The Czech walking relay team Martínková-Hlaváč barely made it to the Olympics. Great Zajíček created the best historical Czech performance of the U23 category at 20km - 1:24:10! Moravek struggled for 20 km in a time of 1:28:32. The excellent Klimentová was nominated for the U20 WC in Lima in a huge personal record for 10 km - 46:28. Franklová also showed a quality performance in the U20 10km, also in a personal record - 49:04. And why didn't nominated coach Piták, who had the task of leading the Czech marathon relay team to the Olympics, go to this top event? It's a shame that he didn't send an adequate replacement for himself, maybe it was the proverbial little piece that was missing in the end to win the OH nomination......  

RESULTS 10KM RACE WALK MEN

RESULTS 10KM RACE WALK WOMEN

RESULTS 20KM RACE WALK MEN

RESULTS 20KM RACE WALK WOMEN

RESULTS MARATHON RACE WALK MIXED RELAY

This year's first top walking competition, the World Walking Team Championship, was hosted by Antalya, Turkey, last weekend.

The Turks did not leave anything to chance and last year went on a study trip to Poděbrady, where the European Championship of Walking Teams was held.

There is a regular bronze level race in Turkey in January/February. It took place on the road near Konyaaltı beach for many years. This year, however, it moved to the Expo and, unfortunately, the World Cup race was also held at the Expo. Unfortunately, it's completely spot on. An exhibition called Expo was organized by the Turks in 2016, and since then the site, which is located outside the city, has fallen into disrepair. And it was evident at every step.

On Saturday, the day before the main race, the Turks decided to hold a test race following the example of Poděbrady. The question is what they tested. The first snag turned out to be the registration itself for the start. Masters athletes soon discovered that the TAF registration form simply cannot be passed and the system rejects them. In addition, the promotion of the race was zero and most of those interested in the start simply gave up due to problems with registration. The Czechs won it for the resistant ones and after about 3 weeks from the start of the registration, the system was finally functional!

In the early evening of Saturday, the masters athletes together with the youth (there was also the championship of Turkey in the 3 km pupil categories) lined up for the start. Fortunately for everyone, the Czechs were the first to arrive at the site again, and our mini-expedition went through a guessed and shouted anabasis, after which the Turkish security finally understood what was going on and the organizers allowed the competitors to go to Svolavatelna. The lucky ones arriving from the Czech Republic had no idea what was happening a few minutes earlier. Even so, some participants of the masters race referred to the organization of the race with the words "Africa". It turned out that the test race will be peculiar. The timer was not yet fully functional, so the race was timed by hand on a 2km long, not yet completed circuit. The joint start with the children was delayed, but it finally started.

In the Masters race, Pole Lipiec won with a clear hand, unfortunately we don't know his time, the organizers still haven't managed to process the results. Josef Smola won the second place for himself and after the confusion, when they started distributing the medals to the participants with a delay and the winners were completely missed, he also received a beautiful and well-deserved medal after the Turkish adventure. In the end, the originally promised announcement took place only for the youth and only with a microphone, the podium did not yet exist 12 hours before the start of the race. It's amazing what the Turks were able to accomplish overnight. The race track was, from the viewer's point of view, endless. 1km straight there and another kilometer back. During the masters athletes race, the wind blew until the palm trees bent, the next day the weather was significantly better. The circuit was almost unreachable for spectators. Fans could watch about 400m of the entire track, the rest was unavailable. Where there was no race facility, there was a fence, a security guard possibly on the other side of the barrier, a fence and a field. Potential spectators often arrived, lingered for a while and preferred to go to the beach, because there was simply nothing at all in the desolate area.

At 7 a.m. the circuit was ready for the start of the first race. Albert Kukla started in the Czech jersey in the 10 km junior race. He already qualified for the race in Dudince, then he managed to improve by almost 90 seconds and in Turkey he wanted to improve his time. 51 walkers took part in the race. Australian Beacroft won in his country's U20 record 39:56. A mere second back was the Chinese Shi.

