Nomi, 15 March: Japan’s Yusuke Suzuki broke the 20km race walk world record* at the Asian 20KM Race Walking Championships in his home town of Nomi on Sunday (15), exactly one week after Yohann Diniz set the previous mark.
Diniz’s mark is so recent it is yet to be ratified, but Suzuki improved it by 26 seconds, winning at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge meeting in 1:16:36. Suzuki began his season by finishing second at his national championships, watching compatriot Eiki Takahashi break Suzuki’s national record.
The last time he won here in 2013, he was 38 seconds slower, which equates to around 180 metres, and he still set an Asian record on that occasion. This is Suzuki’s third Asian title, having won in 2010 and 2013, and although his scintillating walk dominated the race, there was a fabulous six-way battle behind him, which on any other day would have held centre stage.
The result was bittersweet for Korea’s Hyunsub Kim. Although he lost out in the final mad dash for the tape, he broke his country’s national record for the second year in a row, this time by 11 seconds. In fact, it’s the fourth time Kim has dipped under 1:20:00 since 2008, and he too, like Suzuki, clearly favours Nomi, having recorded 1:19:31 there in 2011 to underline the 29-year-old’s consistency.
Hou wins women’s title
The women’s 20km race was won by Yongbo Hou in 1:29:25, an improvement on her personal best of 1:02, but, unlike in the men’s contest, the Chinese 20-year-old had to wait until the last 5km before she edged ahead.
Kumiko Okada attempted to emulate Suzuki by charging to the front and forging a 23-second gap by 5km. However, she ran out of steam from that point and was seemingly walking through treacle over the last 5km.
