Silver success of the Czech women's walking team at the MS Masters in Toruń!

Authors: article - Lucie Nekulová / photos - Miriam Stewartová, Jaroslav Mojžíš, Josef Smola 

RESULTS / ERGEBNISSE

The indoor world championship of masters categories took place on 26.3. - 1.4. in Toruń, Poland, thus closing the indoor season. The opportunity to compete in the beautiful hall that will host HMS in 2026 was given to male and female pedestrians in the 3000m walking race.

This race brought a whole range of top performances. The absolute fastest man in all categories was the Spanish competitor Aledo Ignacio (M40), who performed 11:54.34. No less than 21 veteran fighters managed to get under the 15-minute mark, the oldest of them fell into the M60 category! If we take into account that in our country only a few individuals can break this limit, it is an admirable feat. He was the youngest Czech representative at the start Josef Smola (M55), who finished ninth in an excellent performance of 15:46.79.

He represented us among the seventies Peter Adam, who finished in 11th place in 19:44.60.

He then crossed the finish line in the M80 category Standa Marek on the sixth and Václav Dostálík seventh place (25:53.29 - 26:25.55).

Among the women, 15 women were able to break the 4-minute mark, and one of them managed 5 seconds behind this barrier.

The fastest woman of the race was Kenyan Njue Wanjiru in 14:15.19.

She finished eighth among female competitors in the W45 category with a performance of 17:09.78 Ivana Vranková.

She finished in 4th place among women in the W50 category Lenka Borovičková, who with a performance of 16:37.43 was only 8 seconds behind her season best.

In the W55 category, two Czech female competitors started. Lenka Slabáková she performed the best of the season and took seventh place for her performance of 17:57.97. She passed the finish line one rung lower Anička Málková - 18: 25.73.

The 10km road race brought an absolute victory to Rafal Sikora, who not even a week after the start in Dudince showed a more than solid 43:25 (M35), the Spanish Juan Manuel Morales, who started a category higher, literally breathed on his back - 43:38. No less than 19 men broke the 50-minute mark, the oldest of them was the Spanish fighter Periaňez Miguel (M49) with a performance of 56:60! Amazing.

Josef Smola (M55) took seventh place with a performance of 56:10, Miloš Nemec finished a category higher in 25th place for a performance of 1:07.49. He finished fourth in the M70 category Milan Janousek performance of 1:04.47. However, the medal was far away. 13. ran out Peter Adam - 1:08.54. Standa Marek was then seventh among his fellow swimmers (M80) with a performance of 1:31.30.

To the photos: below left - Petr Adam and Stanislav Marek (374) in the heat of heavy fighting, lower right -  Roby Ponzio (3788) Switzerland, the legend of Masters walking, our great friend, unfortunately had a lot of bad luck in the M75 category, he was clearly aiming for a medal, but at the very end of the race he was disqualified, as well as the biggest favorite in the M70 Brit, Ian Richards.......that too unfortunately walking.....

Kenyan Njue Wanjiru once again dominated the women's 10km course - 51:37 (W40). In the same category, she finished in sixth place with a performance of 1:02.40 Martina Netolicka. In the W45 category, she finished half a minute behind the seventh Korzeniowska Ivana Vranková - 1:01:29. Lenka Borovičková (W50) was then sixth for a performance of 59:42.

Trojice Vranková - Borovičková - Netolická won world silver in the W40 team competition with more than 30 minutes ahead of the third Italian women.

Lenka Slabáková and Anička Málková then they fought in the W55 category. Lenka finished in 1th place with a performance of 05.08:6, and Anička was exactly one minute behind in seventh place. Shame on the disqualification Libuše Vlachynská in the W60 category, otherwise our women could also fight in the team competition.

This year's veteran championship brought another silver medal to our colors and the competitors of the masters category showed how well they can prepare for the top event of the year. Most of them went to the limit of their possibilities when they performed the performances of the season, possibly they were able to come very close to them.

Bravo. Those who did not hesitate after 10 km in Toruń and 48 hours later were already collecting points for their teams in league competitions deserve even greater admiration.