European champion Weigel was convinced of how huge the difference is between European and world walking. Despite a personal record of sub 41 minutes, he finished "up to" 10th. Albert Kukla fought for OR in the third ten in the 6 km, but then his legs completely shut down and he fell to the final 31st place in his second best time of 43:29. Although he himself wanted more, he certainly did not disappoint. Although he fell short of the ideal performance in Poděbrady, he confirmed his performance growth and stabilized his sub-44 min performance. There is great promise until next year, when he moves to the adult category.

We had 2 representatives in the women's race. In the junior women's race, the entire starting field of 49 female walkers dispersed cautiously. A 4:45 pace kept most of the female racers together.

The girls started really kicking it after 4 km. The winner was Chinese Yang (45:06) ahead of a pair of Spanish women. Ours Ema Klimentová came to Lima for the limit. She was in the second ten from the start, she was able to react to the acceleration of the race and she was rewarded the best placing of a Czech athlete at the World Championships and, above all, a huge personal record of 46:28 and can start packing for Lima. For the race on the track, it will be necessary to work on the technique, Ema had 2 red cards again and this regular message from the referees must be taken into account. Above all, however, Ema deserves a big congratulations for her quality performance, OR and meeting the limit. Bravo!!!

Alžběta Franklová also gave a quality performance. She finished the race 25th in the new OR 49:04. Both girls are an excellent calling card of coach Čermáková. After sin, the junior team was the only one that the Czech national team was able to field. In the team competition, the girls finished 6 out of 15 teams.

The Czech flag was missing in the women's 20 km race. At the start of Martínková in the relay, unfortunately, we currently do not have another woman with adequate performance. Ďurdiaková has not yet started this year, and the only 20 km performance from last year would not qualify her to start anyway. The winner of the Poděbrady race, the Peruvian beauty Kimberly Garcia Leon (1:27:12), won the gold.

After the women, the men started. The winner was none other than the Swedish viking. Czech number one Vít Hlaváč concentrated his efforts on the relay, and at the start Moravek and Zajíček were 6 years younger. They both set off de facto side by side and for the first 2,5 km they moved in the sixth ten with identical split times. While Zajíček was subsequently able to accelerate, Morávek struggled enormously and the pace was already on tit faded by the kilometer. He did not burn the race, 5 km just over 21 minutes is common for him, but this was not his day. It is to his credit that he was able to finish the race at all. It must have been long kilometers on a not very fun track. Moravek finished disappointed in 61st place in 1:28:32 and certainly gained a very valuable experience.

The bunny was performing a different race. He already had a slight lead on the third, which he continued to increase. 10 km in exactly 41 minutes means a new personal record. The bunny then slowed down, but the 1:24:10 performance can withstand the most stringent standards. He did great on a hot day. With his performance, he improved last year's best historical Czech performance in the U23 category of Morávka from Espaa (1:25:33) and ranked 9th in the Czech historical charts. Bravo! Even so, just like last year, a dark cloud hangs over his performance. The Czech expedition of 7 competitors had 2 coaches available in the nomination, the pair Čermáková - Piták. In reality, Piták did not have a single ward in the expedition (Hlaváč was credited to him) and his nomination was difficult to justify. As in Espao, there was no place left for Karel Ketner, who sent 2 wards to Espao and Antalya. What is scandalous about the whole situation is that coach Piták did not travel at all and his place at the refreshment stand was taken by junior Kukla, a ward of the unnominated Ketner, who is obviously not welcome. In the words of the classic performed by the legendary Václav Postránecký "I want to vomit". How long will we nominate based on personal merit and not on the basis of who has his people at the start?

