Massimo Stano of Italy is the first world walker champion over the 35 km distance, which was first scheduled at the World Championships in Athletics. The two DLV athletes had no chance. At the end of the World Championships, there are eight more medal decisions on the program. The tenth day of competition in Eugene at a glance.
Go 35 km men: Olympic champion Stano triumphs
The world championship premiere over 35 km had two phases: The Japanese Daisuke Matsunaga dominated the first 20 kilometers with a solo performance, then the pursuers caught up with him. The pace remained high after that, from a group of seven, 20 km Olympic champion Stano from Italy and Masatona Kawano from Japan were able to break away decisively about four kilometers before the end. Stano saved a very narrow lead to the finish – the Italian won in 2:23:14 hours, for Kawano the clock stopped at 2:23:15 hours. “He ran a great race and really made me tired,” the world champion took off his hat to his opponent. For Italy it was the first World Cup gold in Eugene. Perseus Karlstrom of Sweden won the bronze medal as he did in the 20K (2:23:44).
On the first day of the competition, there was a Japanese double success in the men’s 20 km walk, while the Peruvian Kimberley Garcia Lopez won the two women’s races over 20 and 35 km.
Dohmann and Junghannß had no chance
The two German walkers were only around 30 kilometers when Stano and Kawano crossed the finish line: Karl Junghannß from Erfurt was 34th (2:38:50 hours) and Carl Dohmann from Baden-Baden was 40th (2:45: 40 hours) had nothing to do with the decision about gold, silver and bronze.
The pace at the front of the race was much too high for Carl Dohmann (l.) and Karl Junghannß.
Christopher Linke from SC Potsdam, who dropped out more than 20 km early, could not start because of a positive corona test. Still weakened by his Covid-19 illness, the Olympic silver medalist over 50 km, Jonathan Hilbert, had decided not to take part in the World Championships. But he wants to be at the European Championships in Munich (15th to 21st August).
Decathlon: Defending champion Kaul is struggling
On the second and decisive day in the decathlon, defending champion Niklas Kaul actually wants to start a race to catch up. However: Before the last three disciplines, the Mainzer is only 14th. The best German is World Cup debutant Leo Neugebauer in seventh, Canadian Pierce Lepage is in the lead. World record holder Kevin Mayer from France has a good starting position for the “final sprint”.
Eight more decisions on the final day
After ten days, the World Athletics Championships in Eugene will come to an end on Monday night (CEST). At the end there are eight more medal decisions – four of them with German participation. In the men’s pole vault (from 2.25 a.m. CEST) Bo Kanda Lita Baehre from Leverkusen is a candidate for a place on the podium if the form is right. In the long jump, defending champion and Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo goes into the competition with the burden of favorites (2:50 a.m. CEST).
For the native American Sam Parsons from Eintracht Frankfurt, on the other hand, starting in the final over 5,000 m (3:05 a.m. CEST) is already a great success. At 4:20 a.m. CEST, the decathletes end their strenuous two-day competition with the 1,500 m run. Does Niklas Kaul then have a say in the matter of a medal finish? Wait!