M35 Linke's world record at 3.000m - 10:44.00 (WR) in Erfurt, great Czaková at 5.000m - 21:28.80 (PB) and excellent Úradník - 19:32.30 (PB) in Bratislava and finally Olympic winner Palmisanová at 10km - 44 :02 in Guadix, Spain.

Slovak neighbors currently have 3 pedestrians who are able to walk in less than 20 minutes, and hopefully we will be able to say the same after the upcoming MČR!!!

Even the past weekend brought, from a pedestrian's perspective, a whole series of interesting and fantastic performances. There are!!!

ERFURT - international meeting, 2.2.2024:

RESULTS

German pedestrians detonated the resulting bomb on Friday evening. At the traditional international meeting of the bronze level in Erfurt, the German walking elite presented themselves in the 3000 m race.

The Germans took the race as a test after returning from training in South Africa and performed really well.

German record holder Christopher Linke set the pace from the start. This competitor, born in 1988, entered the M35 category last year and also set a world record for this age category of 11:07 in Erfurt. The Olympic Games are a huge motivation for all athletes, and this can be seen in the performances already in the indoor season. Linke flew through the track in a huge personal record, a meeting record, but above all he again improved the world best performance of M35 - 10:44.00. However, he still lacks Tom Bosworth's (UK) absolute world record of 10:30.28. However, Karl Junghannß is also excellently prepared, he breathed on Linke's back and at the finish line he too could rejoice at a performance under 11 minutes in a time of 10:48.79. Olympic medalist Jonathan Hilbert finished third in 11:27.98, who is slowly returning to the track after a series of injuries and mental burnout. A very interesting performance was performed by the youth European champion Frederic Weigel. The son of a famous father and trainer crossed the finish line in 11:59.46 in fifth place.

Slovak Championship, Bratislava, February 3.2.2024, XNUMX:

RESULTS

On Saturday, the Slovak national championship took place in the Elán sports hall in Bratislava.

Among the teenagers, 16 girls started and all the medalists broke the 15-minute mark. The winner was Petra Kusá, who already came very close to the 14-minute mark - 14:09.65, in a personal record.

The junior race was clearly dominated by Lukáš Rosenbaum, who very narrowly missed the mark of 13 min - 13:03.88. Even the second finisher, Mažgút, was able to get under 14 minutes - 13:40.46.

For the women's competition, the Slovak officials announced an unconventional 5m. We have repeatedly appreciated here how extremely well-thought-out and sophisticated the Slovak coaches are in the fight for (not only) Olympic points in the world rankings. From this point of view, the inclusion of a distance of 000 m was hardly surprising. The five is counted in the scored distances for a distance of 5000 km. Therefore, those who strive for points for the European Championship or the Olympic Games have a chance to win valuable plus points for the championship competition over a shorter distance. The race must be registered in the WA calendar and supervised by at least 20 judges of international level.

The juniors also joined the women at the start. Right from the start, coach Matej Spišiak's mentee Mária Katarinka Czaková set the pace of the race. She is currently ranked 38 (there are 48 female walkers traveling to the Olympics) and a quality performance could move her to a more secure qualifying position. And the excellently prepared Czaková performed it. She reached the finish line in a time well below the planned performance and thanks to the result of 21:28.80 she can enjoy not only the title, but above all a shift in the ranking.

Hana Burzalová also came far behind Czaková in a quality time, who became the domestic number one during Czaková's maternity break and last year, after returning from training in Australia, she showed significant performance progress. The time 22:37.71 definitely belongs to the quality ones. Klauda Žďárská took third place after last year's not-quite-successful season with a performance of 10 seconds under 23 minutes.

A high-quality performance and medals will surely be an encouragement for her for the next season.

An attack on ranking points was also expected among the men. In the absence of the best Slovak pedestrian Dominko Černý, Miroslav Úradník clearly won the title. He is moving just behind the advancing group at the OH and needed a performance of around 19:15.00 to advance. Although this did not come true for him, he still set a personal record and 19:32.30 is definitely a performance that we would like for our pedestrians as well. In the shadow of Úradník's performance, Michal Morvay also managed an excellent time under the magical 20-minute mark. He can definitely be satisfied with his personal performance of 19:54.13.   

Slovak neighbors currently have 3 pedestrians who are able to walk in less than 20 minutes, and hopefully we will be able to say the same about us after the upcoming MČR.

