Second gold for Spain! María Pérez completed a sensational test in the 20 kilometer walk women’s World Cups in Budapest to prevail with enormous self-sufficiency after a spectacular pull to pass through the 15 ‘and fly in a circuit of one kilometer around the Plaza de los Héroes (1h: 26.51).
There was a lot of desire for a ‘march’ in the Spanish delegation after the exhibition that starred Álvaro Martín from Extremadura on Saturday with his victory in the men’s 20 km event to join the previous universal champions Chuso García Bragado, Valentí Massana (both in 1993) and Miguel Ángel López in 2015.
Álvaro Martín makes history with a world gold medal underway
The great option was María Pérez, gold in the 2018 Europeans and author of the best world brand of the season (1h:25.30), despite the fact that the list of level rivals was endless with the Peruvian Kimberly García León (gold in 20 and 35 km in the last World Cup)the Italian Antonella Palmisano (gold in 20 km in the Tokyo Games), the Greek Antogoni Ntrimpspioti (gold in 20 and 35 in the European past) plus all the ‘Chinese army’.
Initially it was possible to verify how the veteran Ntrimpspioti was not like last summer and it didn’t take long for her to lose pace with the main group, something that happened immediately with the other Spanish representative, the Galician Antía Chamosa in her debut in a World Cup.
The script of the test did not change at all in the first 15 kilometerswith a group of eight athletes from which the Peruvian Inga fell before passing through 5′ (21:44) while María Pérez had seen a warning from the yellows in the initial moments that did not go any further.
This sign indicates to the walkers that they must correct their technique, something that the woman from Granada has done consciously after her two consecutive disqualifications last summer, first at the Eugene World Cups and then at the Munich European Championships. Great job with her trainer Jacinto Garzón.
Everything remained the same in the middle of the test (43:43) and when passing through the 15th (1h:06.06). However, María Pérez pulled hard at that moment and left alone with amazing ease. The only one who managed to follow him for a few hundred meters was the Australian Montag. His advantage was increasing exponentially. Four seconds past the 16th, eight at the 17th, 14 at the 18th and only a hecatomb could deprive Spain of its second gold in Budapest.
The arrival was one of those that will always be remembered. María Pérez took a Spanish flag, opened it on the straight and covered the last 10 meters walking to tear the tape with both hands with a record of 1h:26.51. This gesture perfectly sums up the joy and anger of an athlete who has had to work very hard on technique. !! Congratulations!!
The silver went to the Australian Jermina Montag (1h:27.16) and the bronze for the Italian Antonella Palmisano despite a fall that he suffered in the sharp curve on the opposite side of the Plaza de los Héroes (1h:27.26). For her part, the Galician Antía Chamosa was 29th with 1h: 34.20.
2023-08-20 06:53:22
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