Sweden’s Perseus Karlstroen and China’s Shenjie Qieyang will seek to revalidate the 2022 triumph on the Gran Vía

MADRID, April 29 (EUROPEAN PRESS) –

The Spaniard Diego García wants to be a prophet in the second edition of the International Finetwork Madrid Marcha Grand Prix, which will be held this Sunday over 10 kilometers on Madrid’s Gran Vía and in which the Swede Perseus Karlstroen and the Chinese Shenjie Qieyang will try to repeat the triumph of 2022.

The test, integrated into the World Athletics Race Walking Tour circuit with the highest category, “Gold”, promoted by Diego García, Technical Director, and organized by the company G2O Publisport, will bring together a line-up of walkers who have won 12 medals at the World Cup Eugene (USA) and at the European Championship in Munich. In addition, three of the top six classified in the 20K of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will parade along the Gran Vía.

A quarter of that record is accumulated by last year’s winner, Sweden’s Perseus Karlström, with two World Cup bronze medals in the 20 and 35K. Just 48 hours from his 33rd birthday, Karlstroem will try to bring his Madrid birthday forward in a season that started in Australia.

For his part, Diego García Carrera, bronze in the 20 kilometers of the Munich European Championship just behind Karlstroem, will try to take his revenge on last year when he was second only by seven seconds compared to the Swede. Silver in Cieza’s 35km National and gold in the recent Spanish University Championship over 10,000 meters ahead of his Murcia city tormentor Álvaro Martín is the favorite for victory.

The other candidates are Brazilian Caio Bonfim, 32 and bronze at the 2017 World Cup, Chinese Qian Haifeng, 22, and Wang Zhaozhao, 23, Ecuadorian David Hurtado and Italian Massimo Stano, who added last year the 35K World Cup title to his Olympic gold medal over 20 km.

The transalpine star lost his father at the start of the year and has yet to make his 2023 debut. His compatriot Francesco Fortunato, German Christopher Linke and Spaniard Marc Tur, fourth in Tokyo 2020 after being overtaken in the last 150 metres, will also compete for the podium for Canadian Evan Dunfee.

PALMISANO REAPPEARS 20 MONTHS LATER

The women will compete with the men, from 10:30 am, on a 1,000 meter circuit which they will cover in ten laps. The Chinese Jiayu Yang, with 1h23:49, second best of all time, Ma Zhexia and Li Maocuo; Mexican Alegna González, and Italian Antonella Palmisano, Olympic gold medalist in the 20K in Tokyo, will try to avoid Shenjie Qieyang’s double.

Palmisano will compete for the first time 20 months later, as she had not done so since the Games after undergoing surgery in September 2022 on her hip and subsequent inflammation of the sciatic nerve in her left knee.

On the Spanish side, Laura García-Caro, third in 2022, will make her debut in 2024, and Raquel González, 35K silver in Munich and recently named best athlete of 2022 by the RFEA, will also fight for a place in the top five. .