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 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.
