European Athletics (EAA) – News – 20km walk world record for Russia’s Sokolova

Vera Sokolova clocked a 20km walk world record of 1:25:08 at the Russian Winter Walking Championships in Sochi on Saturday.

The former world youth and junior walking champion, who also won a bronze medal at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, improved on the official mark of her compatriot Olimpiada Ivanova by 33 seconds.

Ivanova’s fomer record of 1:25:41 was set when she won the gold medal at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki.

There have actually been several faster times registered in Russia in previous years, the fastest being Ivanova’s 1:24:50 in 2001, but in all cases, and for various reasons, the conditions for world record ratification were not fulfilled.

However, this year, the Russian athletics federation made strenuous efforts to ensure that the necessary number of international judges was available in Sochi, that the required doping controls were organised and that the course was certified.

Anisiya Kirdyapkina battled with Sokolova throughout the race but the Barcelona silver medallist this time found that she had to again settle for second, the roles with her Russian rival also being reversed from last summer. Although she was just beaten to the line, Kirdyapkina’s time of 1:25:09 was a world under 23 best and European under 23 record.

Third was the 2010 World Junior Championships 10,000m silver medallist Anna Lukyanova, who clocked 1:27:49 in her 20km debut.

Both Kirdyapkina and Lukyanova will be eligible for the European Athletics U23 Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

In men’s 20km race, a world-leading time of 1:19:14 was clocked by the winner Vladimir Kanaykin who, like Sokolova, is also a former world youth and junior walking champion.

As a reference point for Kanaykin’s performance in the Black Sea resort, Italy’s Alex Schwazer was the only man in the world last year to go faster.

European  Athletics (EAA) – News