GUADIX - bronze meeting Pedestrian Tour - 4.2.2024

RESULTS

In Guadix, Spain, the traditional bronze meeting of the Pedestrian Tour took place on Sunday. In this area at this time the weather is suitable and even the best pedestrians choose the races for the performance test.

However, the races are primarily a competition of a huge number of child walkers. Anyone who has seen videos of dozens of children rushing down the track at short distances knows exactly why Spain is a walking superpower.

The women's 10 km race was dominated by the Italian Olympic champion Antonella Palmisano - 44:02. She recently tried a walking relay.

Her compatriot Francesco Fortunato won the men's 10 km competition - 40:18. He too has completed the relay test in Italy and the Italians will definitely be the ones who will strive for 2 pedestrian teams at the start of the OH competition.

Prebor of the Liberec region, 27 January 1.2024, Jablonec nN:

RESULTS 

Race Jr. 2000 female athletes took part in the girls' 2 m, Kateřina Kratocvílová from Rumburk was happy with the victory ahead of Terezka Lukášová from Chomutov. She completed her first walking race and was 13 seconds behind Kratochvílova (14:5). 

Vojtěch Landyš from Mladá Boleslav won the 3000 m race among pupils in the new OR, who for the first time got under 20 minutes - 19:49.75.

Noemi Maják from Kadana won the girls' race, significantly improving her OR and meeting the limit for the MČR with a time of 17:32.85. ASK Dipoli finished second with a time of 19:25.06, and third place went to Madalena Sabová from Rumburk, who was less than a second behind OR from Silvestrovská hall.

In the junior category, Viktorie Ertlová from Chomutov won in a close fight with Musilová from Dipoli, but even the winner's time of 19:14 is not enough for the best student.

Among the juniors, Ema Kyselicová was happy with the victory - 16:56 and thus beat her rivals, the second Smolíková (18:22) and Ides (21:13) from Dipoli, by a class difference.

In the women's race, Johana Petříková from Prague achieved 15:24.32 for the high-quality OR, who continues to improve gradually. Veteran Lenka Borovičková crossed the finish line in second place in a quality performance of 16:53.37, Martina Netolická from Liberec finished third.

The men's (and teenagers') 5000 m race was run together. Rumbur veteran Martin Nedvídek clearly dominated his training pace - 23:17.46. In recent days, he has been celebrating successes in the "buffoon" field. Martin became an international judge of the silver category last year, and the first invitations to international competitions did not take long. He was thus invited to judge the highest category races in Dudince and Poděbrady, where we will see him years later in a role other than racing. An even greater award came from World Athletics, when Martin was nominated as a technical delegate for one of the world's largest gold category races - the meeting in La Coruna. !!!CONGRATULATIONS TO MARTIN!!!

However, it is not the only success in the official field for AC Rumburk. Newly, Jan Rein and Lucie Nekulová joined the panel of ČAS competition managers, and Czech walking now has representatives on the panel after a break.

!!!CONGRATULATIONS TO LUCIA and HONZ!!!

Finally, Czech walking gets fresh wind in its sails!!!

Fresh teenagers were fighting for the next places behind Martin. Last year's two-time student champion of the Czech Republic, Dan Mochal, showed a quality indoor performance of 24:47.43, which is his absolute OR. Ondřej Plecháček from Turnov reached the finish line third (second in the junior race) in 26:10.02, and Vojtěch Vejvančický from Rumbur was 10 seconds behind. Even for Vejvančický, it is an absolute OR, which can please his coach Jan Rein. All three competitors are still novices at this distance and we can certainly look forward to further improvement in the next races. Their performances are a promise before the MČR, where last year the teenagers did not perform very well.

Olomouc, 27.1. 2024:

RESULTS 

The race was also held on the Olomouc indoor circuit. The 3000 m race was dominated by Orlík from Vyško, teenager Čeněk Topor with a performance of 16:59. 74, ahead of veterans Zajíc and Mark.

Among the women, Nela Skupieňová from Šternber reigned in the new OR 17:18.44 ahead of her team colleague Jurkuláková - 17:39.96 and Ivana Vranková from Opava - 17:48.59.

However, the competition was not only held in the Czech Republic. Among the most interesting performances of the past weekend are the following meetings.

