Pintado and Garcia triumph in Rio Maior

There were comfortable wins for Brian Pintado and Kimberly Garcia at the Grande Prémio Internacional de Rio Maior on Saturday (11) – the latest Gold stop of the World Athletics Race Walking Tour.

In fact, the staggered start of the men’s and women’s 20km saw both cross the finish line in the same minute.

Pintado, the defending champion, was away and gone long before 15km. It also brought a welcome return to racing following disqualification at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24. But Garcia had Mexico’s Alejandra Ortega for company right up to the last one-kilometre circuit.

It was a warm 19C despite the early evening start, but was to get cooler. 2022 double world champion Garcia was hard to spot at the start, wearing long black socks, black kinaesthetic tape from knee to glute muscles and topped off with dark glasses.

She also modestly hung back at the 6pm start. In fact, the Peruvian was content to leave three others to take it on with home hope Vitoria Oliveira leading the charge.

Not that it was a particularly hard task. The opening kilometre was a pedestrian 4:43 and when Mexico’s Valeria Ortuno and Erica Sena went through the line for the second lap in 9:10, it was clear things were warming up.

One lap later, and the first four were walking single file. Surprisingly, Garcia was six seconds behind Ortuno at the front, but that slight gap was coming down inch by inch.

The status quo was preserved at quarter distance reached in 22:49. Shortly after 4km, Garcia ominously drew alongside Oliveira with the other two a couple of seconds ahead.

Ortega was moving though the gears and soon changed the look of the leaders. She actually passed 10km first in 45:51 although Garcia, Oliveira and Sena were treading on her heels as Ortuno began to suffer. It remained the same through the next four laps, but at 15km Oliveira’s brave bid for glory was done.

It was now a three-woman race between Garcia, Sena and Ortega, but not for long. By 17km, 39-year-old Sena felt the increased pace and was forced to give way.

With two circuits left, the Brazilian knew third would have to do, but up front the battle for first was still very much on – or so it seemed. There was very much a feeling the world’s No.1 ranked race walker was biding her time after three big races in a little over a month.

And so it proved. Garcia did just enough to come home in 1:30:35 with Ortega five seconds back.

The Mexican was a lowly 30th in Podebrady in April and ninth last week in Warsaw, but took second place here in a season’s best of 1:30:40. Sena was a distant third in 1:31:17 while Hungary’s Rita Recei just inched ahead of a tiring Oliveira for fourth.

In the men’s race, five went through the first kilometre and a blanket would have covered cover the lot. Marc Tur, Jeferson Segura, Mazlum Demir, Pablo Rodriguez were slightly ahead of Pintado at a steady four minutes plus for each 1km lap, although that slowed to 12:12 when they went through 3km.

At 5km, Turkey’s Demir was content to hang off the back by a second, but it was shoulder to shoulder for the other four leaders. The pace, rather than speeding up, was slowing ever so slightly that saw the five through a sixth lap in a comfortable 24:28.

That all changed at 8km. Segura from Mexico sensed his chance to make the podium, so he and Pintado went away leaving the other three in their wake. Out of the blue, Segura suddenly called it a day just before 10km but it was hammer down for the eventual winner.

Pintado reached halfway in 40:22 and quickly found 16 seconds on the three chasers that included Tur from Spain, Peru’s Rodriguez and Demir. The Ecuadorean pushed on to double the gap by 14km although behind him chinks of evening light appeared between Rodriguez, Tur and Demir as they battled for the places.

Pintado hit his watch at 1:00:05 for 15km. Rodriguez was now 38 seconds back; Tur added another two to the deficit, and Demir was six seconds behind the Spaniard. That battle for second and third was done and dusted on lap 18 with Rodriguez forging an 11-second gap over Tur, and Demir losing time hand over fist.

Pintado went through the gears over the last two kilometres to come home in 1:19:57. It might have been a few seconds quicker had he not stopped to wrestle with an Ecuadoran flag he attempted to drape over his shoulders as he strolled through the line.

Rodriguez finished in 1:20:47, Tur in 1:21:09 and Demir a distant 1:22:11.

Paul Warburton for World Athletics

Leading results

Women
1 Kimberly Garcia (PER) 1:30:35
2 Alejandra Ortega (MEX) 1:30:40
3 Erica Sena (BRA) 1:31:17
4 Rita Recsei (HUN) 1:32:22
5 Vitoria Oliveira (POR) 1:32:32

Men
1 Brian Pintado (ECU) 1:19:57
2 Cesar Rodriguez (PER) 1:20:47
3 Marc Tur (ESP) 1:21:09
4 Mazlum Demir (TUR) 1:22:11
5 Bence Venyercsan (HUN) 1:24:11