The relay race was not only about the world record, but also about the first real test of a new discipline and Olympic qualification. The race started an hour after noon and it was really hellish on the track at that time. The first 22 teams progressed directly (the 5 best countries could have 2 representatives) and the other 3 relays are nominated to Paris over time. Most of the elite male and female walkers stood up for the relay start. The men started the race with a 12 km section. Vit Hlaváč he went through the top ten in a good time of 41:36 and handed over to Eliška Martínková from the 12th position after 36 km. Martínková was on the edge of her possibilities, got the Czech pair into the top 30 and therefore into advancing positions (many relays ahead of them were eliminated from the Olympic qualification), but unfortunately they could not keep the pace at the level of 4:25/km within the technical limits. There were 3 red cards for contact, and Eliška went to the penalty zone for 3 minutes, and the Czech relay dropped to 40th place. Vítek tried, but at the first red card he also wandered into the penalty area for a minute and thus passed to Eliška at the level of 37th place. Like all female competitors, Eliška went a bit more freely in the second ten, returning to the race after a 45-minute break is extremely challenging for everyone, and with a more technically confident step she was able to finish the race in 34th place. As part of the Olympic qualification, we were 2 places away from advancing, and unfortunately, at the moment, the Czech relay team is not even in time for the Olympics. The Czech pair is the first under the line. Both competitors fought with all their might and set at least a new national record of 3:08:52.

The whole race was a demonstration of will, a fast race and at the same time the need to do the best technically possible. The number of minutes spent in the penalty zone was decisive in many cases. Anyone who wants to succeed in the fight for Paris medals will have to choose a different tactic than expected. It's better to go a minute looser and technically sure than go overboard and lose everything. This was the case of the second French relay, the Brazilian pair lost the title of world champions and ended up literally fifth in the last two circuits, the Slovak pair Úradník - Czaková from a clear progression and the famous 12 rungs handed over the progress to the pair Černý - Burzalová. And we could go on.

The Canadian relay performed a heroic performance. The mismatched pair of Dunfee - Lundman relied on Dunfee going super fast while Olivia, walking outside the level needed for the Olympics, would go her best. However, the athlete, who rarely gets under 49 minutes, won the Olympic dream with great will in the last meters.

The Italian pair Fortunato - Trapletti won in a new world record of 2:56:45. The victory was brought to them above all by a technically perfect performance.

The overall evaluation of the WC walking teams is contradictory from the Czech point of view. With one exception, we were unable to assemble the teams. However, we have to evaluate the performances of individuals positively in all cases, because Morávek was able to finish the race and few people would bet on that in the middle of the race. The others performed either excellent or very well at the edge of their capabilities. They failed to qualify for the Olympics, which is certainly a disappointment especially for the athletes themselves, looking at the starting lists it was clear that progress will be on the edge of our pedestrians' possibilities. There is a lot to work on, but the team is young (except for Vítek, he is already an experienced competitor) and there is potential. The representation at the individual level definitely deserves praise.

The date of the race is 5^th of May 2024 in the Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.

In case of interest it is necessary to send the application form until May 3 until 12:00. this email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need to have Javascript enabled.

For more information visit: www.bcfduklabb.sk

In case of your questions, do not hesitate to write an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need to have Javascript enabled.

Sincerely,

On Sunday 28.4. will take place in Nové Město nad Metují, the first championship race of adult categories in walking for 10m on the track. The race will be part of the traditional Točená desítka pedestrian race, in addition to the MČR, male and female pedestrians will also fight for the first league points of this year.

The nomination criterion - ranking for the Olympic and European Games - led the athletics officials to organize a new championship race. Qualifying for big races will become more and more difficult, the limits are very strict and you need to take advantage of the chances that the ranking offers. The 10m counts towards the top 000 and championship races allow our elite athletes to earn bonus points for winning. In addition to domestic referees, the competition will also be judged by 3 referees of international level.

It is a credit to the organizers of the race, led by David Šnajdre, that they are willing to add a penalty zone to the race, which is practically not used in our country, with the exception of Poděbrady and Zittau. Hopefully they will set an example for other organizers, building a pit lane is not difficult.

We can expect the participation of the entire top Czech team, and especially in the men's race, where we have created great competition, it will be something to watch, given the foursome Hlaváč - Morávek - Zajíček and, unexpectedly, Gdula. He performed well in Poděbrady, then excelled at the MČR in Pardubice at the weekend, when he finished 7th in the half-marathon distance in a very good performance of 1:10:20!