In France, 3000 and 5000m races were held in Vittel on Saturday. The women's race was dominated by the champion from last year's ME 23 Pauline Stey - 12:42.13 ahead of the winner from Zittau Camille Moutard - 13:11.32. 14 female walkers got under 5 minutes.

However, the performance of the day was demonstrated by the Žitav winner of the 35 km race, Aurelien Quinion. After training sessions in South Africa and Portugal, he improved his OR - 18:50.38. Immediately 4 competitors got under the magic limit of 20 minutes.

RESULTS 

Ludmila Olijanovska, whom we know well in the Czech Republic thanks to Pražská Hodinovka, started outside the main competition in the men's race on Saturday at the competitions in Kyiv. In the men's race, she significantly beat her rivals and achieved a performance of 20:50. If this were a race on the WA calendar, then Olijanvska's performance would be a world record over the distance. Unfortunately, the WA calendar included the 3000m race for women and the 5000m race only in the men's category.

However, the biggest draw of the weekend was the fights in Australia. The traditional Supernova meeting, included in the World Pedestrian Tour, a bronze level race, attracted a large number of walkers. There were really great performances to see. A number of male and female athletes have been training together in Australia in recent weeks and, just like last year, it has been shown that international training in the Australian summer suits the pedestrians.

27.1. women started on the 10 m track. From the start of the race, the trio of Olympic champion Liu (China), Montag (Australia, silver from Budapest) and Arenas from Colombia led the way. With a distance of 30 - 50 m, the French pedestrian Beretta ran her race. The women started at a more moderate pace of 4:30/km, but it gradually picked up. 5 km was just over 22 minutes in the meantime. At that moment, the French athlete began to pull back her loss and soon caught up with the leading trio and even went to the front of the race. The Chinese legend Liu couldn't handle further acceleration and started to lose. 2m before the finish line, local star Jemima Montag made a strong start and completely destroyed her competitors.

With a performance of 43:14.78, she defended her victory last year, and in Paris the medical student will be one of the favorites. Colombian runner Arenas finished second - 43:27.48, and for third place, but above all, a personal and national record was achieved by a French runner - 43:35.53. Greek champion Ntrismpioti (W40!!!) finished in fifth place behind fourth Liu, still in under 45 minutes!

The race can be viewed at STREAM HERE - Day 2, the men's race is then under the Day 3 tab.

RESULTS

A day later, men also tried out the 10m. Home fighter Kyle Swan led the field from the start along with Rhydian Cowley, but Tokyo 000s medalist Evan Dunfee of Canada held bravely between them. And it was the Canadian who dictated the pace in the second half of the race, tore apart the leading three and not only achieved a great victory, but also an extremely high-quality national and North American record - 38:25.42. The dream of an Olympic medal from a shorter distance is becoming more and more real for Evan. Both Australians Swan and Cowley managed to get under the 39 min mark - Swan 38:46.99 Cowley 38:55.20. Australian youths also performed well, the U 18 record was set - 41:30.77 by Bailey Housden.

Even the Australian race after the Turkish one showed how great the Olympic motivation is. Only 48 men and 48 women will get a ticket to the Olympics. So we have a lot to look forward to in the coming months.

Pedestrian weekend at home and in the world. Great performance by Zajíček in Ostrava, NR France in Nantes and fast relays in Italy.

The weekend walk brought a number of interesting results. We wrote about the Turkish championship and Eliška Martínková's triumph in another article, but other pedestrian events also deserve our attention.

Championship of Moravia and Silesia, 21.1. 2024, Ostrava:

RESULTS

ADAM ZAJÍČEK 5.000m walk 19:53,42!!! BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO!!!

A total of 41 male and female walkers took part in the race, while the Moravian competitors were supplemented mainly by competitors from AK Plzeň in the open race.

3000 girls took part in the schoolgirls' 11 m race. Viktorie Vaňková won in the new OR 17:04. This competitor has already broken the 17-minute mark outdoors, and it is obvious that she will soon succeed indoors as well. The winners' podium belonged entirely to competitors from Frýdek - Místek, Viktoria was joined by Veronika Zvonková and Adéla Krausová also in OR.

