.76) and was obtained on 8.9.2021 in Laitila (FIN). We add that this time time is the sixth best in Finland's all-time statistics.
Second place to Ella Rautawaara (FIN) with a time of 22: 57.35 and who broke the Finnish U14 record. The previous record was 24.27.88 trodden by Krista Ranta-Peren in 1995. At the end of the race Ella Rautawaara declared that “The record was not in mind. I just wanted to have fun "
Third place to Aliisa Kiiski (FIN) in 24: 52.96 also for her personal best.