Rostislav Kolář wrote something about the history of 10m walking in a beautiful article. Thanks for his contribution:

The championship discipline of 10 m walking in a historical perspective - author Rostislav Kolář:

This article is dedicated to the memory of, among other things, the unattainable promoter of race walking, coach, former representative, Mr. MUDr. Petr Brandejský.

The pedestrian environment unequivocally welcomes the inclusion of the 10 m walking championship in the competition calendar. First of all, however, it should be noted that this is not exactly a novelty in championship disciplines. On the 000 m course, i.e. on the track, walkers fought for championship titles more than 10 years ago (sic!).

But let's take it in order, because it is a discipline with a very eventful history in the history of athletics, which brought Czechoslovakia extraordinary successes. A brief outline will show us the uniqueness of the 10 m walking race itself and will surely be an inspiration for our competitors, especially when it comes to the performances achieved at that time.

There was even a 10 m walking race Olympic discipline, already in 1912 at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, where the Czech Republic was represented by Rudolf Richter (the winner was the Canadian GH Goulding in 46:28,4). After the First World War, at the Olympic Games in Antwerp held in 1920 in the 10 m walking race (as well as in the 000 m walking race), the multiple Czechoslovakian record holder, Josef Šlehofer (the winner was U. Frigerio from Italy in a time of 3 :000). The 48 m walking race was next on the program of the Olympic Games in Paris in 06,2, where U. Frigerio from Italy won with a performance of 10:000. The 1924 m walking race returns to the Olympic Games program after II. World War I at the London Olympics, won by Mikaelsson of Sweden in an Olympic record 47:49. The last time the 10m walk was held at the Olympics was in Helsinki in 000, where Sweden's Mikaelsson defended his victory in an Olympic record time of 45:13,2. Czechoslovak Josef Doležal was fifth in the split with a time of 10:000 (he did not enter the final due to injury, but at the same time at these games he won a silver medal in the 1952 km walking race).

If it is about European Championships, the 10 m walking race was on the program in 000 in Brussels and in 1950 in Bern, where our representative, the world record holder Josef Doležal, won in a time of 1954:45, more than three-quarters of a minute ahead of A .by Yegorov from the USSR.

The biggest event in post-war Czechoslovakia itself, as far as the 10 m walking race is concerned, was the memorable match between the master of sports Václav Balšán and the Swede Werner Hardm, held on October 000, 24 in Strahov, Prague, in front of more than 10 people. spectators. On this day, the Czechoslovak competitor challenged the world record holder Hardm to a duel and after a dramatic duel he set a new world record of 1945:20, which, however, was not recognized as a world record by the International Walking Federation due to additional doubts.

It is therefore possible to state that the 10 m walking race is in the history of the Czech Republic, or of Czechoslovak athletics, written in gold letters. And now we can focus on the Championship of the Republic in this discipline itself.

First Championship of the Czechoslovak Republic on 10 m walking took place already 104 years ago, i.e. in 1920 (25 July), at the Letná stadium in Prague, which was also the venue for the championship in the following years. The winner was Josef Šlehofer from AC Praha 7 with a performance of 1890:52, second was Jan Plichta from SK Slavia Prague (57,6:53) and third was František Štětina from AC Sparta Prague (58,8:55). In 32, J. Šlehofer defended the championship title with a time of 1921:51, winning until 23 (1924:49). After a hiatus of several years, the 05,6 m walking race returns to the program of the Czech National Championships. of the Republic in 10, when the above-mentioned Václav Balšán from AC Praha 000 won in a time of 1932:1890. The following year, he defended his championship title with a performance of 49:01. Czech Championship the republic's 47 m walk continued until 32,2, when Jaroslav Štork-Žofka from AC Sparta Prague won in Strahov (including 10th in the 000 km walk at the Berlin Olympics in 1938) in a time of 4:50. The year 1936 is worth mentioning, when two Championships were held, firstly the ČAU Championship in Strahov in Prague and secondly the Championship of the Pedestrian Federation in Karlín, also in Prague. Until then, the venue of the race was Prague's Letná.

