German Christopher Linke and Italian Eleanora Giorgio became the winners of the XNUMXth Poděbrady Walking International Walking Meeting. Anežka Drahotová and Lukáš Gdula could look forward to the titles of national champions.

Twenty Women was a gala performance by Italian favorite Eleanora Giorgio. She fired at lightning speed from the opening meters and the only racer who could keep up with her was Anežka Drahotová. Our representative started to lose contact during the fourth kilometer and at the age of five her shortage to Italy was already eleven seconds. In addition, she had to resist the attack of other opponents. Lithuanian Brigita Varbalyté-Dimšiené was the first to get ahead of her at the eighth kilometer. In the middle of the race, coach Piták's charge was in third place with a loss of less than a minute to Giorgi. Two kilometers later, she fell to fourth place when she could not resist the attack of another Italian Valentina Trapletti. Five kilometers before the finish, it was preceded by the Lithuanian Živilé Vaiciukevičiutéová. At that time, Giorgio was already leading with a luxurious lead of one and a half minutes before the second competitor in the order. She fearlessly went for the triumph, which she also decorated with a record meeting 1:28:49. Lithuanian Brigita Varbalité-Dimšienéová finished second in 1:31:05 and another representative of the Italian walking school, Valentina Trapletti (1:31:36), added to the podium. The fourth Lithuanian, Živilé Vaiciukevičiutéová, lost one place compared to last year (1:31:53). Anežka Drahotová reached the finish line in fifth place in the time of 1:32:22 and won her fourth title of champion of the republic.

Interview with Anežka Drahotová <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1932/8043/files/Odstoupeni_od_smlouvy_EN.pdf?v=1595420299" data-gt-href-en="https://en.notsofunnyany.com/">HERE</a>.

The Italians reigned supreme in the international match, the Lithuanians took second place and the French took third place.

The course of the men's race was a bit more dramatic. In its opening quarter, a group of nine was at the helm, where none of the favorites were missing. At the top of the tenth kilometer, only three fighters were at the top, which were defended by German defender Christopher Linke and a pair of Mexicans Horacio Nava and Ricardo Ortiz. At that moment, tactics began and the pace slowed slightly when Linke let him pull his Mexican rivals. A similar scenario took place until the end of the 1th kilometer, when the German took it and his competitors were unable to react. He crossed the finish line victoriously at 21:55:2015 and rejoiced in his third victory at this meeting. He also won in Poděbrady in 2017 and 1. Horacio Nava climbed the silver podium in 22:13:1 and his national teammate Ricardo Ortiz hung bronze around his neck (22:28:1). The Frenchman Gabriel Bordier finished fourth (23:02:1) and the fifth place was taken by the German Hagen Pohle (23:20:XNUMX), who did not repeat his third place from last year. As expected, he was the best Czech competitor Lukáš Gdula in 1th place at 31:04:20. He also added the fourth championship gold on the XNUMX-kilometer track to his collection.

Interview with Christopher Link, winner of the men's race <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1932/8043/files/Odstoupeni_od_smlouvy_EN.pdf?v=1595420299" data-gt-href-en="https://en.notsofunnyany.com/">HERE</a>.

The winners of the international match were the French ahead of the representatives of Italy and Slovakia.

The German favorite Julia Richterová broke up the ten-kilometer junior race the fastest. The sixth of last year's MEJ in Grosset built up a relatively solid lead very soon after the start and dominated in the opening kilometers. However, she had two pursuers in the form of Kazakh Ekaterina Slykova and Italian Andrada Lacatus, who gradually began to approach her. They were then joined by Irka Orla O´Connorová, who turned out to be the best in power when she got ahead of both Slykov and Richer. Lacatus was disqualified in the middle of the race. In the second half of the race, O'Connor only increased her lead and crossed the finish line in 49:23, which meant an improvement in her personal record by one minute and twenty-three seconds. Jekateřina Šlykovová finished second in 50:15. The bronze position was then taken by Julia Richter (50:35). The Slovak Ema Hačundová finished fourth (51:04) and the elite five was closed by Valeria Disabatová from Italy (51:09). The best Czech competitor was Jana Zikmundová in 1nd place in the time of 01:21:XNUMX.

The Irish dominated the international match ahead of the Italians and the French.

In the junior race for 10 kilometers, a pair of favorites, the Frenchman David Kuster and the Greek Yeóryios Tzatsimakis, broke away from the rest of the starting field right after the start. Kuster decided to start for the first kilometer, but he was not successful. On the other hand, at the seventh kilometer, Tzatsimakis tried the same and tore off his biggest rival. In addition, Kuster already had two red targets and had to slow down, which was used by Pole Lukasz Niedzialek, who even improved his second position for a while. However, the Frenchman managed to keep him. Tzatsimakis, meanwhile, did not increase his lead and did not let himself take the lead when he won the new personal record of 41:45. David Koster decided to win the silver in the final round, when he managed to move away from Polák and crossed the finish line in 42:07. Lukasz Niedzialek had to settle for bronze and 42:14. The top 5 was then completed by Italians Davide Finocchetti (43:57) and Diego Chirivi (44:14). The best of the Czech competitors was Rostislav Rožnovský nineteenth for 46:33.

The Italians became the winners of the international match. The French finished second and the Slovaks will take third place from Poděbrady.

In terms of sports, the company was very successful, a number of great performances were achieved. Both representatives came from Czech pedestrians and especially Anežka Drahotová did well. The fact that this race has already found its place in the calendar of foreign pedestrians is evidenced by the participation of 24 foreigners from 6 countries. Numerous expeditions came from Slovakia and Germany, very good competitors were from Italy and Poland. Members of these 2 expeditions also became premiants of their categories.