SPAIN’S MÁRIA PÉREZ turned her first Tokyo assignment into a walkaway. Spectators along Gingko Tree Lane in the National Stadium environs saw her pull away just past the 20K mark from all of her rivals en route to a rousing 2:39:01 35K win – that was the most decisive in the event’s 3-Worlds history. Walker-up Antonella Palmisano of Italy was a gaping 3:23 back, a margin of some 600 meters, in 2:42:24.
But this was also the slowest-ever Worlds 35K, thanks to the mugginess of it all — even with the 7:30 a.m. start time, half an hour earlier than planned. All those gingkos hardly produced the shade that would have been hugely helpful to the 46 women starters, who shared the road with 49 concurrently racing men. Weather-wise, the ladies may have coped better than the gentlemen — Pérez was faster than 14 male finishers.
How dominant was the 5-foot-1 (1.56), 29-year-old? She could have eased on home, saving energy for the Saturday 20K she now sights as part two of her second straight WC double — following her identical Budapest ’23 script. A four-for-four Budapest/Tokyo double-double looms over the horizon.
Once in command of the 35 (21.7 miles), Pérez never looked back or was seriously challenged. Some termed the big win a time trial. Snaring a Spanish flag, she crossed the line all smiles, before stretching out on the stadium track. She had plenty of time to get back on her feet, too, as a one-woman welcoming party to all her in-vain pursuers.
In Ecuador walking has been serious stuff ever since the historic Jefferson Pérez (no relation to Mária) walk to the ’96 Olympic men’s 20K title. Paula Milena Torres added to the tradition here with her 2:42:44 bronze.
Special praise was heaped on all the Tokyo hosts. “I want to thank all the Japanese,” said Pérez. “They learned and said my name on the last lap. Although I am so far away from home, it felt like home.”
Palmisano, 34, looks fondly on this place, too. She’d won the ’21 Olympic 20K in Sapporo, Japan.
China’s Li Peng, 4th in 2:43:29, was 45 seconds out of medal range. But Peru’s Kimberly García, double winner at the Eugene ’22 Worlds, settled for 10th. Thirty-eight finished, with 7 DNFs and a DQ.
There were no team honors at stake — but Team USA still did itself proud. Long Islander Maria Michta Coffey, mom of two and now a 39-year-old veteran of 7 Worlds, placed 22nd in 3:05:02 to lead the American contingent. Miranda Melville, 30th in 3:12:07, and Katie Burnett, 32nd in 3:14:13. Only the Spain, Italy, Australia, China and Japan threesomes fared better.
Family and friends had given Michta-Coffey, most decorated woman in U.S. walking history, a gala pre-Worlds send off. “I’m going to carry this energy all the way to Tokyo,” she vowed. “Thanks to each and every one of you for helping to share my story, for bolstering me during the lows and celebrating the highs! Now let’s ride out this high!”
Lauren Harris, Michta-Coffey’s star protégé, is the lone U.S. entry in the women’s 20K.
WOMEN’S 35K WALK RESULTS
(September 13)
1. Mária Pérez (Spa) 2:39:01 (x, 6 W)
(23:36, 22:57 [46:33], 22:41 [69:14], 23:00 [1:32:14], 21:57 [1:54:11], 22:15 [2:16:26], 22:35);
2. Antonella Palmisano (Ita) 2:42:24
(23:36, 22:57 [46:33], 22:41 [69:14], 23:00 [1:32:14], 22:21 [1:54:35], 23:43 [2:18:18], 24:06);
3. Paula Milena Torres (Ecu) 2:42:44 NR
(23:36, 22:57 [46:33], 22:42 [69:15], 22:59 [1:32:14], 22:32 [1:54:46], 24:27 [2:19:13], 23:31);
4. Li Peng (Chn) 2:43:29 PR;
5. Katarzyna Zdziebło (Pol) 2:44:37;
6. Raquel González (Spa) 2:45:41;
7. Cristina Montesinos (Spa) 2:46:44;
8. Hanna Shеvchuk (Ukr) 2:49:44;
9. Rebecca Henderson (Aus) 2:50:03; 10. Kimberly García (Per) 2:50:37; 11. Nicole Colombi (Ita) 2:51:04; 12. Hana Burzalová (Svk) 2:51:15; 13. Viviane Lyra (Bra) 2:51:16; 14. Olivia Sandery (Aus) 2:51:43; 15. Yukiko Umeno (Jpn) 2:56:28; 16. Hang Yin (Chn) 2:56:51; 17. Eleonora Giorgi (Ita) 2:58:50; 18. Ólga Fiáska (Gre) 2:59:59; 19. Allanah Pitcher (Aus) 3:00:08; 20. Maika Yagi (Jpn) 3:01:27; 21. Masumi Fuchise (Jpn) 3:03:29; 22. Maria Michta-Coffey (US) 3:05:02; 23. Karla Jaramillo (Ecu) 3:05:03; 24. Priyanka Goswami (Ind) 3:05:58;
25. Agnieszka Ellward (Pol) 3:08:21; 26. Mayara Luize Vicentainer (Bra) 3:08:54; 27. Joana Pontes (Por) 3:09:07 PR; 28. Li Ma (Chn) 3:09:32; 29. Ema Hačundová (Svk) 3:10:21; 30. Miranda Melville (US) 3:12:07; 31. Brigitte Coaquira Albarracin (Per) 3:13:22; 32. Katie Burnett (US) 3:14:13; 33. Kader Güvenç (Tur) 3:14:46 PR; 34. Jessica Groenewald (SA) 3:16:03; 35. Polina Repina (Kaz) 3:20:00; 36. Elianay Pereira (Bra) 3:20:32; 37. Sofía Alikanióti (Gre) 3:21:06; 38. Naomi Garcia (PR) 3:21:57;
… dq—Olivia Lundman (Can);
… dnf—María Luz Andia (Per), Antigóni Drisbióti (Gre), Alegna González (Mex), Viktória Madarász (Hun), Johana Ordóñez (Ecu), Valeria Ortuño (Mex), Karla Serrano (Mex), Galina Yakusheva (Kaz).
(leader 5Ks: García 23:36; Pérez 46:33, 69:14; Torres 1:32:14; Pérez 1:54:11, 2:16:26)