During the period of the Protectorate, pedestrians competed in a 10 m walk as part of the Czech and Moravian Championships in Prague in Strahov. Václav Balšán collected the most titles at this distance at the time in the AC Sparta Praha, SK Sparta Michle and SK Jawa jerseys (000 times, with the best performance of 5:43), Otakar Buhl from SK Slavia Prague won 57,6 time.

Czech Championship the Republic's 10 m walk subsequently took place after the liberation of the homeland in 000, the winner of which was again Václav Balšán in a time of 1945:43. He defends his title in the following year as well. In 36, the Na Mrázovce stadium in Prague became the venue for this championship instead of Strahov, and Jaroslav Oliva from Železáren Kladno became the champion in a time of 1947:47. In 26,2, the championship title in Strahov returned to the hands of Václav Balšán from Sokol Jawa Prague for a performance of 1948:47, which he defended the following year as well (22,5:44).

In 1950, Jindřich Malý from ATK wins in a time of 49,44,6. In the following year, the venue of the race is Brno, and the winner for the first time is the most successful Czech Republic, or the Czech pedestrian, the already mentioned Josef Doležal with a performance of 46:02,2. He defends the title until 1954, when the history of this master discipline (as you can see, only temporarily) closes. The following two years (1952 and 1953) were held in Strahov, and in 1954 the pedestrians took part in the Czech Championship for the last time. of the republic in the 10 m walk race in Vítkovice (the winner J. Doležal's time was 000:45, silver was taken by the legendary Václav Balšán, who was already 55,4 years old at the time).

The modern (meaning 21st century) history of this master discipline in the adult category begins to be written in the current year, and we can only wish the participants of the 10 m walking championship of the Republic, which will be held on 000 April 28 in Nové Město nad Metují, to successfully followed up on the achievements of their predecessors.

Petr Brandejský Cup 2024 - standings after the 1st race

3km and 5km races at the WA Walking Golden Meet Underarms Walking 2024 were also the opening competitions of the XNUMXnd year of the Petr Brandejský Memorial. After last year's premier year, which was reserved only for veterans, all categories are competing this year, and the very first measurement of strength brought interesting results. The leading positions in both categories in the first race are still held by foreign competitors.

Below is the cup standings after the first race in Poděbrady. The second race of the series is already taking place 1.5.2024 - Děčín-Hřensko-Děčín DHD in a 10 km walk on the track (Proposition below in .pdf).  

Stand des Brandejský Pokalwettbewerbes nach erstem Wettkampf Poděbrady Walking, liegt unten, wie folgt vor. Zweite Bewerb der Serie findet schon am 1.5.2024 - Děčín-Hřensko-Děčín DHD 10 km Bahngehen  (Ausschreibung wie folgt in .pdf) statt.

DHD PROPOSAL .pdf / AUSSCHREIBUNG DHD .pdf 

Processing of the table / Auswerten: František Párys // Scoring system / Punktsystem: Udo Schaeffer - www.geherpokal.de  

Petr Brandejský Cup 2024 - standings after the 1st race in Poděbrady

A young seven-member team and a coach, who does not have a single client in the nomination, will go to the team walking WC!!! World rarity!!!

11th edition - 19 October 2024, Stadium AC PRAGUE 1890, PRAGUE 8 - LIBEŇ

Kimberly García and Perseus Karlström dominated the gold meeting of the Poděbrady Walking world circuit in track records. Czech titles at 20 km were defended by Vít Hlaváč and Eliška Martínková. Ema Klimentová dominated the junior top ten, Albert Kukla finished third.

RESULTS

HONZA NEKULA PHOTO GALLERY

MIRIAM STEWART PHOTO GALLERY:

PHOTO GALLERY - 20km MEN - PART 1

PHOTO GALLERY - 20km MEN - PART 2

PHOTO GALLERY - 20km WOMEN

PHOTO GALLERY - 10km MEN U20, WOMEN U20

PHOTO GALLERY - 3km, 5km MASTERS, U16

PHOTO GALLERY - 5km + 20km MASTERS

The spa colonnade hosted on Saturday 6.4. already the 92nd year of the famous Poděbrady walking meeting. The year was a record in many ways. In the Olympic year, the spa circuit attracted a record number of top walkers, unfortunately the weather was also record breaking. Burning Sun and the 26thº, this is definitely not normal April weather.

