ANTALYA, Turkiye – The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya ’24 is gearing up to be a monumental event, with 431 athletes from 52 nations converging on Turkiye this Sunday, 21 April, for a competition that not only showcases the best in race walking but also offers a path to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
WRW Antalya 24 entry lists can be downloaded here:
Entries by event and season’s best
Entries by country
This year’s championships are notably featuring the debut of the marathon race walk mixed relay, an event that promises to add an exciting dynamic to the competition with Olympic qualifications at stake. Among those vying for top honors are 198 athletes (108 men and 90 women) in the senior 20km races and 106 young talents (56 men and 50 women) in the U20 categories.
China, which dominated the previous championships in Muscat, Oman, in 2022 by securing six gold medals, is once again in the spotlight. Ma Zhenxia is set to defend her senior women’s 20km title, following a personal best of 1:26:07 at the Chinese Race Walking Grand Prix earlier this March. She faces stiff competition from the likes of Peru’s Kimberly Garcia, a double world champion in 2022, and Ecuador’s Glenda Morejon, the 35km victor in Muscat.
The mixed relay lists are studded with stars, including all three reigning Olympic champions: Italy’s Antonella Palmisano and Massimo Stano, and Poland’s Dawid Tomala. Spain’s duo of Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez, both of whom secured a 20km and 35km double at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, are also in the mix.
The event will also see participation from Tokyo Olympic medalists Lorena Arenas (Colombia), Evan Dunfee (Canada), Jonathan Hilbert (Germany), Koki Ikeda (Japan), and Liu Hong (China), alongside 2023 world medalists such as Brazil’s Caio Bonfim, Japan’s Masatora Kawano, and Australia’s Jemima Montag.
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Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom, a four-time world medalist, is looking to make his mark in the senior men’s 20km, having won the 35km title in Muscat two years ago. He will be up against a formidable field including Ecuador’s Brian Pintado and Germany’s Christopher Linke.
The local crowd will have plenty to cheer for with Turkey’s own Meryem Bekmez and Mazlum Demir, both celebrated world age group medalists, part of the host nation’s squad. Leading the entries for the U20 events are China’s promising athletes Li Chenjie and Yang Xizhen.
Final start lists for this eagerly anticipated event will be released on Saturday, 20 April, setting the stage for what promises to be a thrilling showcase of race walking talent and endurance.
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