The men's 20km race at the Olympics in Sapporo will almost certainly be the hardest fought and the one with the most difficult predictions.
In addition to the Chinese / Japanese duel, other athletes are able to enter this contest.
We mention some of the best known:
- Salih Kormaz (TUR) improved this year at 1:18:42;
- the two Russians Vasiliy Mizinov and Sergey Shirobokov (assuming they are allowed to compete with ANA status)
- the Swedish Perseus Karlström (this year 1:18:45), who hardly loses a few races and when he loses it he always wins the medal
- Eider Arevalo (COL) a bit below his standard at the beginning of this season, the Colombian, but we are sure that, like Jefferson Perez in the past, he wold be always in perfect shape at the critical moment of the season
- the Spanish, first of all that Diego Garcia (this year 1:19:40), are certainly able to do well.
Presumably it will also be a very difficult race to judge technically, but we leave this to the proven experience of the Tokyo 2020 jury.
Speaking of technique, the Huangshan competition left some perplexity on the severity of the jury. Some coaches on the field informed us that, certainly nothing can be said about the walking technique of the first classified, Wang Kaihua and of the third, Zhang Jun (and in the meantime, believe us, this is already a good thing).
Some doubts have highlighted the technique of the Olympic vice-champion Cai Zelin, already with 2 red cards before the 5km and then author of a very close comeback. Even the fourth classified, Cui Lihong was not blameless and he would have deserved some red card too.
In the final, then, given the large number of athletes fighting for a position very close to each other, there was a bit too much permissiveness.
However, this does not detract from the great absolute value of the race.
To better highlight the high quality of the competition, here are some examples (first 8) of as many very fast races held around the world in recent years and, at the end, the comparison between Suzuki's race in Nomi on 15 March 2015 and Wang's one. Kaihua on March 20, 2021.
The 5 races with the fastest average (of first 8) (time under 1:19:00)
Huangshang = March 20, 2021 = Average = 1:18:10
1) Wang Kaihua = 1:16:54
2) Cai Zelin = 1:17:39
3) Zhang Jun = 1:17:39
4) Cui Lihong = 1:17:52
5) Sun Shuai = 1:18:04
6) Xu Hao = 1:18:44
7) Zhang Yao = 1:18:59
8) Niu Wenchao = 1:19:33
La Coruna = June 18, 2019 = Average = 1:18:14
1) Toshikazu Yamanishi = 1:17:41
2) Massimo Stano = 1:17:45
3) Jusuke Suzuki = 1:17:54
4) Perseus Karlström = 1:18:07
5) Vasiliy Mizinov = 1:18:41
6) Christopher Linke = 1:18:42
7) Caio Bonfim = 1:18:47
8) Diego Garcia = 1:18:58
Kobe = February 18, 2018 = Average = 1:18:34
1) Eiki Takahashi = 1:17:26
2) Toshikazu Yamanishi = 1:17:41
3) Daisuke Matsunaga 1:17:46
4) Koki Ikeda = 1:19:13
5) Isamu Fujisawa = 1:19:15
6) Fumitaka Oikawa = 1:19:17
7) Irooki Arai = 1:19:19
8) Masatora Kawano = 1:19:52
Nomi = March 17, 2019 = Average = 1:18:35
1) Toshikazu Yamanishi = 1:17:15
2) Masatora Kawano = 1:17:24
3) Koki Ikeda = 1:17:25
4) Yusuke Suzuki = 1:17:47
5) Isamu Fujisawa = 1:17:52
6) Zhang Jun = 1:20:17
7) Rhydian Cowley = 1:20:19
8) Georgiy Sheiko = 1:20:21
Paris = August 23, 2003 = Average = 1:18:52
1) Jefferson Pérez = 1:17:21
2) Francisco Fernández = 1:18:00
3) Roman Rasskazov = 1:18:08
4) Noé Hernández = 1:18:14
5) Luke Adams = 1:19:35
6) Ivan Trotski = 1:19:40
7) David Márquez = 1:19:46
8) Ilya Markov = 1:20:14
The contest between Yusuke Suzuki (JPN) in Nomi 2015 compared with Wang Kaihua in Huangshan 2021
| | Yusuke Suzuki (1:16:36) | Wang Kaihua (1:16:54) |
| | | |
| 5km | 19:04 | 19:22 |
| 10km | 38:06 (19:02) | 38:40 (19:08) |
| 15km | 57:15 (19:09) | 57:15 (19:09) |
| ultimi 5 km | 19:21 | 19:21 |
The 18" difference accumulated in the first 10km: 38:06 for Suzuki, 38:40 for Wang who finished the race faster (38:32 for the Japanese; 38:14 for the Chinese).
And finally, below you will find the top 30 athletes on the "all time" list on the 20km walk