Gigant 2023: 17.6.23 - 5.000m walk / 18.6.23 - 10.000m walk

RESULTS / ERGEBNISSE 

The Prague Dukla stadium hosted 17 last weekend. - 18 . 6. 2023 MČR youth and juniors in athletics.

On Saturday, boys and girls hit the race track in a joint 5000m race.

The shining sun, the heavy humid air before the storm, combined with the red-hot tartan, made the decision not quite traditional. Pedestrians got the opportunity to refresh themselves even at this distance, and they used sponges and water a lot.

To the competition adults at 5000m 9 fighters signed up, silver medal aspirant Matěj Piták did not take part in the race. In the end, 7 walkers saw the finish after one competitor was disqualified. From the first meters, the clear favorite of the race was alone in the lead Vojtěch Novák (district Nejezchleb, TJ Slezan Frýdek-Místek). After the initial fast kilometer, he slowed down slightly, but continued to aim for a time under 24 minutes. He has mastered his walking technique perfectly, what he still needs to learn with the trainer is the considerably wobbly upper half of his body. Vojtěch ended up winning the title in his second best time on the track, 23:46.63. He seemed very relaxed during the entire race and is definitely growing into a promising competitor.

Unfortunately, the fight for another medal took place far behind the Frydek champion. For the silver medal, the home team, which was in this position from the start, ran out Vojtěch Peroutka (TJ Dukla tr. Javůrek/Svoboda) in a time of 28:22.75, which is a minute slower than his performance in the league competition in NMnM. It was obvious that Saturday's weather really didn't suit him.

The third place and the bronze medal was won by an eagle less than 30 seconds back Čenek Topor (Orel Vyškov, tr. Málková). Arnošt from Hradec Králové did not lose much in the first three kilometers, but after that the gap between them began to increase significantly, even so he finished fourth for OR and his first time under 30 minutes.

A total of 13 female competitors signed up for the teenage race. From the start, the pair Kozlová - Kokořová led the race, which Kyselicová tried to keep as long as possible. She started in the last kilometer Ludmila Kozlová (Athletics Prachatice, tr. Pilát) and won the championship title as well as a new OR and the best performance of a teenager this year on the track 28:33.70. Eliška Kokořová (tr. Nejezchleb, TJ Slezan Frýdek-Místek) in the end she lost less than 20 seconds and with a performance of 28:50.27 she is slowly starting to approach the times from last year. Third Ema Kyselicová (Sparta Prague 4, tr. Kubicová) she was only 2 seconds behind her OR from the recent MU in Ptuj, Slovenia. Unfortunately, she was the last teenager who managed to break the 30-minute mark. As many as 10 girls were able to improve their OR, but it should be noted that even the medalists lag behind their predecessors from previous years in terms of performance, which is the same trend in both categories. All the girls saw the goal, but not in all cases the walking technique was mastered perfectly.

Sunday morning then belonged to the race 10m junior women. Only 2 fighters signed up for the junior race, so the junior race was canceled by the technical delegate. The title could not be awarded, for that at least 3 competitors must enter the race.

10 junior girls signed up for the junior race, TD allowed only 5 of them to start due to insufficient performance. This is the MČR and really only the best should start. Taken through this lens, crossing out would also be appropriate in the adolescent category.

No one doubted the gold medalist. Ema Klimentová (AK Šternberk, tr. Čermáková) she ran her race from the first meters and confirmed her performance increase. On a warm day, she kept the pace just below the 5 min/km mark and was pulling away from her rivals. In the end, she overtook everyone by 2 or more laps. She performed a technically very good race and trained well in the hot weather for the MEJ in Jerusalem, which awaits her soon. She slowed down slightly in the second half of the race, but in the last two laps she was able to increase the pace and still in beautiful style set her best time on the track 49:55.42. 👏

Even the silver medal was clear from the first meters. Alžběta Franklová (SK Jeseniova, tr. Čermáková)  she also ran her own race and comfortably finished second in the track OR 55:34.74. However, it fell far short of its road performance, and in this case more was probably expected. Another silver in the collection is counted, however, and with her hard work, Alžběta will surely perform even more valuable this year.

The other female competitors formed the third group. The first to drop out was Katka Nedvídková, who has been focusing on her studies more recently than training. The group was led from the beginning by Tereza Pittnerová, who, according to paper assumptions, was a slight favorite due to her recent performances. But she carried it on her back Lucia Krinwaldová (AC Mladá Boleslav, tr. Šolc), which after a few kilometers seemed much fresher and it was starting to look as if Pittner's set pace was holding her back. Lucie did not rush anywhere and attacked until about 3 km before the finish line. At that moment, she was already able to get away with Alžběta Franklová, who overtook both competitors by a lap and it took her a long time to shake them off. Krinwald showed a tactically very mature performance. If she has more courage in the next starts, then Frankl's performance on Sunday is achievable for her. During the race, Tereza Pittnerová tried to fight and catch up with the pair in front of her, but she did not succeed, and in the hot weather she began to struggle not only with the length of the race, but also with severe nausea. Fortunately, after a hard-paced two laps, she was able to return to the pace and bravely finished the race.

What to say in conclusion? We saw beautiful races and fights and all the starters fought with all their might.

Unfortunately, the promotion of walking to stadiums and the mandatory inclusion of walking in team competitions seems more and more necessary. The 3000m CH race will not delay the race program too much and will give young walkers not only the opportunity to race side by side with their peers from other disciplines, but at the same time will allow new adepts to try walking. Without this, the situation with the number of pedestrians will not improve, and young athletes will continue to run to disciplines where they can be with their teammates right in the stadium. ČAS organizes one of the most traditional pedestrian meetings, the legendary Podebrady, and if we want to have pedestrians racing there in the future, the above is a de facto necessity.