In recent weeks, a number of events have taken place in world walking that deserve our attention.

 Referees for the 2024 Olympics in Paris have been selected. The corps of pedestrian judges will consist of seven members, 4 men will be supplemented by 3 women, and the scorer will be the former Slovak pedestrian Zuzana Costin (formerly Malíková). Among the men, Frederic Bianchi will hold the referee's targets, whom Czech pedestrians had the opportunity to meet, for example, at the 2021 European Championship of Walking Teams, and this year Frederic accepted Pepa Smola's invitation to the Prague clockwork. A week later, he assessed the technical performance of the athletes in Zittau.

Another name from Poděbrady is Steve Taylor from Great Britain. The representatives of French athletics Jean-Pierre Dahm and Daniel Michaud (CAN) will also judge. Echo Yeung, who represents Hong Kong, will also judge, Kirsten Crocker will come from Australia and Dolores Rojas from Spain.

Among the referees of all races we can also find the name of Emannuel Tardi, who refereed and competed in Poděbrady and is also a referee in the Czech-German Zittau.

In Dublin, Ireland, on the traditional December date, 17.12. bronze level meeting,

which is also the Irish Championship. The main organizer of that race is none other than Pierce O'Callaghan. After last year's windstorm, this year Dublin welcomed the competitors with de facto ideal racing weather. The biggest star of this meeting is traditionally Perseus Karlström, who is a ward of the Irish elite walker of the past Robert Heffernan.

The Swedish viking, after last year's suffering at the 35 km distance, signed up for the 20 km race this year. On the turning circuit, he showed a start-to-finish style performance that few expected in December. Time  1:18:39

is a repeated confirmation of the OH limit. In second place, Noel Chama from Mexico also performed very well - 1:20:05. Partanen from Finland, who was third at the finish line, could also enjoy his performance 27 seconds below the 81 minute mark. Hungarian competitor Norbert Tóth crossed the finish line in eighth place. After his record-breaking performance at the Pražská hodinovka, he decided to withdraw from the race in Zittau and preferred to prepare for Dublin. He reached a new OR of 1:24:22 and can currently train with the prospect of the EC in Rome. 23 competitors saw the finish line. A whole number of walkers, including Slovaks Morvay and Úradník, did not finish the race.

A huge surprise was born among the women. There was no doubt that Mária Katarinka Czaková was one of the favorites. This season, the Slovak athlete is still getting back into shape after giving birth last year, but she is not leaving anything to the last minute and is fighting hard for her next participation in the Olympics.

After performing sub 1:37 in the Slovak national championship on the track in October and then third place in Zittau, she managed a perfect, in fact Olympic, shot. From the beginning of the race, she was in the leading group, she flew through the second ten in sub 45 minutes and in her second career best time - 1:31:42, she managed not only a clear victory, but also a real Olympic hope. She was only 2 seconds short of the sharp limit for the EC in Rome, and thanks to the bonus points, she is not only in Rome at the moment, but also in Paris! Sure, it will still be a tough fight in the spring, but her starting position through 2024 is excellent.

Greek pedestrian Tsinopoulou was more than 3 1/2 minutes back for second place, and third place was taken by another Greek woman, Fiaska, with a performance of over 1:37. 15 female athletes saw the finish line.

In the inserted 10 km race, we had the opportunity to see the return of the British walker Callum Wilkinson, who is returning after prolonged health problems. With a time of 42:18, he is still behind his previous performance, but it shows that his preparation is going in the right direction.

Slovak athletes Bátovský / Dudová dominated the 10 km youth race.

However, what was most interesting in Dublin is the first Olympic relay in Europe. Around the world, competitors on the South American continent and in Osaka, Japan have already tried the relay, but it was the first time in Europe. And it was definitely something to look at. 4 teams applied - SVK, Ireland, Finland and Hungary.

