Oregon22 - Walks Preview

Men's 20km race walk (Day 1: 11.10pm Irish time)

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Irish Athlete: David Kenny

Olympian walker David Kenny (PB 1.19.44) won a bronze medal at the 20k World Athletics Race Walking Tour in Podebray in the Czech Republic back in April, taking an incredible three minutes off his previous best time for the event.

Kenny holds the second fastest time ever posted by an Irish athlete, second only to Robert Heffernan’s 1:19:22. The Kerry man’s PB performance can be seen in the context that the Olympic race in 2021 was won in 1 hour 21 minutes, albeit in very difficult conditions. 

Full Preview Courtesy Of World Athletics

Race walking, particularly on the men’s side, has proven to be one of Japan’s most successful athletics disciplines in recent years.

Both the men’s 20km and 50km world titles went to Japanese athletes in 2019, while the host nation’s only athletics medals at the Tokyo Olympics last year came in the men’s 20km race walk.

Toshikazu Yamanishi, winner in Doha three years ago, will defend his title at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22, where races will be held on a one-kilometre looped course starting and finishing on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard in front of Autzen Stadium, a short hop over the river from Hayward Field.

Yamanishi has raced just once this year, but it was a convincing outing, winning the 20km at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat. The sweltering conditions certainly had an impact on times, so don’t read too much into his 1:22:52 season’s best from the Omani capital. His 37-second margin of victory there over the world’s best race walkers, however, speaks volumes.

Compatriot Koki Ikeda, silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics and runner-up to Yamanishi in Muscat, has the fastest season’s best of all the entrants, thanks to his 1:18:53 victory in Wajima in April. A frequent podium finisher at major events, Ikeda will be keen to atone for his sixth-place finish in Doha three years ago.

Eiki Takahashi is one of the fastest men in history at this distance and has competed at the past three World Championships and two Olympic Games. The 29-year-old from Japan has yet to finish inside the top 10 at a global championships, but is more than capable of doing so.

Given the men’s race walking disciplines will be held nine days apart, 15 men will be doubling over 20km and 35km in Oregon.

Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom had a shaky start to the year but his victory over 35km at the World Race Walking Team Championships marked a turning point. The 32-year-old went on to clock a season’s best of 1:19:42 over 20km and a world-leading 37:57.02 over 10,000m on the track, ranking him fifth on the world all-time list for the distance. He is clearly a much stronger race walker than he was when he claimed world bronze in 2019, so he’ll be keen to improve on that medal.

Colombia’s Eider Arevalo, world 20km champion back in 2017, is also entered for both disciplines in Oregon, so too is Brazil’s 2017 world bronze medallist Caio Bonfim, Ecuador’s Pan American Games champion Brian Pintado, and Germany’s Christopher Linke. All four of those men have displayed strong enough form this season to suggest they could be a factor over either distance in Oregon.
 

Spain will once again be well represented in the race walks. European champion Alvaro Martin, runner-up over 35km in Muscat, steps back down to his preferred 20km distance for Oregon. His confidence will be high following his 1:19:58 triumph in La Coruna.

European silver medallist Diego Garcia Carrera finished just two seconds behind Martin in La Coruna, while Spanish champion Alberto Amezcua has an identical season’s best to Martin.

Samuel Gathimba made history in Muscat earlier this year by becoming the first Kenyan race walker to reach a podium at a senior global event, finishing third behind Yamanishi and Ikeda. The fearless 34-year-old recently won his third consecutive African title in this discipline and will be keen to continue blazing a trail for Kenyan race walkers by making an impact in Oregon.

Other potential contenders include Ireland’s David Kenny and Chinese duo Wang Kaihua, the national record-holder, and Cui Lihong.

Men's 35km race walk

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Irish Athlete: Brendan Boyce (Day 10: 2.15pm Irish time)

Boyce was 6th in 2019 World Championships in Doha (50K), missing out on a medal by under three minutes. Oregon will mark the 5th straight World Championships for the Finn Valley athlete.

Full preview

Held on the final day of the championships, the men’s 35km is shaping up to be an enthralling battle between the World Race Walking Team Championships winner, the Olympic 20km and 50km champions, a trio of top Japanese race walkers, two past winners of the world 20km title, and two of the 50km medallists from Doha three years ago.

He may not be the fastest on the entry lists, but Perseus Karlstrom perhaps commands the most respect given the manner of his victory over 35km at the World Race Walking Team Championships. The Swede had talked beforehand of the struggles he’d battled leading up to the race, but then things clicked for him in the latter stages and he won convincingly by 40 seconds. After the race he broke into fits of uncontrollable laughter. “It shouldn’t be this easy,” he commented.

And that was by no means meant to disrespect his opponents; rather, it was in reference to his less-than-ideal preparation. Since then, the 32-year-old has gone from strength to strength, and he’d have gained great confidence from clocking a swift 37:57.02 over 10,000m in his final race before Oregon.
 

But if quick times count for anything, look out for Japan’s Masatora Kawano, Daisuke Matsunaga and Tomohiro Noda. They have the fastest PBs of all the entrants for Oregon, with Kawano setting an Asian record of 2:26:40 in Wajima earlier this year. Kawano finished sixth at the Olympics last year and fourth in Muscat in March, so he’ll be keen to finally make it on to the podium in a global event.

Italy’s Massimo Stano decided against contesting the distance over which he won the Olympic title last year and will instead race over 35km in Oregon. His convincing 2:29:09 victory over the longer distance in Dudince perhaps swayed his decision, and it could well prove to be a smart one.

Poland’s Dawid Tomala, Olympic champion over 50km, is also entered for the 35km in Oregon. He isn’t one of the fastest entrants based on season’s bests, but that was also the case going into the 50km in Tokyo last year, so don’t discount another surprise performance from the 32-year-old.

Joao Vieira and Evan Dunfee shared the 50km podium at the last World Championships, the 46-year-old Portuguese race walker taking silver just three seconds ahead of the Canadian. Dunfee got the upper hand in Tokyo last year, though, taking bronze while Vieira placed fifth. Dunfee also placed seventh in Muscat earlier this year and has shown improved form since then, suggesting he’ll once again peak for the year’s major event.

Spain’s Miguel Angel Lopez and Colombia’s Eider Arevalo, world 20km champions in 2015 and 2017 respectively, have stepped up in distance this year. Lopez clocked a Spanish record of 2:27:53, while Arevalo boasts a PB of 2:32:08.

Like Karlstrom and Arevalo, Brazil’s Caio Bonfim and Germany’s Christopher Linke are also doubling up. They have often been in contention at major events and should be once again in Oregon.

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