Report14 Jul 2018


Report: women’s 10,000m race walk – IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018

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Alegna Gonzalez wins the 10,000m race walk at the IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018 (© Getty Images)

The order from the U20 10km at the IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships in Taicang, China in May was repeated on the track as the 10,000m race walk reached a thrilling three-way climax on the fifth morning of competition at the IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018.

Mexico's Alegna Gonzalez stayed away from the lead until the final 600 metres but the 19-year-old timed her effort brilliantly, pulling away from Ecuador's Glenda Morejon and Turkey's Meryem Bekmez to win her second major title of the season in a world U20 leading time of 44:13.88.

On a warm morning in Tampere, Puerto Rico's Rachelle de Orbeta staked out her claim from the gun and led by 11 seconds by the two kilometre checkpoint in 8:54.19. The pack which included all of the medal favourites --and the three eventual medallists-- were content to bide their time and de Orbeta was swallowed up by the pursuers just after the three kilometre mark.

After the halfway point was reached in 22:41.39, Bekmez was the first of the principal contenders to make a show, making an early bid for the title with 11 laps to go. The world U18 silver medallist over 5000m led by four seconds at the seven kilometre mark courtesy of a quick kilometre of 4:13.75 but Gonzalez and Morejon moved up as a pair and were back in title contention after eight kilometres.

Perhaps remembering how quickly Gonzalez finished to beat her in Taicang two months ago, Morejon began to press --but not hard enough-- with five laps remaining as Bekmez and Gonzalez sat comfortably in her slipstream. With one-and-a-half laps remaining, the Mexican moved to the front for the very first time which put paid to Morejon's title chances. Bekmez resisted for longer but a gap began to open up to Gonzalez with 300 metres remaining. Maintaining her technique all the way to the line, Gonzalez --who didn't receive any warnings from the judges-- was rewarded with her second major age-group accolade of the summer, also with a North American U20 record of 44:13.88.

"I'm happy with how the race went. It's been a really good season, exactly what I hoped for. This was a strategical competition and I had a lot of fuel in the tank in the end of the race," said Gonzalez, also expressing a penchant for the warm conditions. "This was perfect weather for me."

The silver and bronze medal positions remained in flux for the last 300 metres but Bekmez spurted again with 120 metres, opening up a comfortable gap on a tiring Morejon, 44:17.69 to 44:19.40. Bekmez set a Turkish U20 record while Morejon was rewarded with a South American U20 record on her 10,000m track debut.

"I only turned 18 in May so I think I have a long path ahead of me. Next my coach wants me to compete in Peru to improve my marks for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020," she said.

Seventeen of the top 20 finishers all set lifetime bests including early leader de Orbeta, seventh in a national U20 record of 45:51.58.

Steven Mills for the IAAF

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