From the beginning, the home team consisting of Brendan Boyce (he dominated the top ten in Olomouc this year) and Kate Veale was in the lead. The Finnish walkers Jokinen - Veikkola kept up with them. Men walked the first 12 km section, followed by three 10 km long sections. Slovak competitors started more cautiously and their strategy was to accelerate in the second half. The prudent start paid off and the pair Černý - Burzalová reduced the lead of the leading teams. The Slovaks entered the last ten in second place with a loss of more than a minute to the leader of the Irish. With a concentrated performance, Burzalová managed not only to outrun the Irish woman, but also to give her 31 seconds. The time of 3:11:17 is sixth in the world at the moment, but that doesn't mean anything, given the way the Olympics are qualified. However, the Slovaks gained valuable experience for the spring fight for Paris.

Overall, it can be said that our neighbors' strategy with a number of national championships in the fall is working out. If we add to that their form, which they sold in Zittau and Dublin (the Zittau race was highly praised by the organization, Dublin was also evaluated very negatively on the association's website),

then their chances of participating in Paris, when they have the chance to take additional bonus points thanks to the championships next year, more than real. In Antalya, if the races in Dudince and Poděbrady are solidly taken, they will also be able to fight for the relay. We can only envy their drive to the goal and their strategic thinking.

However, the December races do not end in Dublin. 24.12. there was a race in a Turkish city Adana.

Turks do not celebrate Christmas, although we can see a Christmas tree everywhere in Turkey. However, it is called Yılbaşı ağağı (New Year's tree) there, so the Turks could go to the races on Christmas Day instead of wrapping carp. The race took place in the stadium and the main distances were 10 m distance. Among the men, Mazlum Demir managed to win in just 000 second over 1 minutes. Behind him for the U40 national record was the third from this year's Poděbrady, Hayrettin Yildiz. The performance of 20:40 is a significant personal record for the nineteen-year-old athlete. The first 26,5 juniors went under 3 minutes.

Among the women, tiny Ayše Tekdal won in a training pace of 47:43,9.

The competitions took place under the strict supervision of new judges of international level. Gaye Bekler, son of national team coach Serhat Akyavaş, passed the tests for the silver level in the autumn term.

and Yeliz AY Yildiz, a participant in the 1998 Olympic Games in Atlanta or the WC in Poděbrady.

In addition to road races, the indoor season is also starting. In Slovakia, a 3000 m long race was held in Banská Bystrica. Slovakian Burzalová set a personal record of 13:22.0, among men Dominik Černý won with a time of 11:35,4.

And one more very interesting news came from abroad. Today, former elite walker Tom Bosworth from Great Britain has become a Member of the Order of the British Empire. He received the award from King Charles not only for his results, but above all for his unceasing work in popularizing walking, which has a real impact on the community, and Tom was and is an example to others with his work. Tom is the first walker to receive this award. For the uninitiated, Tom was the one who first introduced walking to the Diamond League (first in 2017). In Britain he took part in a number of shows where he taught celebrities how to walk, competed in various races with runners and significantly increased the air time that walking is on TV in Britain! Even in walking retirement, he is still a very popular and active spokesperson for the walking community in Britain. He has never been afraid to talk about controversial topics (more than 10 years ago he publicly came out to the LGBT community, which was not common for male athletes at that time), the topic of mental health is also important to him (he can talk publicly about a suicide attempt), but he still and above all remains a prominent figure in walking sports and continues to promote our discipline in recruitment events.

Walking December is a thing of the past and soon we will start counting the first hours of the Olympic year 2024.

The first races will traditionally take place on January 1.1. in Japan.

We wish all our athletes, not only the elite ones, good health until 2024. Everything else is just up to the athletes and their training morale.

So below is another photo from this year's last training session 31.12.2023, 18:XNUMX, Schöneben, Austria (.....and tomorrow we continue....!)

We wish everyone a successful entry into 2024 and lots of health, happiness and joy in it / Wir wünschen allen einen guten Rutsch ins Jahr 2024 und dafür Gesundheit, Glück und Freude.

NEW YEAR'S HALL 2023 IS IN THE PAST! 