Among the pupils, Daniel Herman from the Břeclav section managed to win, the title and the new OR - 16:33.99. In a close finish, Miroslav Myška, also from Frýdek, lost by 3 hundredths of a second. Hynek Svoboda, a member of Karel Ketner's Ostrava walking and running group, won third place and the limit for MČR in his first walking race. After OR at 1500 and 3000m, Svoboda also added walking and perhaps he did not stand at the start for the last time. The finish was seen by 4 competitors, all in OR, one fighter was disqualified.

The junior competition was won by the Frydek competitor Eliška Říhová - 16:17, her training partner Eliška Kokořová finished second - 16:23. Aneta Dojčárová, Jiří Malysa's protégé from Pilsen, finished third, having significantly improved since last year's first starts to 16:36. The only junior started - Michaela Šubrtová from Holešov - 19:24.

Among the women, Nelly Bugárová from Pilsen, Lexa Malysa's protégé, rejoiced at the victory, in a new high-quality OR 15:23. Porub's Vivien Uvírová also demonstrated a performance shift - 16:14. The third Díková also performed OR - 17:28.

Then the men, juniors and teenagers started together. Adam Zajíček performed a great performance rarely seen in the Czech Republic. Karel Ketner's protege confirmed last year's performance progress and after a successful performance in Poděbrady and the ME U23 showed that Ketner's preparation is definitely going in the right direction and towards the 2024 season. The first kilometer in 4:02 was just the calm before the storm. 2 km in 8:02, 3000m in exactly 12 minutes, the fourth kilometer in 16:00. Then Adam braced himself for acceleration and was able to pull off a full 7 seconds. In Cili, the timer showed a wonderful performance of 19:53.42!!! Personal best improved by 40 sec. Bravo, bravo, bravo. In a solo race, after returning from a training camp in the Tatras, where he trained in the cold and snow.

In 2021, after many years, Vítek Hlaváč performed 5000m on Czech territory under 20 minutes. However, he had an escort for part of the race in the form of Lukáš Gdula. Adam completely single-handedly went 2 seconds better. Let's hope that he will build on his performance in the next starts and will have capable opponents in the form of Jarda Morávek and perhaps also Víti Hlaváč.

Another ward of Karel Ketner, junior Albert Kukla, appeared second in the cell. He, too, improved significantly in the hall, finishing 22:47 for OR and perhaps even he hasn't said the last word and will cut a lot of his time. Veteran Rosťa Kolář finished third in 23:28. Vojta Novák from Frýdek also broke the 24-minute mark - 23:52, and this newly minted junior can be expected to make further improvements at the MČR.

Nantes 21.1.2024:

RESULTS

On Saturday 20.1. the best French walker Gabriel Bordier stood at the start of the 5000m in Nantes. So far, the French competitors have recorded performances of over 20 minutes, but it is true that the biggest aces Bordier, Quinion, Campion have not yet appeared at the start.

Gabriel Bordier was his biggest rival in Nantes. He flew through the track in the best world performance of the year and above all improved the NR of France by more than 20 seconds. Time 18:25.52! The second in Cilia Pickart was almost 4 minutes behind. Bordier therefore awarded him a kilometer on the 5000m long track!

Junior Lisa Goulard won the women's 3000m walk with a time of 13:56.61.

The weekend was also marked by relay starts in the USA and Italy:

USA RESULTS

In the USA, in addition to relay races, there were also other walking disciplines. Mexican Brandon Segura dominated the 20 km with a performance of 1:23:16. Among the women, his compatriot Ilse Guerrero reigned with a performance of 1:30:37.

However, the main draw of the race day was above all the start of the relays. The Americans fielded 16 teams of various performance levels. America's top walker Nick Christie joins forces with Miranda Melville and

they ran for the win and a solid performance of 3:13:27, with which they hold 10th place in the world.

In Italy it was 21.1. in Bari - Modugno:

RESULTS ITALIA - BARI

The race was dominated by the Chinese team consisting of Kaihua Wang - Jiayu Yang. With a great performance of 2:59:09, they were able to beat even the Italian champions, and with their time they are in second place behind the unrivaled performance of the Ecuadorians from Santiago de Chile, where they showed 4.11. time 2:56:49. 

Second place was taken by the local Italians in Bari. No one less than the Olympic winners from Tokyo / Sapporo Massimo Stano and Antonella Palmisano decided to test the new Olympic discipline. They fell behind the Chinese by 21 seconds, with a time of 2:59:30 they are in third place in the world, and after the race they let it be known that this format of the race suits them very well. They will definitely go to Antalya and Paris to fight for one of the medals.