The race circuit was again excellently prepared from Friday by the team around Jan Rein, who is always faithfully accompanied by his wife Míla. Thank you for your dedicated work.

The race day started an hour before noon with a 3 km start. After a great fight, the Slovakian pedestrian Dominika Pernická (14:35) crossed the finish line victoriously, who managed to shake off the still newbie among pedestrians, the skilled runner and protégé of Karel Ketner Hynk Svoboda, in the last 500 m. OR from Dudincé improved by 2 seconds to 14:39. A talented walker from Duchcov Slaměník appeared at the finish line in third place, also in an improved OR - 15:43. The third student was Miroslav Myška (16:14), who finished with Noemi Maják from Kadaň. She was second in the female class and she is also improving race after race - 16:14 and will probably soon break the 16 minute mark. The third pupil was Viktorie Vaňková, and for her the Poděbrady race was a sign of the best personal performance - 16:33.

Among the young walkers, the performance of Kateřina Kratochvílová, a young competitor from AC Rumburk, who did not hesitate after her race and joined the work at the refreshment station and resolutely refilled water for adult walkers should be highlighted. Bravo. The students showed an overall solidly mastered technique and nice performances.

After them, the male and female pedestrians prepared for their race on the 5 km course. In the mixed race of U16 and Masters athletes, we saw a number of excellent performances. Slovak pedestrian Lukáš Rosenbaum was the clear winner of U16 - 21:57. Dan Mochal from Liberec reached the finish line in second place, but the great OR did not register. A justified disqualification came very quickly and Dan will have to wait for the first time under 23 minutes. It must be said that the competitor had a whole series of warnings from 5 judges and collected 3 reds in the last lap. It is a pity for him that the penalty zone was not applied in the junior race. It was prepared and it is hard to understand that it is not applied to a youth race, when this rule was introduced in the beginning precisely for the sake of youth. If Mochal had received a 30 sec penalty, he would have still made it to OR and finished fifth in the race, thereby registering a DQ. The other Czech juniors performed excellently, of which the trio Plecháček - 23:59, Rösler - 24:22 and Vejvančický - 24:57 should be singled out. All demonstrated OR. The biggest compliment goes to Vejvančický, who worked all Friday on preparing the circuit and was already in front of the Libeňský hotel at 7:30 on Saturday and willingly helped with everything that was needed. After the race, he, like Kratochvílová, went to the refreshment room and helped the Rein couple. Thank you!

The winner of the veteran race was the competitor from Hong Kong Chun Hung Tse - 24:38. The most experienced competitors at the start were the German Bonness and the indomitable Czech veteran Standa Marek, both born in 1942!!!

The fastest teenager was Slovenka Zámečníková, among masters athletes Ivana Vranková from Opava took the silver step.

At 12:50, the women started the main 20 km race. Tereza Ďurdiaková was absent at the start, she excused herself for health reasons, and the participation of the 9th from the World Championships in Budapest to the Olympic Games in Paris is not even theoretical at the moment.

Hark weather was not a problem for the favorites, the main favorite Kimberly Gacia Leon from Peru performed a wonderful performance, who set a new meeting record - 1:27:09 at her first start in Poděbrady. In the second half of the race, she was able to overtake the Italian Olympic champion Palmissano and Glenda Morejón. The athlete from Ecuador showed great fighting spirit, losing 18 seconds to the Italian at 3 km, but then she started and went for the silver in 1:27:21. This time, the Italian hung the bronze medal around her neck in 1:27:27. No less than 9 female competitors performed under 1:30:00 and another 2 were very close to breaking this mark. Immediately 16 female competitors withdrew from the race, the conditions were not the easiest.

Everyone had high expectations from the start of Eliška Martínková. Our number one didn't have her day and from the first kilometers she went just under 4:40/km behind expectations. She gradually slowed down considerably,

she crossed the finish line very disappointed in a below-average performance of 1:40:25. The effort to finish the race can be appreciated, many female competitors preferred to wrap up the race when things did not go well. The fact that Eliščina's name shines for some time, even if it is very weak for her level, serves to Eliška's credit on her home track. If the saying "once you're down, once you're up" applies, then let's hope that in 14 days in Antalya, Eliška will have a better day and will successfully fight to participate in the relay race in Paris.

