Perseus Karlstrom at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat (© Getty Images)
Even with some of the event’s top exponents focusing on the marathon race walk mixed relay, the men’s 20km at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24 features an array of highly talented contenders.
One thing is certain: a new champion is guaranteed to emerge and none of the 20km winners from past editions of these championships are entered for the discipline in Antalya.
Little more than 20 seconds separate the six leading entrants on season’s bests, the fastest of whom is the relatively unheralded Ryo Hamanishi of Japan. The 23-year-old has made a major breakthrough this year, lowering his PB by more than four minutes to clock 1:17:42 at the Japanese Championships in Kobe.
In that race, Hamanishi finished just ahead of Yuta Koga, who improved his PB to 1:17:47. While Koga is more experienced than Hamanishi, having finished 12th at last year’s World Championships, this will be his first appearance at a World Race Walking Team Championships.
Satoshi Maruo, Kento Yoshikawa, and Tomohiro Noda – all of whom have bettered 1:20 this year – complete the team.
Caio Bonfim is sandwiched between Hamanishi and Koga on the entry list. The Brazilian has shown tremendous consistency over the past decade, having earned bronze medals at the 2017 and 2023 World Championships. The 33-year-old has already had a busy season; Sunday’s race will be his fourth 20km outing of the year.
He opened the year with a third-place finish in Taicang on 3 March, reducing his own national record to 1:17:44, before taking a comfortable win at the South American Championships in Recife where 1:22:49 proved to be enough to take gold. Earlier this month, he finished third in Podebrady with 1:18:50, his fifth fastest ever time.
Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom is another highly experienced and consistent performer. The world silver medallist, who turns 34 next month, showed great fitness in Podebrady earlier this month, where he achieved a convincing victory ahead of Canada’s Olympic bronze medallist Evan Dunfee and Bonfim.
Karlstrom, who also has three world bronze medals to his name, was a convincing winner over 35km at the last edition of these championships in Muscat two years ago, and he will be looking to maintain his supremacy in Antalya over the shorter distance.
All six members of the high-quality Chinese squad have bettered 1:19 this season. Asian Games silver medallist Wang Zhaozhao is China’s fastest entrant for Antalya, following his 1:17:48 PB in Taicang last month. Cui Lihong, who finished one place behind Zhaozhao in Taicang in 1:18:03, will be looking to improve upon his 30th-place finish from Muscat two years ago.
Ning Lu and Xiangfei Zhao, who have respective season’s bests of 1:18:08 and 1:18:15, bolster China’s team.
The big surprise, though, could come from Spain’s Paul McGrath. The European U23 champion excelled at the Spanish Championships earlier this year in Zaragoza where he took an emphatic win in 1:17:55, finishing 40 seconds clear of double world champion Alvaro Martin.
With Martin focusing on the relay in Antalya, McGrath will lead a strong Spanish squad for the men’s 20km which also includes European bronze medallist Diego Garcia Carrera and Marc Tur, the fourth-place finisher in the 50km at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ecuador won the team title in Muscat two years ago, and their leading three race walkers from that event will be in contention again in Antalya. World 35km silver medallist Brian Pintado was second over 20km in Dudince last month in 1:19:44, while Pan-American Games champion David Hurtado has a season’s best of 1:21:55, a few minutes shy of his PB. National champion Jordy Rafael Jiménez set his lifetime best of 1:20:08 at last year’s World Championships.
Emeterio Valiente for World Athletics
