The IAAF World Cup of Race Walking was held in Saransk, Russia last weekend and resulted in some fine Irish performances. Best of the lot was Colin Griffin
(Ballinamore AC) from Leitrim who qualified for the London Olympics after finishing in 15th place in a time of 3:52.55, well inside the 'A' standard of 3:59. This brings the total qualifiers in Athletics to 18, the highest ever number to achieve the A standard. In the same race, Jamie Costin
(West Waterford AC) was unable to finish in the hot conditions and failed to qualify for his fourth Olympics. Michael Doyle also posted a DNF.
50 Kilometres Race Walk - M FINAL
13 May 2012 - 8:30
Position Bib Athlete Country Mark .
1 358 Sergey Kirdyapkin RUS 3:38:08 (WL)
2 354 Igor Erokhin RUS 3:38:10 (SB)
3 114 Jared Tallent AUS 3:40:32 (SB)
15 254 Colin Griffin IRL 3:52:55 (SB)
(72 finishers)
In the mens 20k race, Rob Heffernan
(Togher AC) used the event as part of his preparation for the 50k race in the Olympics. Rob finished in 12th place in 1:21.51. In the same race Brendan Boyce
(Letterkenny AC), who has already qualified for the 50k in London finished 65th in 1:27.
20 Kilometres Race Walk - M FINAL
12 May 2012 - 18:15
Position Bib Athlete Country Mark .
1 152 Zhen Wang CHN 1:19:13 .
2 359 Andrey Krivov RUS 1:19:27 .
3 357 Vladimir Kanaykin RUS 1:19:43 (SB)
12 255 Robert Heffernan IRL 1:21:51 .
64 251 Brendan Boyce IRL 1:27:46 (SB)
(108 finishers)
In the mens 10k racewalk, Luke Hickey
(Leevale AC) and James Treanor
(Shercock AC) finished in 48:05 and 48:55 respectively.
10 Kilometres Race Walk - M FINAL
IntermediateResults 5km
Position Bib Athlete Country Mark .
1 160 Eider Arévalo COL 41:17 (SB)
2 356 Alexander Ivanov RUS 41:42 .
3 308 Jesús Tadeo Vega MEX 41:56 .
54 256 Luke Hickey IRL 48:05 .
59 257 James Treanor IRL 48:55
(63 finishers)
In the womens 50k race, Olive Loughnane
(Loughrea AC) who lives near Coachford finished in a seasons best time of 1:31.32 and in eight place. Just to give some idea of the tough conditions, Olive sent this out on her Twitter account just before the race...."Conditions here in Saransk are brutal. Feels like 30 & it's only 10:30. It's going to be a war of attrition in 3 hours". In the same race, Laura Reynolds
(Mohill AC) was on the target for the Olympic Standard for three quarters of the race however she faded in the latter stages finishing in 1:37:06 outside her best of 1:34:42 that she set earlier in the year in Naumburg.
20 Kilometres Race Walk - W FINAL
13 May 2012 - 13:20
Position Bib Athlete Country Mark .
1 636 Elena Lashmanova RUS 1:27:38 .
2 633 Olga Kaniskina RUS 1:28:33 (SB)
3 553 María José Poves ESP 1:29:10 .
8 583 Olive Loughnane IRL 1:31:32 (SB)
35 585 Laura Reynolds IRL 1:37:06
(85 finishers)
In the womens 10k race walk, Kate Veale of West Waterford AC finished an impressive sixth place in a time of 46:53, not too far from her personal best time of 46:32. Kate who is the
current World Youth Champion is sitting her leaving cert exams in a few weeks time. In the same race Emma Prendeville finished 45th.
10 Kilometres Race Walk - W FINAL
12 May 2012 - 17:00
Position Bib Athlete Country Mark .
1 528 Sandra Arenas COL 45:57 .
2 609 Alejandra Ortega MEX 46:00 (AJ)
3 635 Nadezhda Leontyeva RUS 46:02 .
6 586 Kate Veale IRL 46:53 (SB)
45 584 Emma Prendiville IRL 55:31
(48 finishers)