RESULTS

On Wednesday 27.12. the traditional New Year's Eve race was hosted by the Jabloneck Hall. In the walking disciplines, the competitors had the opportunity to test their performance on the 2000 m, 3000 m tracks, and the 5 m distance was listed for men.

This time, lower participation than in previous years, was most likely due to the wave of respiratory diseases that is sweeping the Czech Republic.

The men started their race first in the 5000 m. Looking at the names of the nine participants, it was clear who is the biggest favorite of the race. Rumbur veteran Martin Nedvidek despite the Christmas virus, went to the front of the race from the first meters and clearly dominated the race. At a graded pace, this M48 racer ran out for a very high quality performance 22:53.12. Behind him, a teenager raced through the apple tree hall to an excellent performance Matej Piták. In the last two years, Matěj saved by walking starts and devoted himself mainly to cycling. In the Jablonec hall, he completed a quality race and came close to winning the indoor race 23:54.28. He also finished third at the finish line with great performance progress Michal Řežabek from Spartak Prague 4. Even last year, he performed above the 6-minute mark. This year, he started to improve in terms of performance and after a 6-minute pace, he was able to go under the five-minute limit for the first time in the race. The oldest competitor at the start was indomitable Peter Adam (34:24.74) with a birth year of  1950! Bravo. Bravo. Bravo!!!

Then the 3000 m competitors started their race. 22 women, male and female students took part in the mixed race. And just looking at the applications gave an idea that there was going to be something to look forward to. Tereza Ďurdiaková also signed up, so the Czech elite women's lineup was complete.

And given that Czech Television also found its way to the Jablonec hall, it was clear that the couple Martínková - Ďurdiaková intends to attack the Czech record. This was soon confirmed, Martínková flew through the first kilometer in 4:10, and Tereza lost approx. 5 seconds behind her. Martínková she kept the set pace almost to the finish line and could celebrate her first career time under 13 minutes. With a performance of 12:34.04 she was only 6 seconds behind the Czech record set by Dana Vavřačová from Glasgow in 1990. However, even if Martínková broke the record, Vavřačová's performance would remain in the charts. The Jablonecka hall is 300m long, and Martínková's great performance will be listed in the statistics as a performance achieved on a longer track.

Tereza Ďurdiaková although she wasn't up to Elišča's pace, she also showed an excellent race. Performance 13:14.73 it is one of her best at this distance, it is even a personal record indoors. In addition, we must praise the technical performance of Tereza, who ran a really great race. The third place belongs to juniors Emma Klimentová. She also ran for OR in her first sub 14 min time, performance 13:50.58 is  excellent. The fourth representative at the start, Elizabeth Frankl although she went below the 15-minute mark, there is still something missing from personal best performances. 13 competitors reached the finish line.

Among the pupils, we had the opportunity to watch another beautiful race of four Mochal - Rösler - Plecháček - Vejvančický. All 4 performed below the OR limit in the hall. For the indoor OR 14:20.62 and a clear victory, František Párys's manager Dan Mochal from Liberec ran out. Second place went to Mark Rösler, 9 seconds back. With a greater distance, Plecháček from Turnov passed the third finish line in 14:49.56, and for the first time Vojtěch Vejvančický from Rumbur got under 15 minutes with 14:59.36. In a few days, all 4 will move to the adult category, where they will try to follow Matěj Piták's heels. 7 competitors reached the finish line.

There were only 2 female students at the start, Bára Měrková from AK Duchcov won before Barbora Švadlenková from Athletics Jižní Město. In the 2000m walk, Lucie Maredová won in the indoor OR 13:01.79, and Lucie Plašilová from Znojmo completed her first walking race.

The New Year's Eve hall showed that we have a lot to look forward to not only in the indoor season.

A big thank you goes to the organizers for their annual efforts and enthusiasm with which they dedicate themselves to the preparation of the race.

 To the photos:

Top photo: Start of the 5.000m race 

Middle photo: Eliška Martínková, winner of the 3.000m race

Lower photo: Tereza Ďurdiaková, second in the 3.000m race