German Men's and Women's 20km Walking Championships, Frankfurt am Main, April 30, 2022

LIST OF STARTERS

As soon as the starting shot of the German 30km Walking Championship in Frankfurt am Main sounds tomorrow, April 20, it will only be a race with its own time for the Leipzig pedestrian Saskia Feige. Because in domestic (German) competition, it is a clear leader in this discipline. And internationally? For the first time with a performance of less than 1:30 a.m., he laid the foundations for becoming a world leader.

It's a pity that the competition is only in German men's walking, yet the expectations of Saskie Feige (DHfK Leipzig) for the German Road Walking Championships this Saturday (April 30) in Frankfurt am Main are high. Above all, you can enjoy the race, after so few racing opportunities last year, this championship is another step towards normalcy.

csm feige with underarms22 photo2 mintken philipp a60e6e5ad9In addition, the 24-year-old pedestrian has no pressure, because in Poděbrady (2.4.22) she met the limits of 1:29:59 (for the first time below the magic limit of 1:30 am, as one of only three German pedestrians in history) limits for both the World Championships in Eugene ( USA) and for the European Championships in Munich !. Only the national record holder Sabine Zimmer (1:27:56 h) and Melanie Seeger (1:28:17 h), the last German pedestrians who were able to keep up with the world leaders after the year 2000, are faster in the historical tables of Germany on this track. .

"It means a lot to me, because it's always been a magic frontier for me (1: 30h)," says Saskia Feige. Together with her excellent 8th place at the team World Championships in Muscat at the beginning of March, this is an excellent entry for her this year: "Because there were no races after the Olympics, I unfortunately didn't have a chance to show what I was really capable of." Her personal record rinspirova not only for this entire summer seasons, but also gave a good feeling that it was moving forward.

Learned from defeat

The year 2021 was not only positive for a medical student. Saskia Feige had to give up the most important race and peak in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics. "Unfortunately, not everything is always predictable in sports. That race was not the race I wanted, "he says.

After him, I got angry with myself for a few days and finally asked myself how I could learn from such a defeat and get on the right track. In making her decision, she thought that "the top walk is in my heart", so nothing changes and I want to keep working. Clearly, giving up was not nice, but it was an experience from which I learned a lot. "

From running to walking

The fact that her native Potsdam is learning very quickly is also shown by her development towards the number one in German women's walking. Although she found her way to athletics in the second grade, her passion for a technically very demanding discipline - she did not discover walking until 2015 during a training session. After mostly running as a middle-distance runner, she left her training group a little sick, she wanted to try to change something.

Thinking that the walking trench was not so far from the running - both are endurance disciplines - she was attracted by the technical challenge and the "special" movement. And last but not least, walking also offers the possibility of starting on long distances, where basic speed does not play such a big role. Already after the first year, Saskia Feige was able to celebrate its first successes, the German multi-champion in walking on 5.000 Meters on the track or the first start in the national jersey in the U20 category. This was followed by starts at the 20km walk at the German Championships, at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin and at the 2019 World Championships in Doha (Qatar).

Transfer from Potsdam to Leipzig 2022

Saskia Feige is constantly improving and is able to fight more and more with the international top. Her time from Poděbrady is currently in sixth place in Europe. This increase in performance enabled her to move from her hometown to Leipzig. "It was just a time," says the athlete, "since the fall of 2020, when I started studying medicine, my center of life has been here, and I like it here. Training with a running group also suits me perfectly. That is why this step was very important for me - to connect with this section. "

The training takes place under the joint leadership of Beata Conrad and Thomas Dreißigacker, and for Saskia Feige the specifics of preparation for walking races are especially important for walking. Running endurance together in a group is a pleasant change. "Sometimes it's also useful for me to be joined by someone who plans a lighter endurance run while walking.

"I do exactly what I want to do"

Together I complete up to 10 training units per week - in parallel with the study of medicine and the integrating practical phase. "My day is usually very full. But I know that from the time of the elementary school, I just grew up on it, and that also profiled me. To get it all under one hat, so to speak, it requires being disciplined. "

She has a lot of support from the coach, so that she can combine the sport with the study well, so that the other does not suffer because of one part. "Because sports and medicine are two things that I care about very much and that make me happy." And when Saskia Feige sometimes loses energy: to the same result: No, I do exactly what I want to do. "

Shut down and go beyond your own boundaries

The passions and diligence that Saskia Feige demonstrates on a daily basis are among its strengths. He benefits from the fact that he can "absolutely switch off" while walking and also go across his own borders, get the best out of himself and not stay in one place and not resign.

When asked where his weaknesses are, he still sees potential in technique and training volume, which is not yet at an absolute maximum: “When walking, technique is very important, there is still something to work on. It's just fine, like a certain footstep angle at which you can get even faster and faster. ”

How much Sakia will win in the upcoming summer season at the top events of the World Championships and European Championships will be exciting. Saskia Feige considers both top races to be very important and due to the fact that there is one month between them, it also considers them to be very manageable. "The World Cup will be the absolute highlight, and the European Championships in their own country (Munich) will also be very cool, because there will be many friends and family. I'm really looking forward to that. "