Poděbrady Race Walking & Running

WA Race Walking Tour Gold Meeting

The winners of the 94th edition of Poděbrady Walking were Peruvian athlete Kimberly García León and Italian walker Francesco Fortunato. Among the Czech athletes, Ema Klimentová achieved the best result with a sixth-place finish.

This year, the race walking half marathon made its debut in Poděbrady. In the women’s race, the competition unfolded according to expectations. The favored trio of Kimberly García León, Antonella Palmisano, and Paula Torres set the pace very early on. During the seventh kilometer, Torres began to lose contact, and one kilometer later García León dropped Palmisano as well. At that point, the top Czech athlete, Ema Klimentová, was running around tenth place overall. She passed the 10-kilometer mark in 46:09, suggesting she could challenge her personal best from Dudince.

Kimberly García León allowed no further drama and secured her second career victory in Poděbrady, following up on her triumph from two years ago. She also recorded an outstanding time of 1:31:44. In the short history of this discipline, no woman in the world has completed a race walking half marathon faster. Antonella Palmisano claimed her eleventh podium finish with a time of 1:32:21. Some distance behind, Spain’s Lucia Redondo finished in bronze position in 1:34:22. Coached by Kateřina Čermáková, Ema Klimentová managed her effort excellently, steadily moving up the standings in the second half of the race to finish in an impressive sixth place. She improved her personal best from Slovakia by 12 seconds to 1:36:59.

In the men’s race, the Italian representatives were most often seen at the front, while Brazil’s world champion Caio Bonfim once again chose a more conservative tactic. At the 10-kilometer mark, a group of fifteen athletes still remained in contention for the top positions. Among the Czech elite walkers, Adam Zajíček held the best position, though Albert Kukla and Vít Hlaváč were not far behind. The first decisive moment came shortly after the eleventh kilometer when Australian walker Declan Tingay accelerated, significantly reducing the leading group to about half its size.

The crucial move came three kilometers before the finish, when Francesco Fortunato boldly surged into the lead and showed once again that he excels on the Lázeňská Colonnade. Following his victory at the European Team Championships three years ago, he added another Poděbrady triumph with a European record time of 1:23:00. He thus added another success to his recent victory at the World Race Walking Team Championships. The 2022 winner of this meeting, Caio Bonfim, finished second in 1:23:40. Germany’s Christopher Linke took third place in 1:23:46. Adam Zajíček finished a solid eighteenth in 1:27:37, while Albert Kukla also made the top twenty with 1:27:50. Vít Hlaváč came home in thirty-first place with a time of 1:29:54.

The junior women’s race was completely dominated by the Italian team. From the very start, the favored Serena Di Fabio controlled the race. The silver medalist from last year’s European Junior Championships already held a lead of more than one minute halfway through and continued to extend it. She crossed the finish line in a world-leading time for the year of 43:28. At the same time, she improved the year-old meeting record held by Spain’s Sofia Santacreu by 29 seconds. She also cut 40 seconds off her own national record set at last year’s Poděbrady Walking. Her compatriots Rebeca D’Alessandro (45:51) and Francesca Gloria Buselli (47:14) joined her on the podium. Among the Czech athletes, Kateřina Hromádková was the best in fourteenth place with a new personal best of 53:17. Personal records were also achieved by Klára Součková in sixteenth place (55:02) and Eliška Kokořová in twenty-first place (59:24).

The battle for victory in the junior men’s race was much more closely contested. After five kilometers, a leading group of four walkers broke away and stayed together for more than eight kilometers. A few hundred meters later, however, Spain’s Gabriel González made his move and quickly built up a lead of about seven seconds over his pursuers, which he successfully maintained to the finish. He triumphed on the Lázeňská Colonnade in 41:48. France’s Clement Rebreau also broke the 42-minute barrier with 41:55 for second place. Bronze went to Italy’s Lucio Di Lizio in 42:05. The best Czech athlete was Vojtěch Vejvančický, who significantly improved his personal best to 45:00, good enough for thirteenth overall. Marek Rösler finished seventeenth in 47:49.