The world takes preparation for the Olympic relay very seriously, most teams want to try this format before qualifying in Antalya. We'll see what ours have to say. Eliška Martínková is already certain to participate in the European Championship in Rome, and to be sure of the Olympics, she only needs to finish solidly in Dudince or Poděbrady, where bonus points await in the MČR. Karel Ketner's wards are obviously also working hard at speed, and it would only be logical if Eliška joined forces with one of Karel Ketner's wards in Antalya. The race in April will show whether our walkers will lack relay experience, or whether they will stand at the start of the relay at all. 

While the announcement of the relay caused mixed feelings among the competitors, the experience on the race track is more or less positive. The team competition gives a new charge to the individual discipline, which until now was walking.

Türkiye Race Walking Championships (World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze) + U18/U20, Konyaalti Boulvared ANTALYA/TUR, JANUARY 20, 2024

RESULTS

Stream: 

On Saturday 20.1. Turkey's Antalya hosted the first bronze meeting of the Pedestrian World Tour this year.

At the start of the first race, 19 women and two men, who tried the OH relay race, lined up. Right from the start, the petite Turkish pedestrian from the city of Diyarbakir, Meryem Bekmez, set off at a very sharp pace. The first kilometer in 4:26 showed how fast the race will be in Antalya. The Turkish competitor was eager to secure a start at the Olympics and also to show a performance that will encourage her ahead of the World Team Walking Championships, which will be hosted by the Turkish seaside resort.

Most of the female competitors stayed together for the first kilometer and a half (4:44), the group was led by Czaková (SVK), who was subsequently replaced by our Martínková. After about 800 m, one of the stray dogs decided to join the female competitors at the turn, which in Turkey is nothing less than a kangal cut by a street mix, while it is definitely not a pug in terms of size, so the female competitors probably got quite stiff. The organizers quickly drove the dog away, which they had to do several times during the race. Fortunately, during the World Championships in April, the circuit will be surrounded by fences, so street crumbs should not get under the competitors' feet.

Behind Turkyní, the Czech competitor Eliška Martínková held on to second place from the start.

Surprisingly, the Kazakh competitor Morozova set the pace with her for the first few kilometers. Her OR from last year was 1:36:42 and she was definitely not one of the favorites.

In fourth place, Mária Katarinka Czaková from Slovakia, the winner from Dublin in December, set her own pace. Czaková carried on her back another Czech athlete, Olympian and tenth from the World Championships in Budapest at 35 km, Tereza Ďurďiaková.

Meryem Bekmez and Eliška Martínková, both kept intermediate times above or just below the 4:30/km pace level. And both had a technically very, very handsome race indeed. The Turkish woman visited the penalty zone in Poděbrady last year, Martínková was disqualified at the ME U 23. However, both competitors did a lot of work over the winter and entered the new season with technically confident performances, which were a joy to watch.

Looking at the distance between Bekmez and Martínková, the race was consistent up to 15 km. After fifteen kilometers, however, the Turkish woman started to slow down and was no longer able to get out of a major crisis. It Martínková continued to keep the pace, she was able to get under 4:30, and in Turkyna she reached 2 laps before the finish line and gradually moved away from her. In the last kilometer she still managed to finish (4:22) and crossed the finish line in a great personal record of 1:30:08 and at the finish line she could rejoice at a great performance together with her coach K. Čermáková. Both can say that they got the most out of the December training camp in Tenerife. By winning the OR, Eliška will improve significantly in the OH rankings. Before the race, she was 40th, and that definitely did not guarantee her safety at the Olympics (48 female walkers). After this race, he will jump significantly in the rankings and can slowly start planning the trip to Paris in August. CONGRATULATIONS ELIŠCA!!!!

Czaková gradually worked her way up to third place at a fairly consistent pace. For the first 9 km, she carried Terka Ďurdiaková on her back, whose display of strength lacked lightness. After 9km, Tereza dropped out, Czaková overtook the Kazakh pedestrian during the next kilometer (she showed OR sub 1:34:05)) and reached the third podium in bronze meetings in a row! She also took another important step in the fight for the Olympics.

