In Poděbrady this Saturday, a real world class of pedestrians will meet at the start!

The biggest favorites to win the main 20km race are among the men Perseus Karlström, Canadian Evan Dunfee, South Americans - Doctor, Palma and Olivas Núñez (MEX), Barrondo (Gua), Caio Bonfin (Bra), Italian Fortunato, Irish Kenny, German Linke, Finnish Partanen and French Quinion. Then among women South American women - González (MEX), Garcia (Peru), Morejón (ECZ), Lyra (BRA), there will be Italian women led by Olympic champion Palmisano, who repeatedly won in Poděbrady, great French women Beretta and Stey.

ENTRY LISTS.pdf

On Saturday 6.4. the Poděbrady spa colonnade will welcome Czech and international pedestrians. The Poděbrady Golden Race, one of the most important world races, will take place for the 92nd time! Two years ago the competitors faced very low temperatures (2º), this year, it seems, the situation will be completely opposite, the weather forecast says 25º!

The year 2024 is an Olympic year, so one of the world's fastest circuits has attracted a large number of competitors. The walking judges (including Messrs. Nedvídek and Lapka) and the organizing team under the baton of Jan Rein have a very demanding job ahead of them.

Competitors will fight for the best possible times, success in the interstate competition (MU) CZE - ESP - FIN - FRA - HUN - LTU - SVK and not only Czech championship titles in 20 km walking.

The races will start at 11:00 a.m. with a 3km race in the U16 category. 6 Czech pupils will start, the biggest favorite is still pedestrian novice Hynek Svoboda, Karel Ketner's protégé.

There will be significantly more female students at the start, 16 girls from the Czech Republic and Slovakia signed up. The biggest favorite is Slovakian Pernická with a performance of sub 15 min, among our girls there are medalists from the indoor MČR Vaňková, Maják and Zvonková.

At 11:30, the participants of the 5 km race will start their race. There will be 11 pupils among the 4 teenagers from 5 countries. Slovaks Rosenbaum and Bátovský are among the biggest favourites, Mochal from Liberec will fight for third place. There will also be other Czech newcomers among the teenagers - Plecháček, Rösler and Vejvančický, who together with Rösler will strive for the first time under 25 minutes.

There will be 19 teenagers from 5 countries at the start, of which 7 will be Czech walkers. All the medalists from the MČR - Dojčárová, Říhová and Kokořová - will be at the start again. However, the Spaniard Vega Gonzales will probably fight for a medal with one of the Slovaks - Kusá or Zámečníková.

Masters athletes will also be present at the start. 9 veteran women will be joined by junior Kyselicová, there will be 35 men. The start of the 5 km race will be truly impressive, with 75 walkers and walkers!

At 12:10, 20 women will start their 89 km race.

In the Czech team, MU's biggest contender for the Czech title will appear Eliška Martínková. She should not have competition at home on this track, despite the tenth start from the WC in Budapest Tereza Ďurdiaková.  Eliška already showed a time of 1:30:08 this year and she is waiting for the ME and OH. Tereza is definitely not a slow 35-something, although she specialized in 2 km, she has 1 times of 31:00:XNUMX on her account, and we'll see if she can make up for last year's unsuccessful performance in Poděbrady. He will be the third in the party within MU Štěpánka Pohlová Kučerová. She will wear the national team jersey for the first time. However, others will strive for bronze from the Czech Republic - Bugárová with Bakliková or Petříková. 6 Czechs will take part in the championship race, two more - Borovičková, Pitnerová then they start within the meeting.

The biggest favorites are to be found among the South American women - González (MEX), Garcia (Peru), Morejón (ECZ), Lyra (BRA), there will be Italian women led by Olympic champion Palmisano, who repeatedly won in Poděbrady, great French women Beretta and Stey. The Spaniards have already selected the team for the WC Walking Teams in Antalya, so the second performance group will arrive. Martínková will also want to show herself among the best, but she will face a very tough race.

 At 15:00 p.m., the most numerous starting field sets off. 107 men applied.

As part of MU, the trio got a chance Hlaváč - Moravek - Hare. This year, Hlaváč has already passed OR just under 1:25:50, and in the fight, the Czech title speaks for him of experience and a certain technique. Zajíček presented himself excellently in Dudincé, and Moravek, who did well in Bécescaba, will also strive for a place in OR. The men are not only fighting for the title and ranking points as part of the effort to get to the EC in Rome, but also for the chance to fight for the Olympic Games in Antalya as part of the relay. Allegedly, the fastest Czech 1-timer is scheduled to compete in Antalya with Martínková to compete for the Olympics. Antalya already has a certain Morávek and perhaps also Hlaváč, if the limit of 27:00:23 applied for him as well. After all, Hlaváč is older and the conditions for UXNUMX competitors (Morávek, Zajíček) tend to be milder.

Another 6 Czech walkers will take part in the race - Kolář, Gdula and Malysa within the MČR, Bad luck, Hippo and now a registered athlete Wheat then they will start as part of the WA meeting.

Among the biggest favorites are Perseus Karlström, Canadian Evan Dunfee, South Americans - Doctor, Palma and Olivas Núñez (MEX), Barrondo (Gua), Caio Bonfin (Bra), Italian Fortunato, Irish Kenny, German Linke, Finnish Partanen and French Quinion.

Due to the names mentioned above, we are waiting for a walk of the greatest extra class and there is something to look forward to.

The race day will be closed by the U20 male and female athletes' competitions. The junior women's race will start at 17:00. Among the 29 competitors, Ema Klimentová (this year 48:30), Alžběta Franklová (this year 49:18) and Lucie Krinwaldová will join the Czech team. Among the biggest favorites are the Spanish walkers, our juniors could mainly fight for a quality place in the team competition, although third place is also achievable in individuals, given the performance of Klimentová and possibly Franklová. The limit for the World Cup U20 in Lima hangs in the air.

The race of 26 juniors will start at 17:20 and this time the Czech team will also be at the start. Kukla (44:02) is already certain of the start in Antalya, but he is certainly eager for further improvement. He will be joined by Vojta Novák (47:15), who also has room for further improvement. Duklák Peroutka will walk his first 10 km. Apart from MU, the Hradec junior Gloser will also join the top ten.

The biggest favorite is the bearer of the famous pedestrian name, the German European U18 and U20 champion Weigel. The Spaniards will try to make the race uncomfortable for him, the Slovak Krestianko is not without a chance either, and our Kukla could also make it to the top 5 runners.

This year's Poděbrady, whatever the performance of our walkers, is already very positive for Czech walking. In contrast to last year, when we did not field a complete team except for the junior girls, the situation is different. Many athletes got the chance to start in the national team just as part of the addition to the team, and that's how it should be on home soil. Last year's dismal participation in Poděbrady and the performance of the nominees was scandalous compared to the subsequent World Cup in mountain running in Tyrol, which certainly cannot be evaluated as successful. 14 male and female runners started there, at the home ME there were 7 people! I wish this year's Poděbrady would show a new way, when we can defend the start of athletes at home with de facto zero costs. Where else can young male and female athletes gain experience, for whom other than the Czech competitors, all the helpers work hard all day long? We want to see domestic athletes at the start and it is gratifying to see complete Czech teams.

We wish all competitors, whether in a rep jersey or a team jersey, beautiful races that they will remember fondly.

For those who do not have time to arrive at the Poděbrady colonnade, the traditional quality stream of ČAS will be available.