BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL, April 12 — Capital city Brasília, was carved out of the Brazilian Highlands in 1960, and declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. Now it’s written a big chapter in the World Athletics history books, too.
All at once, the 31st WA World Race Walking Team Championships in Brasília said hello to new championship distances, the Half-Marathon (21.1K) and Marathon (42.2K) for men and women, and bade formal goodbye to their historic predecessors, the 20K, 35K and 50K.
Going all in on the spirit of repackaging, for the first time the organizers crammed the whole show, those four senior races along with a pair of 10Ks for under-20s, into a single day of action. The hosting welcomed the fixture to South America, as well as the Southern Hemisphere, for the first time. It was perhaps the biggest event on the continent since the 2016 Rio Olympics, although Cali, Colombia, which hosted the ’22 U20 Champs may wish to have a word.
The Championships also gave the race walking game the high-tech gizmo the rest of the track & field world and lots of detractors had long sought as needed to determine compliance with the oft-controversial “constant contact” rule.
April 12’s biggest winners: Hayato Katsuki (3:04:58) individually and his Team Japan in the men’s Marathon; Ecuador’s Paula Milena Torres (3:24:37) and her Team Ecuador in the women’s Marathon; Italy’s Francesco Fortunato (1:27:25) and Team Japan in the men’s Half, and Peru’s Kimberly García (1:35:00) and Team Ukraine in the women’s Half.
Putting their names in the future book for world walk stardom were Pu Huajia (39:58) of Japan and Team Italy in the men’s U20 10K, and Yutang Yang (46:11) and her Team China in the women’s U20 10K.
But the gizmo — just call it RWECS, for the Race Walking Electronic Control System – may have been the biggest winner of all. While still not formally approved, and not yet in the books — Brasília ’26 was its first grand experiment — it seemed to get passing grades from the top brass of WA down to the competitors and their coaches.
“This introduces an exciting new technology that will revolutionize the race walking world,” said Drexel University professor/technician/WA walking judge Jeff Salvage.
“RWECS, is a system that continuously monitors loss of contact in race walking. It’s something we simply call the race walk chip.
“All the work that has been accomplished [by a high-tech committee led by Professor Javier Rossell of Spain] has been done in communication with World Athletics, but we are an informal, separate working group that operates independently.”
Basically, RWECS detects breaks in stride over 10 leg cycles. But judges — with their yellow and red paddles, and scorecards — will still be out there, abetted by RWECS. And yes, they’ll continue to check the “straightening” phase — also part of race walking rules.
While every Brasília event produced an array of Area and National records, it’s only since these new distances are so new. Then again, the athletes were certain to be on their best behavior. The number of DQs was relatively minuscule.
Team USA — which has never had a WA walk champion and been limited to two bronze medals in 65 years — continued to make some progress. Long Island school teacher Lauren Harris added to her breakthrough season with a brilliant HMarW American Record of 1:39:28, putting her a solid 13th.
Veteran Maria Michta-Coffey, Harris’s mentor and guiding light, rose to the occasion with a 3:52:38 PR for 16th in the women’s MarW. Katie Burnett (22nd) and Lydia McGranahan (24th) completed the 5th-place team.
Airman Nick Christie led the American men in the Half, 39th in 1:35:36 backed by Emmanuel Corvera’s 49th and Jordan Crawford’s 52nd as 13th team. Bricyn Healey led the American full marathoners, 46th in 3:48:15.
Izabelle Trefts, recently crowned an NAIA titlist for Evergreen State (Washington), clocked 1:54:42 in 54th as No. 2 American in the Half.
Gael Plasencia impressed with a 45:42 10K to lead the American junior men.
For World Athletics president Seb Coe, the event was a big winner, and eye-opener. Coe, still smilingly lamenting his 800m loss to Brazil’s Joaquim Cruz in the ’84 LA Olympic final, said, “There is no doubt that the sport has evolved technically.
“Once upon a time, race waking was a sport concentrated in a few countries, mainly European.’’ But here he saw every continent — but Antarctica — represented on the podium.
Especially cheering: Misgana Wakuma’s 1:27:33 silver in the men’s Half – perhaps encouraging LDR superpower Ethiopia to support its race walkers, too. Also Ukraine’s women striking team gold in the Half — while the nation’s fierce battle with Russia moves into a fifth year.
Just twice has this event been hosted by USA — at Central Park, New York, in 1987, and San José in 1991.
Amid the Brasília success, many of the world’s top racewalkers continue to fret.
While the 2027 World Championships will include Half and Full Marathons, the LA28 Olympic walk program has been sliced to just the Half.
And this bottom line: The 50K (31.1 miles) walk, which made its debut at the 1932 Olympics, and endured to 2021, as the “longest and toughest event in the Games” will almost surely be gone. But to its most ardent supporters, not forgotten.