Štěpánka Pohlová Kučerová received the national team jersey. Unfortunately, this gesture should have come earlier, at a time when Štěpánka was at her peak performance. Štěpánka, just like Eliška, definitely didn't have her day, but she too fought as hard as she could and bravely finished the race in 1:55:26. The Pilsen couple Bakliková - Bugárová took advantage of her bad day. Both girls walked side by side with Štěpánka for 12 km and then started to move away from Štěpánka. Bakliková overtook Bugárová in the last kilometer and won the championship silver medal in the MČR - 1:52:55. Bronze Bugárová, like her colleague, managed not only to win a medal, but also a great OR - 1:53:00. Lenka Borovičková, a veteran competitor and medalist from the recent ME Masters in Toruń, crossed the finish line in 63rd place - 2:07:56.

Although the women's race was a disappointment for the Czech colors, great things happened in the men's race.

We all know that Persy Karlström won another victory. The new track record of 1:18:22 seemed extremely easy in his delivery and, as his mum said, it was a test to see how he was doing after the winter. The best is yet to come. In his first participation, the Olympic medalist in his fifties, Canadian Evan Dunfee, who did not hide his enthusiasm for the beauty of the Poděbrady circuit and the great organization, ran out for silver. Brazil's Caio Bonfim won bronze. Even the fourth Frenchman Bordier broke the elite barrier of 1:20:00.

Czech fans expected a lot. For men, it was a fight for nomination to Antalya. The best from Poděbrady will get the right to fight for Olympic participation in the relay with Eliška Martínková. The championship title was also at stake, as well as a move up the rankings for the EC in Rome. Vít Hlaváč recorded a time of 1:25:50 this year, which was the OR for 20 km after years, and we were waiting to see what the young Moravians and Zajíček would show. They wanted a time around 1:24:30, which was not here for a long time, Vítek aimed for a sub 1:24:00. From the first kilometers of the race, Vítek fired up and showed how much the growing domestic competition is a huge motivation for him. Let's add the OH and it was set for an excellent performance. In the middle of the track, he had a lead of almost a minute on the duo Morávek - Zajíček, moreover in OR 41:17,1! Vítek fought and, at the age of 27, improved his OR from this year by more than 2 minutes at a great 1:23:38, despite the extremely difficult last kilometer. Such performance has not been here for over 20 years!!! Vítek rightly won the title and the opportunity to start with Eliška in the relay in Antalya. It must be said that Vítek is the best choice among our men. He is technically very confident, which can be very important in a tight fight, in addition, he is a natural long-distance skier, he has experience from a 35 km course, so he will probably be able to handle two sections of approx. 12 + 10 km better than both young men. His speed improvement is then a promise for 2025, when he returns to the WC 35 km.

Even the only 21-year-old pedestrians Moravek and Zajíček do not have to be sad. Even though they expected more and the hot day didn't suit them, they both gave an excellent performance. They went side by side for a long time, but after 13 km Zajíček started to lose and Moravek was significantly behind him. Zaječek was going through a crisis, facing stomach problems, but he fought and in the end tried to catch up with Morávek. However, Moravek defended the silver medal in his second lifetime time of 1:25:47, when he was only 23 seconds behind his best Czech U14 performance. Once again he confirmed the limit for Antalya, when the race suits him, there will be something to look forward to.

The third Zajíček, in addition to winning the bronze, could be happy about the limit for Antalya and especially the first time under 1:26:00. He broke this by 6 seconds and considering how bad he was during the race, the 1:24:00 time can be taken very seriously. If both competitors could do it already in Antalya, it would be fantastic. Our excellent trio finished fourth in MU and were only one place away from bronze! The men's team, which will be supplemented by junior Kukla for next year, is a great promise for next year's EC walking team, which will again be hosted by Podebrady.