Tereza Ďurdiaková after letting go of the Slovakian, she stopped at the side of the road and even though she then returned to the race for a few more kilometers, she did not see the finish line and thus adding another DNF. If he wants to fight for further participation under the Olympic rings, he must perform very well in the spring in Dudince, Poděbrady and at the WC in Antalya. Unfortunately, she has only one top 1 finish in the last year, when she finished second in Gdańsk, Poland, but her performance of 34:58:XNUMX will not get her to the Olympics.

In the men's 20 km race (15 starters), the local Mazlum Demir dictated the pace from the start of the race, and the Slovak walker Miroslav Úradník kept up with him for 9 km. The Turk also achieved a new OR of 1:23:04 for a clear victory.

The second Official lost to him by 46 seconds, but another place on the podium in the bronze meeting and, above all, a move in the Olympic qualification, counts. The first start of last year's third junior Poděbrad H. Yildiz was interesting, he started his career among men with fourth place behind his training colleague Şenodunec in the new OR at a distance of 20 km. At the age of 20, he can be expected to improve on this excellent time of 1:25:44 in future races.

The start of the young competitors in the 10 km was marked by very heavy rain. During the race, it stopped raining, but the youth certainly did not have an easy race.

Among the juniors, domestic athlete Mehmet Güngör won, who improved from last year by about 15 seconds to 43:14. What some juniors did in the rain for the first 10 minutes (running around, unsupported knees) is rarely seen.

Among the juniors, Kateřina Čermáková's other protégé, Ema Klimentová, led the starting field from the start. She coped with the weather changes excellently and started the season with a victory and a great time of 48:30. It is her second best performance, when she was only 15 seconds behind OR from last year's super fast Poděbrady. Bravo. Alžběta Franklová came fourth, who tried to hang in a group with Klimentová for the first 3 km, but in the fourth kilometer she already went over 5 minutes and finished the race in 51:13, her second best top ten performance. 

The Turkish World Walking Tour is behind us, and other big races are waiting for not only our competitors, probably in Dudince, Slovakia. And as you can see, there will be plenty to see.

The first fight of the year between Martínková and Ďurdiaková on a 20km walk this Saturday in Antalya, Turkey. Will at least one of them manage to make it to the 20km track at the Paris Olympics? 

ENTRY LIST

On Saturday 20.1. In 2024, the first race of the year Race walking world tour will take place in Antalya, Turkey. The race in Antalya has a bronze level, so the winners can add interesting points to the qualification rankings.

Last year, the race, which usually only takes place in February, was marred by a devastating earthquake that literally shook the southeastern part of Turkey. The race was postponed, but it was still marked by low participation. Many Turkish walking clubs come from earthquake affected areas.

The year 2024 is exceptional for athletes. OH and European Championship in Rome, WC of walking teams in Antalya in April. For the organizers, Saturday's race is a trial test, for the walkers an opportunity to gain points and improve their position in the rankings for various races.

At the start in Antalya on Saturday, almost a hundred male and female athletes will be presented on the turning circuit, which is located on the road near the EXPA, and the competitors can therefore look forward to perfect asphalt.

 At 10:00 a.m. Turkish time (12 o'clock ours, Turkey has not changed time since 2016), men and women will line up for the 20 km walk.

The biggest home draw will be the starting post of junior competitor Hayrettin Yildiz. He is crowned with a whole series of medals from the junior category. Last year, as a junior, he tried 20 km in Alytus and showed an excellent time of 1:27:08. On Christmas Day, literally a few weeks ago, the Turkish NR U 20 went, when he went 10 m in 000:40. At that time, he finished 26 seconds behind Mazlum Demir, who did not break the 25-minute barrier by just a second and will be one of the favorites in Antalya. OR sub 40:1 from last year's Poděbrady will want to improve. It will be interesting to see what kind of performance they will pull together with Demir. Slovak representatives Morvay and Úradník will want to at least step on their heels, or even better, beat both Turks. The official improved his OR in the autumn in Zittau, but for the OH ev. he needs more fast races to be sure of a start in Rome. Morvay, on the other hand, will go to the race encouraged by the little people from training and will certainly want to demonstrate that his transformation into a twentysomething is on the right track.

