Perseus Karlstrom wins in Rio Maior (© Organisers)
Perseus Karlström set a Swedish and course record to secure a scintillating half marathon race walk win at the Lusatian Race Walking meeting, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Silver event, in Zittau, Germany on Saturday (24).
He clocked 1:23:24 to win by more than four minutes, while Peru’s Mary Luz Andia also achieved a big personal best to win the women’s race. The 25-year-old stopped the clock in a course record of 1:34:29 and like Karlström, she was untroubled from the gun.
There were also wins for France’s Aurélien Quinion and Poland’s Izabela Krzyżanowska in the marathon races.
But it was multiple global medallist Karlström who stole the show. His previous best of 1:24:58 from Dudince in March was eclipsed in style as the 36-year-old saved the best until last as far as 2026 goes by improving his national record.
Karlström's victory was never in doubt, and when it came to lapping on the one-kilometre loop course, he did just that. He lapped the entire field of 50 race walkers.
The Swede went straight to the front with Mexico’s Cesar Fernandez and Germany’s Leo Köpp right behind, with four in close order behind them.
By the second lap covered in 3:55, it was Karlström on his own with Fernandez desperately trying to close a small but significant gap.
But the leader sporting blue arm warmers and a blue vest was blowing the field away.
Karlström was 150 metres ahead after the five-kilometre mark as he relentlessly churned out sub-four-minute kilometres.
Josafat Pena was chasing his compatriot Fernandez, but Köpp was part of a four-strong group that caught Pena at the eight-kilometre mark.
Fernandez fell victim to the penalty zone, which allowed Köpp, Ireland’s Oisin Lane and Czechia’s Adam Zajíček to overtake and battle for the leading places.
Three then became two as Lane faltered.
At 16km, Köpp became sole contender for second place as Zajíček also suffered. But the German athlete was still more than three minutes behind the leader. In fact, Karlström could see Köpp, and with a circuit to go, the eventual runner-up became the last to get lapped.
However, the German was comfortable in second place and took that in 1:27:45 with Latvia’s Raivo Saulgriezis reaping the rewards of a sensible race to claim third place in 1:28:00.
Zajíček recovered to claim fourth, one second ahead of Mateusz Nowak from Poland.
Andia took on the women’s half marathon sheltered by a group of male athletes in the early stages.
Wearing dark glasses, she was out front and reached the six-kilometre mark in 26:43, moving further away.
She eventually won by more than two minutes, her 1:34:29 a course record by 3:41 and a 5:53 improvement on her previous best set in Lima in March.
Her dominance was underlined when Hana Černá of Slovakia recorded 1:36:59 for second, another big personal best by 1:51.
France’s 2021 world U20 silver medallist Maële Biré-Heslouis notched a fine third place in 1:39:16 on her half marathon debut. Canada’s Rosalie Drapeau was fourth in 1:40:59, a PB by 2:33.
There was a short delay for the start of the marathons around the rectangular 1km park course. But at 10°C and sunny, it was nigh on perfect for racing.
It took no time for Quinion and Martin Madeline-Degy to make the men’s marathon their own. The French pair were well clear by 4km, reached in 17:56 ahead of Mexico’s Julio Cesar Salazar Enriquez who was more than a minute behind at 14km.
Quinion and Madeline-Degy pushed on to record a swift 1:29:58 at the half marathon stage before Madeline-Degy edged ahead for a lap.
Any hope of an upset was short lived when European bronze medallist Quinion asserted his authority to draw level, move ahead, and take a 21-second lead at 29km.
By the end, that had stretched to 54 seconds: 3:01:35 to 3:02:29.
All the same, both comfortably broke the previous course record of 3:03:55 set by Italy’s Andrea Agrusti 12 months ago.
Italy’s Teodorico Caporaso was isolated for almost the entire race but he still came through for third place.
In the women’s marathon, three athletes race walked together for the first half. There was nothing to separate Germany’s Ada Junghannß from Krzyżanowska and her Polish compatriot Kinga Walerianczyk.
However, Krzyżanowska took the lead with 8km to go and never looked back to cross the finish line in 3:49:54.
This was a marathon effort that produced huge gaps in the closing stages as athletes tired dramatically. Second was Walerianczyk in 3:56:36 and third wasn’t Junghannß but her German compatriot Julia Schmidt in 4:04:01.
Paul Warburton for World Athletics
