MČR WALKING FOR 20 KM 2023, OLOMOUC, APRIL 15, 2023

Author of the article: Lucie Nekulová 

The attached file contains a list of selected male and female competitors for the MČR in the 20 km walk for men and women. The MČR takes place on Saturday 15.3.2023 March XNUMX in Olomouc, as approved by the technical delegate: MČR 20 km walk - list of selected competitors

DSC 9388 56. Olomouc. 20 2022 main race at 10.000 mThe first MČR in walking for 35 km is behind us and it did not bring much joy to the Czech fans. The first league rounds, full of personal records of non-representative competitors, were considerably more successful, and Czech walking has another championship race ahead of it. The championship competition is hosted by Olomouc this time, because, as we all know, the European Championship will be held in the traditional Poděbrady.

Last year, 10 women and 13 men met the limits for the MČR. The very act of registering for the race has become the touchstone of Czech walking. The race is also part of the extra league and not everyone fought with honor. After the closing of applications, those who saw the registered competitors in the "championship" were left speechless. None of the Czech elite female walkers signed up for the race. While Tereza Ďurdiaková will not start due to a bone fracture in her right instep, Eliška Martínková had to be added to the championship field at the request of the head coach of ČAS...

So who will fight for the Czech medals on Saturday? 8 women registered for the race. She is a clear candidate for gold Eliška Martínková (USK Prague tr. Čermáková). She has had 2 starts this year and after last year's great performances she has not been very convincing yet. The performance of 1:35.24 was surprisingly enough for the fourth place in Dudince, but it did not arouse enthusiasm in the pedestrian fans. It is a question whether Eliška will fight for as many bonus points as possible in the WA ranking within the MČR, or whether she will go at the training pace for victory and the title.

Other medal posts are, in absence Teresa, we wish you a speedy recovery and return to training, an open matter. She is logged in Klára Hlaváčová (AC TEPO Kladno, tr. Čermáková), silver from this year's thirty-five. In 2021, she showed a OR of 1:49:38 in Olomouc, and it will probably take a lot of effort for her to beat this OR. She was 1:55.37 in the intermediate time in Dudince and, as with other competitors, it will depend on how the Czech women can recover after 3 1/2 hours of hard work in Dudince. Another candidate for the medal is a veteran mother Štěpánka Pohlová - Kučerová (TJ Sokol Hradec Králové, tr. Hlavenka), which will certainly demonstrate a traditionally tactically mature race. However, OR (1:46.18) will also be difficult to overcome.

DSC 9397 56. Olomouc. 20 2022Another candidate for the medal is Bugárová Nelly (AK Škoda Plzeň, tr. Malysa), which in Dudince was on the heels of both medalists and will certainly not give the medal for free. She has not yet started on the 20km course, the OR on the 10km is irrelevant due to her great improvement, which she showed in the hall. The split time for 10 km from Dudinc is one minute better than her official OR for 10 km.  Her team and training colleague will not want to be left behind either Michaela Bakliková, who kept up with her Czech rivals in Dudince until she sprained her ankle in an unmarked hole.

All these competitors will most likely strive to get closer to the 1:50 mark, but rather 1:55.00.

However, 2 junior girls can mix up the order at the start. This year, in Dudince, they both performed a 10km OR. According to OR, they should clearly take silver and bronze, the above-mentioned competitors cannot compete with them in the 10 km distance, but here the 10 km will be done twice. Alžběta Franklová (SK Jeseniova tr. Čermáková) will be at the start together with the additionally registered Emma Klimentová (AK Šternberk tr. Čermákova/Sadil).  Both have met the qualification limit for the European Championships in Poděbrady at 10 km, and considering where the world walking is going, their start on the 20 km track is hard to understand. World walking goes in the direction of focusing on speed, so both girls would rather benefit from another fast top ten and an effort to get under 50 minutes, than "flapping" at double the distance, when they have little chance of getting close to the limit for Podebrady. He will then strive to break the two-hour mark Lenka Borovičková (SK Nové City above Metují).

Out of the eight registered men, 7 fighters will appear at the start of the MČR. Říha was excluded for not meeting the limit, but he can start as part of the enemy race. He is a clear candidate for gold Vít Hlaváč (AC TEPO Kladno, tr. Větrovcová) However, he is struggling with health problems in the form of a sore back thigh muscle. Saturday's race will show how much this injury will limit him. He has an OR of 1:26.27 from last year and his ambition must be to improve this time.

Other medal fights are open. "Juniors" Bunny (Athletics Poruba) with the Moravian (both tr. Ketner) will strive for further improvement of the OR, Moravek (AK Škoda Plzeň) about the qualification limit for Poděbrady. However, both are aiming higher, the goal for them is the ME22 limit (1:28.00). It will not be an easy goal on the demanding Olomouc track. Another candidate for the medal is Lukáš Gdula (Hvězda Pardubice, tr. Čermáková). Lukáš didn't have his day in Dudince and he certainly won't want to give the "juniors" a medal for free.  In case of technical or other problems, the veteran duo will be waiting for a chance Nedvidek - Wheeler. Rosťa (SK Hranice) wants to try for another one in Olomouc after OR in Dudince, Martin (AC Rumburk) will then go to this year's first twenty. In Rumburk, he easily showed a time of just over 46min/10km in a solo race, so he definitely has speed.

PKDK9225Josef Smola (Smola chůze, tr. drinker) the most experienced fighter at the start, will be pulling for the shortest end of the rope, but he is certainly looking forward to enjoying a clean 20km race after the double race in Poděbrady, where he also meets the intermediate time limit.

There will definitely be something to look forward to in Olomouc. Very interesting racing kilometers await us, when medal positions are an open matter. We will see in what form and condition the Czech star will present himself after the race in Dudin. So far, the poor performance and performances far from OR do not inspire enthusiasm.

There will also be other frame races in Olomouc, we will report on them and the championship race next week.

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