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The European Athletics U18 Championships starts at 9:00. The sky is sunny, temperature: 26° Celsius and humidity 54%
Final of 5.000m track race walk U18 girls
Twenty-four girls at the start representing following Countries: CRO (1), ESP (2), FIN (2), FRA (2), GRE (2), HUN (2), IRL (1), ITA (2), LTU (1), POL (2), POR (2), SVK (1), TUR (2), UKR (2). The only athletes with a personal/season best under 23:00.00 are Caterina Carissimi (ITA – 22:45.79), Rebecca D’Alessandro (ITA – 22:50.91) and Paula Elvira (ESP – 22:59.51).
Five more girls entered with a personal/season best under 24:00.00. They are: Ana Gonzalez (ESP – 23:05.23), Chara Gerou (GRE – 23:29.44), Andreane Sainson (FRA – 23:35.79), Justé Andrijauskaite (LTU – 23:38.91) and Eleonore Brenney (FRA – 23:43.93).
Report of the race
The departure time should have been 9.00, but most likely it was 9.03.
One of the two representatives of Spain, Ana Gonzalez, immediately takes the lead of the group and sets the pace. First 400m are covered in 1:55.8 and the transition to the 800m is 3:45.4 (seconds 400m covered in 1:49.6)
9:07:40 a.m.: the leading pack composed by 11 girls cover first 1.000m.
The leader is Ana Gonzalez, followed by the team mate Paula Elvira, both the Italian girls Rebecca D’Alessandro and Caterina Carissimi, Dominika Pernická (SVK), both the French girls Eleonore Brenney and Andreane Sainson, Rosário Borges (POR), Sára Kata Alföldi (HUN), Chara Gerou (GRE) and Daryna Kozka (UKR).
9:12:16 a.m.: Always Ana Gonzalez (ESP) to set the pace at the passage of 2.000m (split time is 9:16.36 with the second 1.000m were covered by the leader in 4:36.8).
The pack is now composed by both the Spanish and the Italian girls and includes Dominika Pernická (SVK), Eleonore Brenney (FRA), Sára Kata Alföldi (HUN) and Chara Gerou (GRE). The others lost about ten meters.
9:15:07 a.m.: At 2.800m, the lead changes at the head of the pack. Rebecca D’Alessandro takes the lead. She doesn’t know it yet, but she won’t be caught again.
9:16:58 a.m.: Rebecca D’Alessandro is leading the pack at 3.000m in 13:57.9 (the third 1.000m were covered by the leader in 4:41.5). In second position now is the other athlete of RFEA Paula Elvira who passes at 3.000m in 14:02.1 detached from the leader by 4.2 seconds. Ana Gonzales is third and passes at 3.000m in 14:02.2 detached from the leader by 4.4 seconds.
Follows: Eleonore Brenney (FRA) in fourth position in 14:02.2 detached from the leader by 4.4 seconds and Caterina Carissimi (ITA) in fifth position in 14:02.7 detached from the leader by 4.8 seconds.
In the sixth position we find Chara Gerou (GRE) in 14:02.8 detached from the leader by 4.8 seconds but charged by two red cards.
9:21:29 a.m.: Rebecca D’Alessandro force again her pace is leading at 4.000m in 18:28.7 (the fourth 1.000m were covered by the leader in 4:30.8).
The fight for silver and bronze is now restricted between Eleonore Brenney (FRA) in in 18:49.1 detached from the leader by 20.4 seconds shoulder to shoulder with Paula Elvira who passes at 4.000m in 18:49.5 detached from the leader by 20.8 seconds and Caterina Carissimi (ITA).
Between 9:21:29 and 9:25.58 a.m.: Rebecca D’Alessandro continues her solo walk, aiming to finish the race with a new personal best. Despite running the final 1,000m in 4:30.25, she unfortunately falls short. Her final time is 22:58.95, and unfortunately, by 8.01 seconds, she misses out on her personal best. The battle for silver is won by Paula Elvira (ESP) in front of the other Italian Caterina Carissimi.
On the home straight, everything changed for the other positions.
Chara Gerou (GRE) crosses the finish line fourth in 23:33.24, followed by Eleonore Brennay (FRA) in 23:35.72. The Greek athlete, who had already been penalized with two red cards, also received a third, and therefore the 30-second penalty was added to her official finish time; her official time was 24:03.24, placing her in ninth place.
But it’s not over.
It’s unclear why (probably a mis-understanding by the girl) Dominika Pernická (SVK) enter the Penalty Zone without having to be penalized. Having immediately understood that she shouldn’t have gone in, she came out after 3-5 seconds. After she crossed the finish line (23:33.19) in lane 3, 5/100 of a second ahead of Chara Gerou (GRE), who had crossed the finish line in lane 1 (without being stopped in the Penalty Zone) in 23:33.34.
At the end in fourth place is Dominika Pernická (SVK) who overtake in the final straight Eleonore Brenney (FRA).
Arrival order
1.- Rebecca D’Alessandro (ITA): 22:58.91
2.- Paula Elvira (ESP): 23:18.98
3.- Caterina Carissimi (ITA): 23:21.37
4.- Dominika Pernická (SVK): 23:33.19 PB
5.- Eleonore Brenney (FRA): 23:35.72
6.- Rosário Borges (POR): 23:41.64
7.- Ana Gonzalez (ESP): 23:42.46
8.- Sára Kata Alföldi (HUN): 23:49.06
Interview with the winner
“An extraordinary experience, I still can’t believe it,” D’Alessandro exults. “This gold medal came thanks to many people, especially my coach Nicola Piro, who believed in me from the beginning. In my early years of walking, I always came in last, but he always believed I could do it. And then I want to thank my family, my mother, my father, my grandmother, and my training partners, starting with Serena Di Fabio, who was my inspiration. Not everyone has that, and I have this privilege. A great group. I realised I had won in the last 200 meters: I’m a person who is never convinced. Someone else could have overtaken me. But in the final meters, I felt the void behind me, and I did it. At the finish line, I experienced a thousand emotions. The national team jersey weighs heavily, let’s support the Italian team in these final races.”
Photo gallery by Francesca Grana/Fidal
