MADRID, 13 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The athletes María Pérez and Alberto Amezcua have been proclaimed champions of Spain in the 20-kilometre walk this Sunday, for the fourth and first time respectively, after winning their categories in the national championship held in Pamplona.
The Granada-born woman also broke her own championship record with a time of 1:27:40, which is the fourth fastest ever achieved by a Spanish walker, after María Pérez’s own record of 1:26:36 and the two María Vasco’s previous records, 1:27:36 and 1:27:25. In addition, she is placed fourth in the world ranking of 2022, second European.
In the capital of Navarra, 18 international minimums were also achieved: ten for the Muscat World Team Walking Championship (1:23:30 and 1:35:15) -María Pérez (already pre-selected), Laura García-Caro, Lidia Sánchez-Puebla, Mar Juárez, Marc Tur, Paul McGrath, Iván López, José Manuel Pérez, Diego García Carrera (already shortlisted) and Luis Manuel Corchete-; five for the European Championship in Munich (1:22:10 and 1:32:15) -María Pérez (already shortlisted), Laura García-Caro, Alberto Amezcua, Marc Tur and Paul McGrath-; and three for the Eugene World Championship (1:21:00 and 1:31:00) -María Pérez (already shortlisted), Laura García-Caro and Alberto Amezcua-.
In the men’s event, the defending champion Diego García Carrera, the 2021 runner-up Alberto Amezcua, the 50 km Olympians Marc Tur and Luis Manuel Corchete and the European sub-20 champion Paul McGrath met in search of a title to which The Swedish Perseus Karlström, world bronze in Doha in 2019 and ninth in the Tokyo Games and who also ran in Pamplona, did not opt.
Amezcua escaped from the group of favorites in the first kilometer, and he was joined by Iván Pajuelo from Extremadura, who gave way at kilometer 7. The man from Granada passed the 10 kilometers in 40:41, and increased his lead in the second section of the route to get his first title of absolute champion of Spain with a time of 1:20:29.
Behind, Marc Tur and Paul McGrath -who won the sub-23 title with 1:21:43- got on the podium, while Diego García Carrera lost positions before kilometer 15 and Iván Pajuelo retired shortly after half of the race.
In the women’s event, María Pérez prevailed without opposition after breaking the group after two initial kilometers in which a leading group of five athletes was formed that included the Granada-born Laura García-Caro, Lidia Sánchez-Puebla, Mar Juárez and Puerto Rican Rachelle de Orbeta. García-Caro won the silver medal (1:30:36) and Lidia Sánchez-Puebla from Madrid completed the podium with a time of 1:33:48.