This Wednesday at the equator World Athletics Championships held in Budapest and the hourglass countdown begins with a Thursday marking the return of the march, with the Spanish delegation winning only two medals and both golds (Alvaro Martín and María Pérez in the 20km).
At 07:00, there will be a difficult 35-kilometer walk with a joint start. In Plaza de los Héroes, and although in principle the shade was respected throughout the test, the thermometer will be dangerously close to 30 degrees Celsius in the final stage, especially for women.
In the male category, sprint world champion Álvaro Martín has recovered quite well After Saturday’s tremendous effort, he will start with options to win his second medal in Budapest, opting for something no male walker has accomplished: two golds at the World Cup. Yes, Peruvian Kimberly García León (20 and 35) did that in the last edition.
Yet the effort and the infernal warmth, man from Extremadura with the third best mark of the course (2 hours:35.35) and will accompany current European champion Miguel Ángel López (gold at 20km in Beijing’15) and Balearic Marc Tour (fourth in 50km at the London Games).
This year, only Chinese Xianhong He and Japanese Tomohiro Noda walked faster than the man from Lleren. Also on the roster are current Italian champion Massimo Stano (failed 20km), Japanese runner-up Masatora Kawano and Sweden bronze Perseus Karlström in the top 35 of 2023 after winning silver in the 20km.
Problems come with María Pérez ‘touched’ from a muscle injury while going under the 20km on Sunday. The Granada woman has recovered significantly and will have doctors’ permission to begin, but in any case her health will be prioritized and her retirement will not be overlooked.
It’s a pity because Jacinto Garzón’s brilliant student is presented as a brand new world record holder When World Athletics confirmed the 2 hours: 37.15 he achieved in Podebrady. These problems for María Pérez make Kimberley García León favorite as the all-time second and current champion with a time of 2 hours:37.44.
We’ll also have to take into account the Polish Katarzyna Zdzieblo (silver in past World Cups), the Chinese Shijie Queyang (bronze in 2022), Xueying Bai and Maocuo Li. They will be with María Pérez ex-Barcelona veteran Raquel González (fifth in the last World Cup) and eighth of the year) and young Cristina Montesinos (ninth of 2023).
Six more Spaniards
After qualifying for the semi-finals in the 200m, Catalan Jaël Bestué will face an impossible situation as he is framed in the third semi-final Sha’carri Richardson with Shericka Jackson and Maria-Josée TaLou at 8:03 p.m. They beat the first two and the other two by time, so her goal should be to improve her score (22.54) and approach Sandra Myers’ historic national record (22.38).
Before, Mohammed Katir 1,500 will try to redeem himself in the semi-finals, 5,000 in the knockout series and he’ll do it in the top 1 at 19:00 with two very hard bones like Ouassim Oumaiz and current champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Ugandan Joshua Chepteguei who won his third consecutive title in the 10,000 in Budapest. In the second, at 19:21, Burkinabe debutant Thierry Ndikumwenaypo will be with Rodrigue Kwizera (7th in 10,000) from Kejelcha, a favorite Ethiopian who yearns for Spanish citizenship like himself.
In any case, the other great main dish is 800m semi-final with three Spaniards for the second time in a World Cup (The only precedent is from Daegu 2011). With only two tickets for places and two for times, young Mohamed Attaoui will run the first series at 20.50 and his toughest opponent will be Frenchman Robert, while Spanish record holder Saúl Ordóñez will share second place at 20.59. Canadian Marco Arop and current European champion Adri Ben will face American Hoppel and Kenyan Wanyonyi at 21.08.