MUNICH, Aug 20(ABC): Spain’s Alvaro Martin retained the 20km race walk title at the European Athletics Championships in Munich on Saturday. Martin, who previously won the Euro title in Berlin in 2018 but finished fourth at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, timed a personal best of 1hr 19min 11sec around the streets of the Bavarian capital in cool, rainy conditions.
Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom, twice a bronze medallist at last month’s world championships in Oregon, claimed silver in 1:19.23, with another Spaniard, Diego Garcia Carrera, rounding out the podium, a further 0.22sec adrift. Olympic champion Massino Stano of Italy, the world 35km race walk gold medallist, came in eighth more than two minutes off Martin’s pace.
The women’s race walk again went the way of Greece as Antigoni Ntrismpioti notched up an European double by adding the 20km gold to the one she claimed over 35km last week. Ntrismpioti clocked a winning time and personal best of 1:29.03, finishing 17sec ahead of Poland’s Katarzyna Zdzieblo in silver. Germany’s Saskia Feige took bronze in 1:29.25.