Antonella Palmisano triumphs in Madrid in the 10 km race walk

He returns with a victory at international A leveltonella Palmisano. The Italian race walking champion dominates in Madrid in the 10 kilometer road raceGold stage of the world circuit of the specialty, in 44:02.

It’s a nice way to end the season which saw her win gold in the 20km at the European Championships in Rome and also to find a smile again upon her competitive return from the Paris Olympics where in the individual event she was forced to withdraw, as the defending champion , and in the relay she didn’t go beyond sixth place. On the challenging up-and-down route of the Gran Via, right in the center of the Spanish capital, the Fiamme Gialle standard bearer immediately puts her opponents in line with her typical elegant action. Ukrainian Mariia Sakharuk tries to resist but breaks away after three kilometers.

At the halfway point of the race (21:45 split) ‘Nelly’s advantage already amounts to 23 seconds as she clears the gap behind her to finish solo with a full minute margin over her closest rival, second in 45: 03, while the Costa Rican Noelia Vargas is third (45:17) ahead of the Spanish Raquel Gonzalez (46:35) and the Colombian Sandra Arenas (47:03), Olympic silver in 2021 behind the Tarantina. Thus the path of the Italian captain, bronze medal winner last year, resumes in view of the new season which will culminate with the World Championships in Tokyo in September.

“For me it is a beautiful day – the words of Antonella Palmisano – in a unique context, in front of a large audience, on a difficult route but events like this are needed for the growth of the march and to bring it closer to the people. It was important to be there and have fun, after the Covid in Paris, and I succeeded. I wasn’t looking for a time trial, I wanted to see how much motivation I still have. I felt good about myself during the 10 kilometers, without negative thoughts. I come out of this race happy, now I’ll have a week’s rest, then we’ll set off again towards Tokyo which is a special place for me.”

Italy is also on the podium among the men with the second position of Francesco Fortunato (Fiamme Gialle), author of another prestigious placing in Madrid after the victory in the last edition. This time he was surpassed only by the Japanese Toshikazu Yamanishi, two-time world champion in the 20 km, who took off at the seventh kilometer and won in 40:00 ahead of the 40:18 of the Apulian from Andria, leading the group in the initial stages and the last to surrender to the victor’s forcing. “I had good sensations – says Fortunato – and I’m happy with my race, with a good second place behind Yamanishi, one of the strongest ever”. The Spaniard Diego Garcia Carrera, promoter of the event, finishes third (40:44), followed by the other Italian Gianluca Picchiottino (Fiamme Gialle) who is fourth in 40:49 and by the Brazilian Matheus Correa (41:15).