European Cup of Race Walking - PREVIEW

The sixth EAA European Cup of Race Walking which takes place tomorrow, Saturday 21 May is likely to be one of the best guides to likely results of the race walking at 10th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Helsinki, Finland, this August.

This biannual event, modelled on the format on IAAF World Cup of Race Walking, is to be contested along the pedestrian precinct in the downtown area of this industrial city in the north east corner of Hungary, 170km from Budapest.

Five races featuring 286 walkers selected from 25 countries in one day certainly means there's a hectic and exciting parade of athleticism in prospect on Saturday.

The last edition of the EAA European Cup of Race Walking was held in 2003 in Cheboksary, Russia, the eastern hotspot of Race Walking, and drew massive crowds - 40,000 people lined the banks of the Volga to see three individual and three team victories for the host nation.

Click here for 2003 European Cup of Race Walking report

Yet Russian walkers often don’t repeat ultra-fast performances abroad, but with each country able to field up to four in the Senior races (women's 20km, men's 20km and 50km) with three to score, and a maximum of three athletes in Junior races (10km for men and women), with two to score - their strength in depth could be telling.

La Coruña, Spain, hosted the inaugural European Cup of Race Walking in 1996, and the Spanish have gained four men's team titles and the most individual senior men winners since, with 2004 Olympic Silver medallist Francisco Fernandez winning the 20km title twice and Jesús Ángel García the 50km three times. Russia's Olimpiada Ivanova has two individual victories, in 2000 and 2001.

The men's 20km race in La Coruña was won by the great Robert Korzeniowski of Poland. The four time Olympic Gold medallist and 50km World record holder also finished second over 20km in 1998 and first in 2000.

From that year (2000), junior races for men and women have also been included.

Men's 50km

The favourite will be Russia's Aleksey Voyevodin. Unlike his fellow team members - Yuriy Andronov, Vladimir Kanaykin and Sergey Kirdyapkin - Voyevodin didn't qualify via the Russian Winter Championship over 35km, so there is no guide to his recent form but his best time is four minutes ahead of his closest rivals in this competition.

The two times World Cup winner suggested he would retire last year, but his strong finish for bronze at Athens, the retirement of Robert Korzeniowski, and the fact that his wife Yuliya is competing in the women's 20km may have changed his mind.

Andronov (third at last year's World Cup in Naumburg) may also feature, but the wildcard is Vladimir Kanayakin. Last May at Naumburg the 20 year-old former World Junior champion shot off like a rocket at in the Junior 10km - only to be disqualified when a World record seemed certain. A 50km seems an unlikely distance at which to make a debut in senior international competition but the Mordovian’s 2:33:17 in March was the fastest ever 35km walk.

Yohan Diniz, of France, will need to improve on his best by more than 5 minutes to contest for a medal but that should be in his sights. His 1:20:20 in winning the EAA Permit 20km in Podebrady on 9 April was a national record, and he walked an exceptional 18:44.86 track 5000m in the French Interclubs league less than two weeks ago.

Russia are team favourites but France have a good record in team events and a strong squad this time.

Several of Spain's leading walkers are concentrating on their preparations for Helsinki, but Jesús Ángel García (who has contested all five previous European Cup 50km races) will be racing at Miskolc, but backing up a young team in the 20km, ahead of an attempt to regain the World 50km title he won back in 1993.

Men's Junior 10km

Aleksandr Prokhorov was second in 2003 and, at 19, is now among the older competitors. His best time of 39:52 in winning the Russian Junior Championship in March is the fastest of the entrants, ahead of Aleksey Grigoryev of Russia and Carsten Schmidt of Germany.

In the team competition the likely order is Russia, Ukraine then Poland.

Women's Junior 10km

As she did at the World Cup last year in Naumburg, Vera Sokolova seems set to dominate. The 2003 IAAF World Youth Champion, coached by Anatoli Nikolaiev, was a close second in 2003 and is still just 17.

The closest challangers are likely to be the Russians Tatyana Kalmykova and Aleksandra Kubasova.

Ukraine and Poland will be fighting for second team position.

Women's 20km

As a result of her victories in the recent IAAF Race Walking Challenges at Rio Maior, Portugal and Sesto San Giovanni, Italy, 24 year old Ryta Turava of Belarus, (fourth in the Athens Olympic 20km), heads the Challenge standings, ahead of Elisa Rigaudo of Italy and Susana Feitor of Portugal, and is also the IAAF World Ranked number one.

Turava's best time of 1:27:19 at Rio Maior is the second fastest this year behind Irayda Pudovkina's 1:26:28 in the Russian Championship. Fastest of the entrants on past record is the Athens silver medallist Olimpiada Ivanova, but her then 1:24:50 World best was achieved back in 2001 and the 35-year-old has not raced since the Olympics.

Athens champion Athanasia Tsoumeleka of Greece is reported to be injured.

Likely challengers include Tatyana Kozlova and Yuliya Voyevodina of Russia, Claudia Stef of Romania, Sabine Zimmer and Melanie Seeger of Germany - as well as Susana Feitor of Portugal and Elisa Rigaudo of Italy, the 2004 Race Walking Challenge overall title winner.

The team title holders are Italy, who have won the competition three times to Russia's twice. This time Belarus may present Russia's strongest challenge. Germany will also be in contention while Portugal, having finished four in the first ten at Sesto San Giovanni, may also feature.

Men's 20 km

The current Race Walking Challenge standings are led by Francisco ‘Paquillo' Fernandez, as is the IAAF World Ranking for the event but the Spaniard is concentrating on World Championship preparations and the IAAF Challenge at La Coruña in two weeks time.

So the finale is therefore likely to be a Russian affair. The fastest so far this year, at 1:18:06 is 20 year old Vladimir Parvatkin who trains alongside Kanaykin, Voyevodin and Olympic 50km Race Walk silver medallist Denis Nizhegorodov.

Parvatkin wilted in Athens and although those conditions won't be replicated in Hungary, he will be under pressure from each of his team mates - not least the 1999 World Champion Ilya Markov who has been competing across Europe with Robert Korzeniowski's training group.

Ivano Brugnetti has raced all five European Cups and after injury the Olympic champion is using the competition to help get back to full fitness but a grim effort for fourth in front of his Tifosi in Sesto San Giovanni, showed he has some way to go.

The Italian team should make a strong challenge however - along with Ukraine, Spain, and Poland - but it would be hard to see any other country than Russia walking away with the title.

Tim Watt for the IAAF