Kaniskina walks to gold
Russian ace breaks ‘curse of the cover’ in style
Russia’s Olga Kaniskina broke the ‘curse of the cover,’ winning the women’s 20Km walk for a record third straight time at the 13th World Championships in athletics here on Wednesday.
Kaniskina, who had become the first woman to defend her title in this event at Berlin two years ago, demolished her rivals with a solid performance despite being troubled by the weather conditions.
In the only event of the day, the Russian timed 1:29:42 to finish in front of China’s Liu Hong and compatriot Anisya Kirdyapkina (1:30:13), forging ahead past the 14km mark and staying in the lead all the way through.
Kaniskina was featured on the cover of the Daily Programme on Wednesday, triggering fears that she might go the same way as Steven Hooker, Usain Bolt, Dayron Robles and Yelena Isinbayeva, who all had crashed after gracing the cover page of the book.
The walker herself was unconcerned and, despite coping a warning along the way, made it through in commanding fashion.
“Compared to Osaka and Berlin, this race was very difficult. We were prepared for the hot and humid weather but not for the sun,” said the 26-year-old Kaniskina. “The plan was to go with the group for the first half and then to come out fast but until the very end, I was not sure about my victory, as you can still get a red tag.”
Portugal’s Susana Feitor, competing in her 11th World Championships – a record – finished in a creditable sixth place. “It was a tough race. Even if I wanted to go faster at the beginning, I could not.
“But I exceeded by expectations, the goal was to improve my 10th place from Berlin,” said the 36-year-old, who had won a bronze in 2005 Helsinki.
World record holder Vera Sokolova was among those left behind, ending up in 11th spot.
Results:
Women: 20Km walk: Olga Kaniskina (Russia) 1:29:42, 1; Liu Hong (China) 1:30:00, 2; Anisya Kirdyapkina (Russia) 1:30:13, 3.
