Athletic Australia – LA CORUNA

Stopping the clock at 1:21:42 and edging out his compatriot and three time Olympic medallist Jared Tallent (Vic, 11th, 1:22:19), the time was his third fastest performance ever behind his personal best at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup last month and a race in Nomi (JPN) in March.

“There was plenty of banter in the pack, and elbows were up so it was every man for himself. It would have helped if I was a bit shorter because the corners were tight. It felt like my legs were a kilometre long at some of the bends and I was dragging them around at best,” Bird-Smith said.

“I’m very happy with sixth place.”

Crossing within the top-16 at both the IAAF World Championships and the IAAF World Race Walking Cup this past 12 months, Bird-Smith now has his sights set on the IAAF World Championships in Beijing (CHN) next year and an Olympic debut in Rio de Janiero (BRA) the year after.

For more information on the IAAF Race Walking Challenge, please click here.

IAAF REVIEW: Barrondo narrowly beats Takahashi

Erick Barrondo made a piece of history at the London Olympics Games two years ago when he became the first Guatemalan person to win an Olympic medal – of any colour, at any sport. Last year at the IAAF World Championships, he tried to improve on his London silver medal but he was disqualified some 2km home for lifting.

It seems that the Guatemalan ace – who will turn 23 on 14 June – opted for more conservative tactics in La Coruna as he was joined by no fewer than 21 athletes at the halfway section, which was covered in a modest 41:17.

Barrondo was in ninth place at that point, a couple of seconds behind the leaders; among them the Japanese pair of Eiki Takahashi and Isamu Fujisawa, Spain’s local hero Miguel Angel Lopez and Germany’s Hagen Pohle.

There were no major changes over the 10-15km section, although the leading group whittled down to 12 men, Norway’s Erik Tysse the most renowned casualty.

The fireworks started about the 15.5km point when Australia’s defending champion Jarred Tallent and eventual winner Barrondo injected a much brisker rhythm. While Tallent couldn’t live with that kind of pace for long, Barrondo shared the lead with Takahashi and they travelled virtually even for much of the final 3km while the surprise Brazilian Caio Oliveira De Sena Bonfim – 16th at the recent IAAF World Race Walking Cup – had moved into third.

Barrondo’s late burst of speed gave him a five-second win over Takahashi, 1:21:14 to 1:21:19, with Bonfirm a further five seconds behind.

After the World Race Walking Cup held in Taicang earlier this month, Barrondo – along with the rest of the Guatemalan National team – had travelled to the Polish city of Spala for a three-week training camp under the guidance of his Polish coach Bohdan Bulakoski and it seems the training camp has been profitable for the Guatemalan ace.

To give an idea of the in-depth classy field assembled in La Coruna, the in-form Tallent and Lopez finished outside the top 10.

The IAAF Race Walking Challenge standings remain headed by Ukraine’s World Race Walking Cup winner Ruslan Dmytrenko (26 points) followed by Tallent (23) and China’s Cai Zelin (21).

Athletic Australia