World record-holder Massimo Stano absent due to hamstring injury
Canada’s Evan Dunfee, who broke world record earlier in the year, targeting first global gold
Masatora Kawano of the host nation targets his third consecutive World Championships medal
Despite the absence of Alvaro Martin and Massimo Stano, the last two winners of this title, there’ll be no shortage of top performers when the men’s 35km race walk kicks of proceedings at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 on 13 September.
Stano, who won the 2021 Olympic 20km title in Tokyo four years ago and then took the world 35km title one year later, smashed the world record earlier this year with 2:20:43, but the Italian withdrew from the World Championship due to a recurring hamstring injury.
Martin, meanwhile, retired at the end of the 2023 season, having reached the pinnacle of his sport after winning double world gold in Budapest.
The stage is therefore set for a new winner of the world 35km race walk title.
Evan Dunfee heads to Tokyo as the fastest in the field this year by almost two minutes. The Canadian won in Dudince in March with 2:21:40, which stood as a world record for two months before Stano bettered it. The 34-year-old, who earned bronze medals over 50km at the 2019 World Championships and 2021 Olympics, has also set a North American record over 20km this year with 1:17:39.
The eyes of the home crowd will be on Japan’s Masatora Kawano, the world silver medallist in 2022 and bronze medallist in 2023. The 26-year-old, who held the world record at 2:21:47 before Dunfee broke it, hasn’t contested a 35km race this year, but has shown good form at 20km (1:18:19).
Kawano is joined on the Japanese team by Hayato Katsuki, the fourth fastest entrant based on season’s bests, and Satoshi Maruo, the fourth-place finisher in the 50km at the 2017 World Championships.
German record-holder Christopher Linke, the second-fastest in the field this year, is targeting his first ever global podium, following fifth-place finishes at the 2023 World Championships and 2021 Olympic Games. The 36-year-old set a PB of 2:23:21 at the European Race Walking Team Championships in Podebrady in May.
The Spanish charge is spearheaded by Miguel Angel Lopez. The 2015 world 20km champion is now more accustomed to the longer distances, and earlier this year he broke the Spanish 35km record with 2:23:48, making him the third-fastest competitor in the field.
Mexico’s hopes rest with José Luis Doctor, fifth fastest in the field this year with his PB 2:24:41, and Andres Eduardo Olivas Núñez, who has a season’s best of 2:25:08.
Aside from Dunfee, other leading contenders doubling up in both race walks include Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom, Brazil’s Caio Bonfim and Australia’s Rhydian Cowley.
Annika Saunus for World Athletics
AloJapan.com