 Italian walks into record book
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-23 10:30
Alex Schwazer broke a 20-year-old Olympic record when he secured victory in the 50km walk yesterday. The 23-year-old Italian raised his finger to some cheering Italian fans to indicate he was No 1 as he took his final steps in the Bird's Nest. He came home in 3:37:09 in front of the Bird's Nest crowd, shattering Soviet Union walker Vyacheslav Ivanenko's Olympic standard of 3:38:29, which had stood since the 1988 Seoul Games. He was 2 min and 18 sec ahead of Jared Tallent of Australia, who finished in 3:39:27. Denis Nizhegorodov of Russia, who was the silver medalist in Athens, won the bronze in 3:40:14. Schwazer, a two-time world medalist, was clearly overcome after beating one of the longest standing Games' records. "It was a very emotional moment. I wanted to do well today and I had the right mentality," he said. The race was down to five men at the 20km mark with Tallent, Schwazer, China's Li Jianbo, who was appearing in his first global championships, Nizhegorodov and France's European champion Yohann Diniz slightly adrift in fifth. It was not until the 42km mark that Schwazer pounced securing a relatively comfortable 40 sec lead with 5km to race over Tallent and Nizhegorodov. Tallent, who finished in a much better state than after his bronze winning 20km performance when he had been physically sick, was ecstatic. "The 50km medal means so much more to me," said Tallent, who is due to marry his fiancee and fellow international walker Australian Claire Woods after the Games. "Sometimes you can feel bad starting off, but then you improve. I was worried I'd get to the 20km and say 'oh jeez'," added Tallent, who more than made up for the absence of the injured world champion Nathan Deakes. Nizhegorodov was devastated at not turning the silver of four years ago into gold in Beijing. "I feel very disappointed. It's such a pity," he said. Diniz, a former rave party organizer and wine expert, was a major medal hope for France and was clearly disappointed by his performance. "I just cracked mentally and physically at around the 27th or 29th km mark," he said. "I thought that I would be able to come back, but I couldn't. "There is no such thing as giving up in my mind and I will come back in four years time because this event gives me such pleasure." Agencies (China Daily 08/23/2008 page6) |