— World Team Walks —
Brasília, Brazil, April 12 —
Men’s Half-Marathon
Teams: 1. Japan 20; 2. Spain 39; 3. China 51… 13. United States 140.
1. Francesco Fortunato (Ita) 1:27:25 PR; 2. Misganaw Wakuma (Eth) 1:27:33 PR; 3. Caio Bonfim (Bra) 1:27:36; 4. Leo Köpp (Ger) 1:27:50 NR; 5. Kento Yoshikawa (Jpn) 1:28:00; 6. Jordy Jiménez (Ecu) 1:28:00; 7. Toshikazu Yamanishi (Jpn) 1:28:18; 8. Tomohiro Noda (Jpn) 1:28:42; 9. Diego García (Spa) 1:28:55; 10. Álvaro López (Spa) 1:29:08;…
39. Nick Christie (US) 1:35:36; 40. Evan Dunfee (Can) 1:35:36 PR;… 49. Emmanuel Corvera (US) 1:38:03 PR;… 52. Jordan Crawford (US) 1:39:39 PR;… 58. Jason Jya Hsin Cherng (US) 1:43:01;… 71. Nathan Limas (US) 1:53:08.
Men’s Marathon
Teams: 1. Japan 13; 2. Italy 20; 3. Spain 41.
1. Hayato Katsuki (Jpn) 3:04:58; 2. David Hurtado (Ecu) 3:05:57 NR; 3. Kazuya Iwai (Jpn) 3:06:03; 4. César Alberto Herrera (Col) 3:06:59 NR; 5. Massimo Stano (Ita) 3:07:38 NR; 6. Aurelien Quinion (Fra) 3:07:53 PR; 7. Riccardo Orsoni (Ita) 3:08:09 PR; 8. Andrea Agrusti (Ita) 3:08:26 PR; 9. Subaru Ishida (Jpn) 3:10:34; 10. Bernando Uriel Barrondo (Gua) 3:11:17;… 46. Bricyn Healey (US) 3:48:15 PR;… 49. Mike Mannozzi (US) 4:06:59.
Men’s U20 10K
Teams: 1. Italy 7; 2. China 7; 3. Australia 14.
1. Huajia Pu (Chn) 39:58 PR; 2. Isaac Beacroft (Aus) 40:47; 3. Alessio Coppola (Ita) 41:16;… 27. Gael Plasencia (US) 45:42 PR.
Women’s Half-Marathon
Teams: 1. Ukraine 25; 2. Spain 28; 3. Australia 30… 10. United States 127.
1. Kimberly García (Per) 1:35:00; 2. Alejandra Ortega (Mex) 1:35:21 NR; 3. Aldara Meilan (Spa) 1:35:38; 4. Sofia Santacreu (Spa) 1:36:02; 5. Rebecca Henderson (Aus) 1:37:05; 6. Evelyn Inga (Per) 1:37:08; 7. Hanna Shеvchuk (Ukr) 1:37:39 PR; 8. Lyudmyla Olyanovska (Ukr) 1:37:54; 9. Nicole Colombi (Ita) 1:38:00; 10. Mariia Sakharuk (Ukr) 1:38:15 PR;…
13. Lauren Harris (US) 1:39:28 AR (old AR 1:44:03 Harris ’26);
…54. Izabelle Trefts (US) 1:54:42;… 60. Miranda Melville (US) 1:58:39;… 62. Angelica Harris (US) 2:01:03.
Women’s Marathon
Teams: 1. Ecuador 12; 2. Italy 13; 3. Brazil 28… 5. United States 62.
1. Paula Milena Torres (Ecu) 3:24:37 NR; 2. Sofia Fiorini (Ita) 3:25:42 NR; 3. Nataly León (Ecu) 3:31:47 PR; 4. Federica Curiazzi (Ita) 3:32:21 PR; 5. Viviane Lyra (Bra) 3:34:53; 6. Jiahui Zhang (Chn) 3:35:23; 7. Eleonora Giorgi (Ita) 3:35:46 PR; 8. Karla Jaramillo (Ecu) 3:40:42 PR; 9. Magaly Bonilla (Ecu) 3:42:25 PR; 10. Priyanka Goswami (Ind) 3:43:01;
…16. Maria Michta-Coffey (US) 3:52:38;… 22. Katie Burnett (US) 3:55:14;… 24. Lydia McGranahan (US) 3:57:39 PR;… 34. Stephanie Casey (US) nt; 35. Katie Miale (US) nt.
Women’s U20 10K
Teams: 1. China 4; 2. Italy 12; 3. Japan 13.
1. Yutong Yang (Chn) 46:11; 2. Serena Di Fabio (Ita) 46:21; 3. Lihua Ni (Chn) 46:37.