Among the women, there will be a star Turkish trio and also a Czech star duo at the start. The tiny Turks can be very fast, Meryem Bekmez is last year's champion from the Universiade, but she is also a former ME U 23 and has other medals from her junior years. She, too, will want, together with the U 23 champion from Sweden's Gävle Tekdal, to fight for Olympic safety. Kader Dost will not feel left behind either. The Ukrainian competitor Sholomitska will try for the top twenty (10 km as a junior she walked steadily at the level of 46 minutes). And Eliška Martínková, the Czech number one in the 20 km, will also strive for points in the ranking and to improve her position. She went to Antalya encouraged by the performance from the Jablonec hall.Tereza Durďiaková will also be at the start, who at the moment does not even have a theoretical guarantee of the Olympics, because she does not have enough fast twenties on her account and thus needs not only to come, but also to show a quality performance. She also showed herself in an excellent light in Jablonec and she will want to follow up on the race. One of the favorites of the race is Slovak competitor Mária Katarinka Czaková, who performed sub 1:32 at the December race in Dublin and thanks to the victory and a sufficient number of points, she is currently in the Olympics. However, she knows very well that the spring series of races will bring a whirlwind of great performances, and the female competitors in the fifth ten of the ranking (including our Martínková) will still have to fight a lot for their position.

At 12:35, the U20 and U18 competitors in the 10 km walk will start. He will strive for quality performance from our female competitors Ema Klimentová, who showed excellent form in Jablonec and will fight for the performance that would enable her to start at the MSJ in Lima (47:00). She will be accompanied at the start by her training partner Elizabeth Frankl.

Competitors from UKR, KAZ, CZE, SVK, RO, as well as Hungary and Ireland will start in Antalya. On the day of the race, a link to the on-line interim results should be published on the website of the Turkish Athletics Federation. We wish not only our athletes a quick step and the organizers a successful race. The race will also be a test of new Turkish referees of an international level, because the Turks also expanded the number of those who are on the international panel in the fall.

SMOLA KONSTRUKCE and AC RUMBURK RENEW THE COOPERATION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENTIRE CZECH-GERMAN WALK!!!!

At the end of October last year, the next edition of the LUSATIAN INTERNATIONAL RACE WALKING MEETING took place under the organizational baton of AC Rumburk and German partners from O-SEE Sports in Zittau.

The beautiful race attracted a number of elite and masters athletes, who praised not only the excellent organization, but also the beautiful race circuit. The appreciation of the organizers' work also came from abroad, when Pierce O'Callaghan (head of World Athletics competition management) sent not only a personal congratulations, but also a suggestion whether the organizers would like to request a change of status from a bronze to a silver meeting next year. Which also happened and Žitava will be silver for next year! This places increased demands on the organizers in terms of securing the meeting, but the team united around Jan Rein and Jens Schoening will surely cope with the pitfalls of the Silver level.

At the same time came the unpleasant news for many MASTERS athletes. It was decided that masters athletes will no longer start at a distance of 30 km, the longest distance will be the classic twenty.

And so the first idea came from Josef Smola, whether the MASTERS 30 could be at the German-Czech race.

Word got around and the organizers are happy to announce that in addition to the classic distances of 1 / 2 / 3 / 5 / 10 / 20 / 35 km, there will also be a 30 km Masters for male and female athletes at the Zittau race!

The general partner not only of this inserted race, but of the entire Silver level walking meeting, is the great promoter, sponsor and walking lover Josef Smola and his company SMOLA KONSTRUKCE!!! SMOLA KONSTRUKCE thus adding another quality race to its portfolio of supported races. Admirable in a time of difficult economic conditions.

Work on a meeting of a similar level begins even before the end of the previous year, so it is not surprising that that 10.1. In 2024, the first working meeting between Smola and Rein took place. In the past, Jan Rein helped Pep with the Hodinovka, but having Prague organizers from Rumburk is quite impractical (although the Rumburaks managed it with ease) and the traditional Hodinovka so Smola Konstrukce organized together with enthusiasts from AC Praha 1890 led by Kateřina Kautska. And rightly so. AC Rumburk should not cover, figuratively speaking, half of the pedestrian races in our country (they also participate in Poděbrady), let's be happy for other enthusiastic organizers who have been working selflessly for pedestrians for many years.

October duel Pražská chodecká Hodinovka a SMOLA KONSTRUKCE - Lusatian Race walking meeting will take place on 19.10. and 26.10. 2024.

The organizers of both races are already looking forward to your participation. We wish both races all the best in the coming years.