THE SCRIPT WAS written a year ago in Budapest. Only the numbers had to be jotted down in Paris.
As the Track & Field News 2023 World Championships story introducing the new-fangled marathon walk relay event planned for the Paris Games told readers, “Yes, count on this —– the clear-cut early favorite is certain to be Team España.”
When Álvaro Martín and Mária Pérez racewalked off with men’s/women’s 20K/35K doubles in Budapest, they became obvious morning-line choices of walk fans — and yes, there are lots of them — to claim Paris gold in the new pedestrian event.
They did not disappoint on a humid Wednesday morning over the Trocadero-area L-shaped, 1-kilometer loop course in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
The 42.2K event was designed as the racewalking counterpart of the marathon run. And the Martín-Pérez duo won it handsomely for Spain in 2:50:31, a clocking that would best the vast bulk of finishers in the world’s big-city marathon runs.
The first and third segments were 11.4K and 10K for the men; the second and fourth legs, 10K and 10.8K, for the women. No batons were exchanged — teammates just played tag.
Martín (bronze in last Thursday’s men’s Olympic 20K) and Pérez (silver in the women’s 20K) couldn’t repeat their Budapest individual golds, but as a team they were top of the heap here.
Canada’s Evan Dunfee bolted to a quick early lead and kept on top for about 5K. But he was soon swallowed up by the pack, and Germany’s Christopher Linke tagged off first in 43:32 with a whole bunch hard on his heels.
It was Paris 20K bronze medalist Jemima Montag’s turn to put Australia ahead on the second leg, with Peru’s Kimberly García (who’d won the 20K/35K double at the’22 Worlds), Italy’s Antonella Palmisano (2021 Olympic 20K champion) and Pérez still packed closely.
By the third leg, it was Martín and Ecuador’s Daniel Pintado, the Paris 20K king, storming to the front, but Martín edged to a 3-second edge as he tagged off.
Now it was Pérez’s turn to put Team España out front and she stayed there, crossing the line with 51 seconds to spare and tearing down the finish line banner with golden delight.
And soon Martín and Pérez, sharing a Spanish flag, were off on a one-lap victory circuit — jogging now, not walking.
Said Perez: “It has been an incredible day.” Said Martín: “In the end, this [victory] is not only ours, but of all the Spanish racewalkers.”
Ecuador anchor Glenda Morejón took extra care with her technique — her team had already picked up two red cards — and fought off hard-charging Aussie anchor Montag to take the silver, 2:51:22 to 2:51:38.
Right behind: Peru 2:51:56, Mexico 2:52.38, Italy 2:53:35, Brazil 2:54:08, Japan 2:55:40.
Take note: four of the top eight were from Latin America, racewalking’s strongest zone.
Spain’s B Team claimed 9th in 2:56:10, and Japan, China, Colombia and Australia also fielded B teams — rankling some.
Track relay teams, of course, are limited to one per nation, but these B teams racing on a road course precluded other nations (USA perhaps among them) from being there.
Team Canada (Dunfee and Olivia Lundman) wound up 20th.
Q: Will the marathon walk relay be on the Los Angeles 2028 program? A: Not a certainty, but the 2025 Beijing Worlds card will include individual 20K and 35K races.
MIXED MARATHON WALK
RESULTS (August 07) (11.4K, 10K, 10K, 10.8K)
(temperature 61-66F/16-19C; humidity 60-65%)
1. Spain 2:50:31
(Álvaro Martín 43:33, Mária Pérez 42:56, Martín 38:11, Pérez 45:51);
2. Ecuador 2:51:22
(Daniel Pintado 43:33, Glenda Morejón 42:55, Pintado 38:15, Morejón 46:39);
3. Australia 2:51:38
(Rhydian Cowley 43:55, Jemima Montag 42:27, Cowley 39:25, Montag 45:51);
4. Peru 2:51:56
(César Rodríguez 44:12, Kimberly García 42:12, Rodríguez 39:56, García 45:36);
5. Mexico 2:52:38
(Ever Palma Olivares, Alegna Gonzalez);
6. Italy 2:53:52
(Massimo Stano, Antonella Palmisano);
7. Brazil 2:54:08
(Caio Bonfim, Viviane Lyra);
8. Japan 2:55:40
(Masatora Kawano, Kumiko Okada);
9. Spain B 2:56:10; 10. Germany 2:56:14; 11. France 2:56:54; 12. Colombia 2:57:54; 13. Japan B 2:58:08; 14. China 2:59:13; 15. China B 3:00:43; 16. Poland 3:00:55; 17. Ukraine 3:01:50; 18. Slovakia 3:03:54; 19. Colombia 3:03:56; 20. Canada 3:04:57; 21. Hungary 3:05:18; 22. Australia B 3:09:21; 23. Türkiye 3:14:53;… dnf—India, Czechia.
