The Colombia National Walking Championships, which took place on Saturday, January 22, in Tunja, the capital of Boyacá located at 2,800 meters above sea level, saw the 20km victories of Eider Arévalo and Laura Chalarca, both from Bogotá, while in the men's 35 km Diego Pinzón prevailed and among the women Arabely Orjuela became the first woman to cover this distance.
But beyond the results and the times, the Colombian walkers have begun to measure the strength and select the athletes who will be in the next international competitions, such as the South American Championship, the World Team Walking Championship, the World Athletics Championship, in the year in which there will also be Bolivarian Games and South American Games.
20km men
In the men's 20km, Eider Arevalo controlled the group from start to finish, looking for the pace that coaches Marcelino Pastrana and Luis Fernando López had demanded of him, even though the former world champion acknowledged that at the beginning he went a little faster. The goal was for several walkers to march in less than 1:31:00 to start selecting the team for the World Cup in Oman in March.
And the goal was achieved, as Eider won with a time of 1:30:06, while Juan José Soto finished second with 1:30:20.
Christian Rojas, who made his debut in the senior category, crossed the finish line third, but the third red card arrived on the last lap and as there was no longer any possibility of entering the penalty zone, the time of two minutes.
As a result, third place went to César Herrera, with 1:30:57, while Rojas finished fourth, with 1:32:52.
"I am very happy and first of all I thank God for giving me the opportunity to compete in Colombia again," said Eider, who had not competed in Colombia since 2018 and confirmed that he will lead the Colombian team at the World Cup but will not go to South America. .
With these results, Colombia could think about the possibility of having a complete team in the World Walking Championship and, incidentally, select a good group for the South American Championship, which will be held in Lima (Peru) in February.
20km women
Meanwhile, in the women's competition, Laura Chalarca, who just won a medal at the Pan American Youth Games, won with a time of 1:43:47.
Second place went to Carolina Mariño in 1:48:50, and the podium was completed by Sara Pulido, also from Bogotá, in 1:52:59.
35km men
In the 35 kilometers three men of the Armed Forces conquered the first three places.
Pan American medalist Diego Pinzón won in 2:44:44, followed by Kenny Pérez in 2:48:49, and Jorge Ruiz in 2:52:53.
The three athletes, however, claimed the possibility of trying to do the national championship in the lower cities to have better records, and also complained about a further crossing that had been made on the circuit, to complete the kilometer of the course.
35km women
In women, Arabelly Orjuela won with a time of 3:08:26 and became the first woman from Colombia to travel this distance.
With that record you could also be at the World Cup, because in the technical analysis of the federation and the coaches a time of 3 hours and 10 minutes was required, in consideration of the consequences of high altitude.