The good news for Morávek, who was rightfully DQ in Dudince, is that, like Vítek, he received only one yellow card from the referees. It can be seen that he works a lot on the technique. Adam Zajíček then went technically perfectly, which was definitely not the case with him in the past. Well done, gentlemen.

In fourth place within the MČR, Lukáš Gdula could be satisfied with his performance. The performance of 1:28:24 is his best in 4 years. Rosťa Kolář finished fifth, Jaromír Hloch completed his first top 1 race outside the MČR and finished in 43:13:XNUMX. Malys did not finish the race, Pšenička resigned after three proposals. If he can master the technique, and I can personally say that although it is still not optimal, for me it was much better than in Dudince, he will certainly be an interesting domestic competitor. Physically he is well prepared. Although he also visited PZ in Dudince, he finished it. It was not worth it to continue on Saturday's demanding day after he was sent to PZ. Hopefully he won't be discouraged, referee Nedvídek will be happy to give him advice if he turns to him at a different moment than when the race is being decided.

Not even Josef Smola, a lover of walking and a great supporter of our discipline, finished the race. Despite hard training, at his age the limit of 16 km is very demanding and, unfortunately, unrealistic in the given climatic conditions at the age of 60. It ranks 1st for combativeness*.

Subsequently, the junior girls started their race. From the beginning, Ema Klimentová was at the head of the race, with the Spaniard Ventura setting the pace. Ema started after seven kilometers and overtook the Spaniard. She achieved a great OR of 47:37 and already in Antayla she will have the opportunity to strive for further improvement and the limit for the WC in Lima (47:00). Behind her in another group was Alžběta Franklová. She was only 2 seconds behind OR from Slovakia and finished seventh with a performance of 49:20. The sum of the placements secured the victory for the girls within MU! Congratulations. Lucie Krinwaldová from Mladá Boleslav also wore the national team jersey with them. She set off sharply in the first kilometers, but her overmotivation did not pay off and the second half of the race was considerably slower. She didn't have much to lose and gave it a try. She probably won't be satisfied with the performance, but it's certainly a lesson for next time.

Even among the juniors, our fighters did well. Albert Kukla was an aspirant for the TOP 5 and even exceeded expectations. From the beginning he bravely went with the best, he fought and even though he was not enough in the end, he managed to achieve a quality personal record of 42:44 and, above all, a great third place! The winner was the Frenchman Chenuet (42:15) and the second place was taken by the German Richardt (42:21). Albert already had a certain participation in Antalya, the next target will be the effort to participate in Lima. However, the 42:00 limit is really challenging. Vojta Novák also presented himself excellently, who is in his first year among the juniors and his performance de facto copies last year's results of Kukla. He also showed personal improvement, finishing in 46th place with a time of 26:11, and their excellent performance brought our juniors silver medals among teams within MU. The French team won, the Spanish pedestrians took the bronze. Peroutka from Dukla was third in the party within the team. He gave his top ten convincingly in 54:24 and confirmed further improvement. Another junior, Gloser, also finished the race, and he too was in the top ten under 60 min - 58:32. This is gratifying, let's be aware that last year the Junior MCR was canceled because only Kukla signed up. 4 potential racers is definitely an improvement.

The wonderful race in Poděbrady is behind us. It brought great performances by most of the Czech representatives and domestic success between the teams. However, the success of the juniors is also a warning. Both pedestrians will move to the women's category next year and there is a big performance gap behind them. The national team coach has a difficult task to work with the other girls, we have another team championship on home soil and she watches the competitions better when we have our team there. Peroutek will be able to complement Novák if he continues to work on himself and, for example, takes advantage of Karel Ketner's offer of help.

The Poděbrady race also determined the final form of the rep team for the Turkish WC in 2 weeks.

Vít Hlaváč and Eliška Martínková will represent us in the relay, Jaromír Morávek and Adam Zajíček will represent us in the men's 20 km course. Albert Kukla, Ema Klimentová and Alžběta Franklová will start in the junior category. We wish everyone a flurry of personal performances, fulfilled limits for season peaks at various levels and, above all, an Olympic nomination for our relay team.