Record number of countries to compete in La Coruña
Thursday 4 May 2006

Monte-Carlo -The 22nd edition of the IAAF World Race
Walking Cup which takes place in just over one week’s
time in La Coruña, Spain (13 / 14 May), has attracted
the greatest ever number of IAAF Member Federations to
compete at this World Athletics Series competition.

Athletes from a total of 63 nations had entered for La
Coruña, when the final entry deadline was reached at
midnight on 1 May, which is a substantial increase on
the next best gathering of 56 at the 1999 edition of
the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Mézidon Deauville,
France.

Two of the senior race winners from the last edition
in Naumburg, Germany, in 2004, Ecuador’s World
champion Jefferson Perez (men 20km) and Russia’s World
silver medallist Aleksey Voyevodin (men 50km), return
in search of a third consecutive win.

The women’s 20km will see a new winner, as Naumburg
victor Yelena Nikolayeva of Russia isn’t competing but
her countrywoman World champion Olimpiada Ivanova,
twice a World Cup silver medallist, goes for her third
individual medal. The current leader of the women's
Standings in the 2006 IAAF Race Walking Challenge,
Claudia Stef of Romania is also entered. La Coruña is
the final event of this year’s Challenge.

Robert Korzeniowski of Poland, arguably the greatest
race walker of all-time, but now retired, returns in
the guise of a Spanish team official, as he now
coaches local hero, Francisco Javier Fernandez.
Perhaps via the fleet feet of Spain’s World and
Olympic 20km silver medallist, the Pole, at least in
coaching terms, has a chance to secure his first ever
World Cup win, though Italy’s Olympic 20km champion
Ivano Brugnetti and of course Perez will have
something say about that! Korzeniowski, the three-time
World and four-time Olympic champion, was second over
20km in 2004, which was his best ever World Cup
showing.

IAAF



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